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Does anyone have, or know someone that is using the Tokico D-spec struts for the 2001-up civic? All I can find is information on the blues. I dont see any distributer selling d-spec struts. Do they cost a **** load more?

Some information:

http://www.tokicogasshocks.com/car/d-spec.html

 
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yeah im interested in these too...i hope u can get the option of getting the shocks struts alone withouth the springs

 
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As far as I know, no one has them.

 
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Screw em, Skunk2 full coilovers are coming out soon...

 
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I got mine last week. Installed them Friday night. I already had the Eibach Pro-Kit's on factory shocks and it was really bouncy in a stiff sort of way. The D-Specs are set to full stiff at the moment and man are they tight. Funny thing is that they don't jiggle your guts they way the stockers do. It's like driving a whole different car. Way more solid. No more bobble around high speed corners. These were expensive ($540 from jdmwerks on ebay), but well worth it. I like driving my car again.

 
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Can you get pics? They are adjustable, correct?

 
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^^^^^D-specs are not height adjustable, only damper adjustable^^^^^

 
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Pgnorris, could you post some pics of the D-Specs ? Are they supposedly the illuminas for the 7th gens ? Are the fronts complete replacements of the stock shocks ?

 
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I'm wondering what springs, or spring rates, these were made for and what sort of drop these non-height adjustable struts give. I guess only one member's got 'em, with prokits so thats about a 1" drop only. Hmmmm.

 
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Here you go (see attachment). These are an exact fit replacement with all brackets. OEM quality fit. I put in some more miles today and learned that full hard is too hard for anything but the track. I actually think the car may break apart at the seams on bigger bumps at speed. I'm going to soften it 3 turns and see how it goes tomorrow.

Another thing noted is that between the new struts and an alignment with the front camber at -1 degree on each side (was at -.3 before), the car doesn't pull me all over the road at all any more.

The ride height is the same as the stockers with the Pro-Kits. The Pro-Kits settled in at a little over 1.5 inches lower than stock. More than advertised. Still, didn't need a camber kit. Some negative is good on this car. With 215/45-17 tires there is less than 1 finger gap.

Oh yeah. You WILL need a spring compressor for the rears. The shafts are shorter. I used a shovel handle against the rear a-arm for leverage. Like this: (./I) since I couldn't go get a spring compressor.

 
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I'm not a low ridin kind a guy so these may be what I'm looking for. Please update after testing at lower damper settings. Does it get bouncier at softer settings? Also, do these reduce torque and/or bump steer? Thanks pg,

 
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are you setting both the front and back to the same setting?? cause if you are the only thing you are effecting is ride quality, not handling.

To actually alter handling there has to be a difference in settings Front to rear... and since these are simply a modification of their Illuminias, I assume you are still just adjusting rebound (Just like koni). So, heres how you adjust them for handling.

1. Set all of them at full soft.
2. Drive the car and observe where and when it is Oversteering and/or understeering. (Make sure this is not from driver error!!!!)
3. To adjust When and where the car oversteers/understeers, you simply increase the rebound settings on the side of the car you want to have stick Less. so, On corner entry if the car is understeering you increase the rebound on the back untill the car enters the corner acceptably. If the car is oversteering, then you increase the rebound on the front or decrease rebound on the rear.... Simple.

Heres how I run my Konis for both street and track

Street: Fronts at full soft, Rears at 1/2 turn back from full soft.
Autocross: Fronts at full soft, Rears at 1/4 turn down from Full hard. Then Adjusted according to the tracks demand, if its understeerign too much I increase the rear rebound, if its oversteering too much I either Increase front rebound, or decrease rear rebound.

Simple Right???

 
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I wonder how these shocks would work with, say, Nuespeed race or Eibach sportlines. Would the lower spring height ruin the dampers? Anyone checked this out, or have experience with the standard Illuminas? Thanks.

 
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they should work with lowered cars. that is, after all, what they are designed to do.

 
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Just in case you guys were wondering about the Illuminas. I called Tokico sales dpt. and they said they will be released by February 05. Kind of a long time to wait, but I think it'll be worth it.

 
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cubanmike26, What's the difference between the D-Spec and the Illuminas ? Both have adjustment capabilities. I would take the one which is a full replacement. If the Illuminas are inserts then they will be just like konis.

 
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According to Tokico:
The D-Spec shocks can adjust both rebound and compression damping simultaneously and supposedly can be used for the Street, Auto Xing and Drag racing.
Illumina adjustable shocks are 5-position adjustable; these are designed for tuning street suspensions, even though some people use them for racing as well.

 
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if you aren't racing, save you money and get the illuminas. You don't need both bump and rebound adjustment on the street.

 
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I might as well get the HPs then. After all, I'm not looking to adjust it at all since I'll just be driving on the street and never on the track. I'm just concerned about re-drilling th holes to 16mm. Wouldn't this affect the strenght of the shock where the bolts hold the strut? I mean they are designed for 14 mm and not 16mm. This is my only concern with the HPs and the only reason why I haven't bought them yet. What do you guys think?

 
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so theres 1 **** and you adjust both with that ****??? Then its not really double adjustible now is it. Especially when there are instances where You will want to adjust rebound but not compression

 
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^^^ Well that's supposedly the way it is Zzyzx. I got that info. from Tokicos's website.

 
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The reason I bring this up is that of the two states, compression and rebound, Compression primairly influences ride quality and how the car reacts to bumps, and Rebound primailry influences handling, by controling how fast weight gets transfered around the car. (this is a bit simplified, as Compression does influence handling a bit, and Reboudn influences ride quality abit).

With that being said, there will be a point were you have the compression set perfectly so that the car absorbs bums and keeps the tires on the ground, but you may still need to adjust rebound to get the car rotating the way you want it... and by forcing you to adjust both with the same ****, it just seems like you'll have to comprimise on both....

 
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A litle bit offtopic but still covering on the Tokico shocks:
Will it be safe to redrill the Tokicos HPs to 16mm? I'm concerned about this since redrilling may debilitate the struts. After all, they are designed for 14mm and not 16mm. What's your opinion guys??

 
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Easy. There's plenty of material.

 
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D-Spec adjustments change both rebound and compression damping simultaneously. Between the hard and soft settings, the D-Spec is infinitely adjustable.

From their site..seems kind of odd, but hey....I don't think it will work too well.

 
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Now that I've messed with the adjusters trying to get the ride and handling right, I wish I had shocks that were pretty stiff on the compression, but were rebound adjustable only. Should have known.

They are working well, but the compression damping seems pretty high when rebound is where I want it. I'm starting to like the stiff tho. I just hope the car doesn't fall apart.

 
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Pgnorris, do you feel the compression damping getting lesser as you increase the rebound setting ? Or do both of them go towards the positive side of the setting simultaneously ? I think the D-specs should be better than the illuminas if they are meant for AutoX.

 
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They both go up simultaneously.

 
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I wouldn't worry about it. My hp's are drilled out to 16 mm and have servived 5000 miles of hard street driving and about 35 autocross runs. Just remember to get 01 bumpstops, since the newer ones won't fit. Also, make sure you trim the bumpstops, tokicos are not shorter than stock.

 
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The only thing I'm pissed about is that I didn't go lower. I think I could have the same ride quality and even better handling if I had gone with a lower spring setup.