Tokico D-Spec Adjustment Questions
01-20-2009, 09:07 AM
#1
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Merritt Island, FL
Posts: 996
Tokico D-Spec Adjustment Questions
I am looking to buying some D-Specs, but I have a few questions about their operation and settings.
1) How hard is it to adjust their damping rate? For those of you that have the remote adjusters for the rear shocks, was it worth the $30 or is it not such a big deal to adjust them?
2) How often do you adjust them? Do you like the mix it up, or do you just change them for the driving that you have planned ahead of you? eg. Adjust them at the track and then back to street use?
3) What settings do you use for drag use, auto cross, street? Let me know.
4) Was it worth the money? I go to the local drag strip ever couple of weeks and I am lowered with H&R Race Springs. The car is also a daily driver and I have 20s. Also, right now the ride quality isn't bad if driving on a smooth road, other than that the ride quality sucks pretty bad.
Thanks guys and gals!
1) How hard is it to adjust their damping rate? For those of you that have the remote adjusters for the rear shocks, was it worth the $30 or is it not such a big deal to adjust them?
2) How often do you adjust them? Do you like the mix it up, or do you just change them for the driving that you have planned ahead of you? eg. Adjust them at the track and then back to street use?
3) What settings do you use for drag use, auto cross, street? Let me know.
4) Was it worth the money? I go to the local drag strip ever couple of weeks and I am lowered with H&R Race Springs. The car is also a daily driver and I have 20s. Also, right now the ride quality isn't bad if driving on a smooth road, other than that the ride quality sucks pretty bad.
Thanks guys and gals!
01-20-2009, 10:17 AM
#2
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1,692
Per your questions;
1) How hard is it to adjust their damping rate? For those of you that have the remote adjusters for the rear shocks, was it worth the $30 or is it not such a big deal to adjust them? Answer - I can adjust all 4 within 5 minutes. I don't have the remote damper adjustments but also don't have the Shaker 1000.
2) How often do you adjust them? Do you like the mix it up, or do you just change them for the driving that you have planned ahead of you? eg. Adjust them at the track and then back to street use? Answer - I adjust them when I get to the road course for track days and then reset them before going home.
3) What settings do you use for drag use, auto cross, street? Let me know. Answer - 4 from full soft front and rear for street. 2 from full soft for road course or 1 if road course is really smooth. Going to experiment more next season with track settings.
4) Was it worth the money? I go to the local drag strip ever couple of weeks and I am lowered with H&R Race Springs. The car is also a daily driver and I have 20s. Also, right now the ride quality isn't bad if driving on a smooth road, other than that the ride quality sucks pretty bad. Answer - yes for how I use the car. As you can see from my sig and My Garage the car is heavily modified for road course track days. It is also a DD.
1) How hard is it to adjust their damping rate? For those of you that have the remote adjusters for the rear shocks, was it worth the $30 or is it not such a big deal to adjust them? Answer - I can adjust all 4 within 5 minutes. I don't have the remote damper adjustments but also don't have the Shaker 1000.
2) How often do you adjust them? Do you like the mix it up, or do you just change them for the driving that you have planned ahead of you? eg. Adjust them at the track and then back to street use? Answer - I adjust them when I get to the road course for track days and then reset them before going home.
3) What settings do you use for drag use, auto cross, street? Let me know. Answer - 4 from full soft front and rear for street. 2 from full soft for road course or 1 if road course is really smooth. Going to experiment more next season with track settings.
4) Was it worth the money? I go to the local drag strip ever couple of weeks and I am lowered with H&R Race Springs. The car is also a daily driver and I have 20s. Also, right now the ride quality isn't bad if driving on a smooth road, other than that the ride quality sucks pretty bad. Answer - yes for how I use the car. As you can see from my sig and My Garage the car is heavily modified for road course track days. It is also a DD.
01-20-2009, 12:47 PM
#4
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: San Jose, California
Posts: 966
I don't ever really hit the track; however, I do drive pretty aggressive and I don't care much for my ride quality. That being said, my stang is my DD for now and I have my D-Specs set to 3 1/2 out from full firm and they stay that way most of the time. The ride is bumpy, but very stable through corners, I love the way it handles!
01-20-2009, 01:56 PM
#5
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 100
Believe it or not, the remote adjusters were one of the big reasons I went with the D-Specs. I was going to have to make adjustments constantly for autocross and track use and didn't want to be pulling the carpet back each time. Some people will probably say that this is a ridiculous reason to choose one damper over another, but they don't understand how lazy I am.
