lvcurvs

ok, I just installed these on saturday so this is an initial review of them and I'll update this in about a week or 2 once i get some mileage on them.
Also, i'm coming from an S2000 so if some of my info seems exaggerated (ex. understeer) please forgive me as well as my spelling....

Spec's: Car Has the 5 spoke acura Cl wheels but with stock sized TSX tires. Car is lowered on Tein S tech's and now the tokico's. No engine mods or tranny mods. Tire pressures are stock Acura per door label.

Stock suspension: The car is comfortable. Not mushy but def. not solid. Great for long trips, soaked up bumps well. Handling was fairly predictable but the car pushes into corners wicked bad. Good thing is that once into a long sweeper, like an offramp/on ramp, the car would settle and could hold a pretty good line with decent cornering speeds. Little bumps on straights and in corners were slightly noticeable but wouldn't cause the suspension to unsettle. Steering is surprisingly heavy.

Stock shocks with Tein S tech's: All stock ADJUSTABLE alignment angles adjusted to stock specs. Nice ride height, a little to bouncy for my tastes. A little more sensitive to bumps and little imperfections in the road but nothing major. Car follows the crown of the road a lot more. Chassis was a bit harder to settle down in a corner. When the suspension is fully loaded, I'd get a little bump steer if there was any decent seized bumps in the road and it would "bounce" the car off line a hair. Understeer was decreased a little but the bump steer in the rear would occasinally make the rear end feel like it was about to step out so it wasn't very comforting. Nothing surprising since I knew the stock shocks were'nt designed for these springs. Steering is a little lighter. A week goes by, knock in the RF. Check it out, blown strut. This thing has oil all over the place. When i was replacing them, I compressed the rod, 3 hours later, still didn't move. Glad I had new ones.

Tokico Blue shocks with Tein S-techs: Way better. Car is solid but not break neck stiff, responsive, VERY predictable. Car follows the road even more now and requires a tiny tiny bit more attention just driving down the road. More understeer is eliminated. Bumps are soaked up nicely with out feeling anything close to soft. On offramps/onramps, the suspension settles quickly and stays firm even while accelerating hard onto the freeway. Car actually turns in a little on acceleration. Not quite oversteer, just enough that it'll keep you in your lane with out having to turn more. Balance feels good. even braking, the nose dive isn't as much. Steering is back to being on the heavy side but nothing more then stock. They def. feel stiffer then the old tokico blues i've ridden on.

NOTES: This spring shock combo is great for the street. Not to stiff but not soft. Compared to an autocross/road racing setup, it's still nothing to write home about. Best way to describe the whole package is that it's a bit stiffer then the A-spec package. It compliments the car on both the sport and luxury side leaning more twords the sport side, obviously with out being a "Ricky Racer" type setup. Not bouncy in any way, just solid with out being bone jarring.

The struts came packaged nicely from Tokico. Double stacked, 2 on the left 2 on the right, foam peanuts between the struts and the box and in between the 4 struts. Came with new nuts for the tops of the strut rods.

Again, i have only had them on for a day and a half but the whole demeanor of the car has changed. Before, to me, it was more on the luxurious side now the whole sport theme has poked it's little head out and wow, i love it. This car is a great platform and I can't wait to poke and prod some more out of it. Oh yeah, def. need a rear sway bar. Like real bad. I'll update this later once I get more miles on them but so far i'm happy!!

lvcurvs

5 min edit thing. Before somebody says anything about bump steer, yes I know it was bump steer because not only could you feel it bottoming out, you could hear the thud occasionally when I loaded the suspension hard and hit a bump. Also, I forgot to mention that the day I installed the springs, I also cut off about an inch of the bump stops. Basically I cut off 1 "ring" off each stop. Mileage is at 74k as of this morning so this car is by no means new.

fury

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for sharing. any pics of the drop on the car?

jmathew34

i would love to see some pics too, and thanks for the write-up

lvcurvs

ok, so now it's been another week since i've had them on and I've had a chance to push the suspension a little more. Still liking it. Been up and down a dirt road and it's been pretty comfy. Not bouncing me out of the seat when i hit those "washboard" type sections of the road and not low enough to scrape some of the higher spots. That's def. a + because i plan on taking this thing snowboarding so I need it to deal with a little bit of snow. Everything else as far as predictability, ability for suspension to settle quickly etc.. is still as stated in my review. Right now the only thing to check out is the longevity of the Hp's compared to thier older versions.
Sorry guys, I'll try to get picts up here asap.


