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Input on Tokico and Koni shocks

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Old Mar 18, 2005 | 10:30 PM
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Input on Tokico and Koni shocks

Hey guys, im going to purchase some new shocks around 3 weeks from now and I was wondering what are the differences between the koni's and tokico 5 ways? My car will mainly for street. What do you guys suggest between these two? what is the best setup?
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Old Mar 19, 2005 | 02:47 AM
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The Konis are better built and have a lifetime warranty, which is reflected in their higher price. They also have 3 different spring perches to change the ride height. The plus of the Tokicos is that they have detented valve settings, where the Konis don't.

All in all, the Konis are a higher quality shock, with arguably better valving. However, many people are happy with their Tokicos and they are significantly cheaper.
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Old Mar 19, 2005 | 01:31 PM
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What are the advantages of the detented valve settings? I am also going to make my decision on which shock to use pretty soon.
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Old Mar 19, 2005 | 02:49 PM
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Originally Posted by oneflytrini
What are the advantages of the detented valve settings? I am also going to make my decision on which shock to use pretty soon.
With the Tokicos, there are 5 valving settings, with a number and a detent at each setting. With the Konis, there are just 2 full turns with their tool to go from full soft to full hard. It's a bit more difficult to make sure you get equal valving settings from side-to-side (and front-to-rear also if you run same valving at all four corners).
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Old Mar 19, 2005 | 05:05 PM
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Thanks rynberg, any more input guys?
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Old Mar 21, 2005 | 11:23 AM
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i say tokicos are nice
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Old Mar 21, 2005 | 01:21 PM
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Originally Posted by 7_rocket
Thanks rynberg, any more input guys?
7_rocket,

You can't really get any more complete info than what rynberg already said. The main (only) benefit to Tokicos is valve settings. I'm running Tokicos on my car and I use different settings on the street verse the track. I simply make a few clicks at the track, and I'm off and going; same thing with I leave the track. With the Koni's you'll need to keep track of the number of turns you are making per side to able to duplicate your setup after/before changes.

It's not a big deal to some as Koni definitely has other advantages (i.e. being able to be revalved for stronger spings).
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Old Mar 21, 2005 | 10:15 PM
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Thanks Mahjik
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Old Mar 22, 2005 | 06:13 PM
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7 Rocket,

Nice thread as I am interested as well. Many people have directed me to this website, as they supposedly offer the best prices...www.shox.com

good luck
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Old Mar 22, 2005 | 08:56 PM
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wow, didnt know, but you have to try and duplicate stiffness setting on the konigs? you think being of high quality, that they wouldve put in some feature to make more accurate and precise settings, especially in between from full hard stiffness to the softest setting. i'm swinging towards the tokicos because of the 'click' setting feature.

chris

Last edited by sicminded; Mar 22, 2005 at 08:58 PM.
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Old Mar 22, 2005 | 09:44 PM
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Originally Posted by sicminded
wow, didnt know, but you have to try and duplicate stiffness setting on the konigs? you think being of high quality, that they wouldve put in some feature to make more accurate and precise settings, especially in between from full hard stiffness to the softest setting. i'm swinging towards the tokicos because of the 'click' setting feature.

chris
It's not really that big of a deal. For street use, you are going to be 0-1/2 turns from full soft (unless you're insane), it's not that hard to line it up using the tool. For auto-x/track, you are going to 0-1/4 from full hard up front and anywhere from full soft to full hard on the rears. There's not really any reason to try to hit some random point in the middle....that's why I think all the JDM coilovers with 16-way settings are pretty damn silly.

Yes, the click would be nice but it's really not much of an issue, and that's coming from someone who regularly goes to the auto-x and track and so is changing the settings frequently. For street use, you'll hardly ever touch them.
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Old Mar 22, 2005 | 11:14 PM
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ah, i see. i overlooked or misread that it does come with some tool to help the adjustments. welp, if i go shocks, i'm swinging back over to the konigs if i had the extra cash.

chris
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Old Mar 23, 2005 | 03:20 PM
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Interesting info from Koni, comparing Koni-Sports to the competition (the shocks/struts actually tested were for Mustang and Civic fitments, but probably are generalizable). Caveat emptor!

http://www.koni-na.com/tools/
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Old Mar 31, 2005 | 07:43 PM
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Originally Posted by rynberg
The Konis are better built and have a lifetime warranty, which is reflected in their higher price. They also have 3 different spring perches to change the ride height. The plus of the Tokicos is that they have detented valve settings, where the Konis don't.

All in all, the Konis are a higher quality shock, with arguably better valving. However, many people are happy with their Tokicos and they are significantly cheaper.
rynberg, i'm just wondering if you can still use the adjustable perch on the FC? from my understanding on the FC it is simply a damper insert on the front, using the stock strust housing. it would seem to be that you would not have perch adjustability?

Last edited by coldfire; Mar 31, 2005 at 07:46 PM.
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