If I were going to be using the car primarily for street use and I had H&R race springs, I would probably go with the Koni Sports instead.
If I were going to be using the car primarily for street use and I had H&R race springs, I would probably go with the Koni Sports instead.
01-20-2009, 02:28 PM
#6
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: San Jose, California
Posts: 966
Believe it or not, the remote adjusters were one of the big reasons I went with the D-Specs. I was going to have to make adjustments constantly for autocross and track use and didn't want to be pulling the carpet back each time. Some people will probably say that this is a ridiculous reason to choose one damper over another, but they don't understand how lazy I am.
If I were going to be using the car primarily for street use and I had H&R race springs, I would probably go with the Koni Sports instead.
If I were going to be using the car primarily for street use and I had H&R race springs, I would probably go with the Koni Sports instead.
01-20-2009, 04:02 PM
#7
5th Gear Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 2,388
The adjustability is very easy indeed.
I run 4 turns out from full hard for street use, for both fronts and rears (so far that's my preferred settings, but I'm still tweaking and trying variations).
For drag strip, I only used them once so far and haven't got a 'best use' setting yet, definitely softer up front, thinking 6.5 turns out from hard, and still not sure about the rears, but 2 turns from full hard worked pretty well. FWIW at the track I'd recommend getting a video of your launch and seeing what the car is doing with different settings...of course this is something I've yet to do but plan to.
Overall compared to stock, the ride is a little harsher I would have to say, but the handling on corners and overall is so much better.
I run 4 turns out from full hard for street use, for both fronts and rears (so far that's my preferred settings, but I'm still tweaking and trying variations).
For drag strip, I only used them once so far and haven't got a 'best use' setting yet, definitely softer up front, thinking 6.5 turns out from hard, and still not sure about the rears, but 2 turns from full hard worked pretty well. FWIW at the track I'd recommend getting a video of your launch and seeing what the car is doing with different settings...of course this is something I've yet to do but plan to.
Overall compared to stock, the ride is a little harsher I would have to say, but the handling on corners and overall is so much better.
01-20-2009, 04:37 PM
#8
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Harrisburg PA
Posts: 1,778
I have the remote adjusters and I'm lazy too..LOL. Seriously though, I wouldnt' buy them again unless I had the Shaker1K in the rear.
I use to play with the adjustments all the time but, I got lazy and just leave them set fairly firm. Unless I have the wife and kid in the car, then need to set them softer.
In AutoX, or Road Track there is no one setting that all folks should use. It totally depends on a variety of things. Tires, track, springs, your driving style, weather raining?), etc, etc. You have to experiment and come up with what works for your car for a given scenario. As an example: I had a good setting front and rear when I ran Falken Azenis - harder in front than rear. Then I switched to Nitto R-comps and it totally changed my settings - softer in front than rear.
Heck yea they are worth the money. Either the D-specs or Koni's are great bang for the buck, big improvement over OEM.
I use to play with the adjustments all the time but, I got lazy and just leave them set fairly firm. Unless I have the wife and kid in the car, then need to set them softer.
In AutoX, or Road Track there is no one setting that all folks should use. It totally depends on a variety of things. Tires, track, springs, your driving style, weather raining?), etc, etc. You have to experiment and come up with what works for your car for a given scenario. As an example: I had a good setting front and rear when I ran Falken Azenis - harder in front than rear. Then I switched to Nitto R-comps and it totally changed my settings - softer in front than rear.
Heck yea they are worth the money. Either the D-specs or Koni's are great bang for the buck, big improvement over OEM.
01-21-2009, 11:49 AM
#9
Former Sponsor
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,936
First, H&R Race springs are quite stiff. While I feel Koni's are better in general, the difference is even greater with your springs. I've run both dampers, and even dynoed both to see how they compared. Suffice to say the Koni's have a lot more room on top than the D-specs do, and with the H&R's higher rates that's damping you might well need.
As for the remote adjusters. Save your money. It takes all of another 2 second to access the top of the shock (D-spec or Koni) directly.
As for the remote adjusters. Save your money. It takes all of another 2 second to access the top of the shock (D-spec or Koni) directly.
01-21-2009, 08:24 PM
#10
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location:
Posts: 100
I have a convert and it is no problem to adjust them without the remote. I use my car as a daily driver and occationally for autocross. After I got them adjusted to were I like them (pretty soft) I haven't touched them.