FURY-where'd you find the picture your using for your avatar?

jmathew34

^^ where in va are ya? i'd def love to see these in person if your in the ashburn/sterling or reston/herndon area

lvcurvs

I'm just outside of Fredericksburg. not too far from the border of Md. I'll post picts as soon as my brother brings my lap top back. Farthest north i normally go is Quantico and that's to get tat'd. How's that SC? I want one bad.

fury

iTrader: (1)

i pulled it way back on the fwtcc website but not sure it it's still there. it's an italian tuner company. if you pm me your email, i can send you the full sized pics.

GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

Lvcurvs, I purchased the same setup after reading your detailed article, thanks alot! The only difference is my springs are rated at 1.6 in, in the front and 1.2 in, in the back. The Tokico's sound great. Do you have any pictures of the set up on your car, it would help me out alot.

lvcurvs

GTSX-05-I tried pm'ing you but you can't get them yet. i have picts but can't upload them because i cannot get into anything from my work. I have them on my cell so i can send them to your e-mail or if anybody can post them for me, i'll send them to you and you can post them. Thanx!!

GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

Lvcurvs, I am still a new member so I cant accept or send personal messages yet. If you could send me the pictures to my email it would be greatly appreciated.

hg-auto@hotmail.com

lvcurvs

ok, sending it now. it's 3 picts. 1st shows the whole car, 2nd shows front wheel gap 3rd is just the front with a black grill and some evil looking clouds. if you can post them for me, that would be sweet.

ok, it just sent. sorry thier kind of bad, cell isn't the greatest to take picts with

GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the pictures, I cant wait to get these installed! I got quoted for $120CDN for the install however, I am planning on putting them on in early spring, since winter is upon us.

lvcurvs

No problem. you'll enjoy it. it's a great compromise between luxury and sport. I'm probably goin to switch to the eibach sportlines w/ in a couple months if i keep the car. I love the ride but I want something a little more solid. Like i said, i'm coming from several more performance oriented cars and i loved them ('07 civic Si, GTO, S2000) This whole "Luxury" thing is new to me and a bit diff. feeling.
anyways, good luck and enjoy!!

fury

iTrader: (1)

lvcurvs, can you email me the pics as well - otesrepsaj@hotmail.com. also, did you get the touring car pics that i sent you?

thanks

lvcurvs

FURY- Yes i got your picts. thank you. Also, my picts are sent to you. Any chance you can post them for me?

fury

iTrader: (1)

shitbox

great write up! the description is easy to understand from a reader point of view. kudos!

GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

I actually really like lvcurvs car, mind you the pictures are crap, but the TL Type S wheels look really good.

lvcurvs how are Tokico's holding up? any complaints or further comments?

Get some new pictures up ASAP!!

lvcurvs

Well, i'm going on 80k now so i've had them on for a little bit. Still the only thing that's a tiny tiny bit annoying is that the car feels undersprung, almost bouncy sometimes. The Teins are just to soft for my taste's. The struts though are holding up great. I've pushed on them pretty hard and they soaked up some pretty decent sized bumps and also held up to 4 people in the car and a loaded trunk with no problems on some decent length trips.
To increase the stiffness and get rid of a little of the bouncyness, I upped the tire pressures a bit and it has helped but I'd still like to go to the Eibach Sportlines after winter. Other then that, it's great. Still super comfy and solid, the ride height is perfect for a daily driven, well used car.
As fas the type s wheels go, i'm kindof on the fence on this one. Sometimes i like them because the fat spokes accent the car nicely but other times, I'm like wtf were these people thinking when they put them on. Oh well, i'll have new ones on after winter. some of you guys are going to hate it but it'll fit real nice with the color scheme i want to go with.
I'll post new picts here shortly. Currently i'm working on painting all the chrome black and i'm being super anal on it since i don't want to do it more then once, plus i'll have to redo my grill and rear emblem so that all the chrome parts match.

tsx1982

Any problems with these in the last few months? I'm about to pull the trigger on buying them.

GTSX-05

iTrader: (1)

I doubt there would be any problems...I say BUY them.. I have a set lying around I am waiting for spring to install mine.

Excelerate

iTrader: (1)

We have the TOKICO shocks in stock if anyone needs a set.

https://acurazine.com/forums/sponsored-sales-group-buys-10/tokico-hp-illumina-shocks-acura-cl-tl-tsx-380235/