i was wondering if someone could tell me from experience which is better for the money? im just going to be driving it on the street, no racing. and would i be better of with lowering springs at the same time?

 

Well you could adjust it to how you like it on the street, stiff or soft and leave it, with the HP's you get what you get.

 

if youre just gonna use it for the streets then the Blues will do just fine. I had mine for 4years and i loved them. i just bought the Illuminas cuz i wanted something different + i wanted the adjustability =)

 

Yea, for the street go with the blues. Very good all around performance shock.

If you were gonna be doing any auto-x, or fast driving, than I would say fork out the $$$ for the Illuminas. I love them ,and the adjustability is awsome!!
Can tune it out for the auto-x, or the twisty bit ahead, and soften it up the rest of the time.

 

ILL.....lumina's bro, I didn't even think twice. Look at it this way!!! you may wanna hit up a convention or rex meeting somewhere and so you can adjust for the smooth highway ride's or change up for the bumpy city street's.

then again i don't know what the price difference is between the 2!!!

 

Just how convenient is it to access the hardware to make adjustments? I've read that Illuminas require access that is difficult. Can anyone post photos of how they'd make the adjustments? My '81 needs new shocks and struts, too.

 

well if you wanna constantly adjust them you'll have to take the rear panels out (where the rear speakers are), or you can just drill a small hole in it like what i did. Adjusting it is cake!! all you need is a small screwdriver and youre set. You wont have to do any adjusting in the bottom because the adjustment screw is right on top. All youll have to do is open your truck and turn that screwdriver. Thats it!! =)

 

How big a hole did you drill? Did you use a rubber grommet to give it a 'finished' appearance?

 

haha. the hole is about as big as a penny (maybe even a nickel) and didnt use a grommet. i didnt even think about that. i just left it as is. thanx for the idea though.

 

The adjustments are made by rotating a small slotted selector in the top center of the strut. I had a coil-over setup on a street legal race-prepared 1Gen, and I could get out of the driver's seat and change all 4 settings in under 60 seconds. It would take much longer to adjust the shocks if the car retains the stock interior trim over the rear shocks. However, you will rarely need to make adjustments. In the two years that I drove my 1Gen on both the street and in autocross events, I never changed the setting on the front struts, and only changed the rear settings one notch between long/short autocross events.

Attached is a picture of an 84 RX-7 with the Mazda Comp Stage I suspension kit. The strut setting is the small red disk on top of the gold-colored nut in the center of the strut.

 

this looks like a pretty good deal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33590

 

The Illuminas are really tuned more for heavier springs than stock. The lowest setting on the Illuminas is reportedly the same as the damping on the HPs. I don't have a shock dyno so I can't confirm but that's what a reputable source (actually several) have told me in the past. For stock or near stock spring rates I'd say the HPs would do just fine. If you put on 350# springs and a 1-1/8" front anti-sway I'd definately fork over for the Illuminas. Of course if you do that I'd avoid anything that even resembles a non-perfect road if you value your kidneys.