Koni vs Bilstein vs Tokico.

[zracer22]

Which strut/shock is more capable of damping 400-500 lbs race springs, Koni Sport Single Adjustable or Bilstein Sport?

What about Tokico Illumina shocks and strut inserts? Can the Illumina hold up thru race conditions?

[charrbq]

My team mate and I have been running Tokico's ever since '93 on our Honda's. We run lighter springs than what you're talking about, but they work perfect. Others like Koni's, but I've found them to be too stiff for my style and car. Heavier cars like a Z usually prefer Koni's. I don't know anyone running Bilstien's, but I believe in them for my pickup.

[924Guy]

Hey man!

You need to read down further on the forum, to RST's post on Koni's vs. Bilsteins. Those apply to custom-valved struts, but it's an excellent post.

I have used the off-the-shelf Koni yellows, and found them to not have the durability for that spring rate in my application. However I switched from those not to Sport Bilsteins, but to custom-valved race units - and everything was great. Can't speak for the Bilstein Sport units except on my street car, where they're great.

[lateapex911]

Definately above the range for tokikos....

Another option might be the Advance Design units, but they have issues with needing daily recharging.

[Eric Parham]

It depends a lot on the application.

As a point of reference, Tokico Illuminas were waaay underdamped for 400F/250R on my FWD VW Scirocco, while Bilstein Sports handled those rates very well. 650F/425R required custom valved Bilsteins in both the front and the rear (although the fronts were initially handled adequately with Bilstein's Rallye struts for my application).

Bilstein lists many damping rates for various motorsports applications somewhere on their website.

[Hangfire1]

I've been thrashing Tokiko Illuminas with Ground Control springs on the track with no problems for almost two years. When they went on, I leveled the car front-to-back and lowered it about an inch or inch-and-a-half. I just lowered it about another inch, plus I've added negative camber on the back to give it some help turning-in.

I don't know the spring rates. The system that was put together went onto my everyday driver 1992 Honda Civic that was also an occasional track car, so I guess you would call it a "street lowering," not race-preparing the car. Now the car is pretty much retired from the street and I'm tripod-ing more and more, so my (new) coach/mechanic and I are discussing shock/spring/swaybar options that will decrease the body roll. He's partial to Koni yellows, says he's used them with great success on a number of Civics over the years...

I talked with a USTCC guy at Infineon the other day who did not especially like the gas-charged Ground Control shocks on his Civic, complained that they leaked a lot.