(All testing done with Megan Racing springs.)solo_ryder wrote:Why do you state that the HP's are the best of the bunch. I think the S/R's are the best of the 3. I had a set of HPs and I hated them. Blew 1 in 4 months of owning them on measly, soft a-- suspension techniques springs. I was not impressed for the 400$ I paid for the shocks.concealer404 wrote: GR2s vs. S/Rs? Toss a coin. Price is about the same. HPs are better, but i don't find them worth the $ premium over the other two options.
GR2 - lasted about 5,000 miles then blew. Didn't bother trying to get them replaced under warranty (good luck with that, btw
), because they weren't even close to being valved properly to deal with the Megans.S/R - I had a real hard time telling the difference between these and the GR2s. At the end of the day, yes, they're valved for a "performance" variant of an Escort that uses Eibach Pro-kit springs. Eibach Pro-Kit springs are GARBAGE progressive springs with a very low rate. The S/R is NOT a great performance strut no matter how you look at it. Worth the money, for sure, but it will never hold up to higher spring rates, and the Megans i was running weren't even that high. 300f/250r if i remember correctly.
The HPs weren't great.... but they held up. Still slightly underdamped for the Megans, but they were closer than the other two. But at twice the price? Screw 'em. Don't even bother.
I think i understand what you're saying.... but just want to make sure we're on the same page. Valving doesn't have much to do with "lowering springs." Stroke does, which you said earlier. Your standard lowering springs have extremely low spring rates to retain comfort. (Pro-kit, whatever junk comes on the Tokico kit) The reason why the S/R holds up is because of the stroke/shaft. It's not bottoming out and blowing seals when you hit a pothole. That said, i'd bet good money that if you put a new S/R and a new HP on a shock dyno against each other, you'd find that the HP is valved stiffer, and is better suited for a true performance spring. (Better is relative. It's still utter crap.)The S/R's on the other hand have lasted over 3 years now and are still kicking. I blew one strut after 2 years of usage all while being on stiff a--, lowest setting ground control sleeves which are way to stiff for the dampening/rebound of the S/R's. If I had the HPs I would almost guarantee you the HPs woulda blown within 6 months. I realize the S/Rs are made by tokico but the valving is just that much better to make the strut better suited to lowering springs etc. Not to mention the sturt shaft itself is shorter in the ZX2 front shock so it gives you alil more travel in the shock.
Sure, none of the three are. For performance, they all suck. Bad.The GR2s do come at the back of the pack I agree, but there is one thing they have that the others do not offer and that is a lifetime warranty, even with lowering springs that do not go lower then 2". At least that is what I was told by a reputable parts store fellow when I was pricing them out. If it wasnt for the cheap pricing of the S/Rs (GR2 isnt that cheap in Canada, about the same as HP) I woulda went with those and replaced them no questions asked whenever I needed.
The HP is not a high end strut, it is a OEM replacment with slightly better valving specs. The GR2 is basically OEM replacement.
But hey, you get what you pay for. 
Holding out for direct bolt on while driving an obscure derelict chassis that nobody cares about is a bit.... nearsighted. You guys need to find options while you still can. Your options come from other somewhat unpopular cars, so you' better figure it out quick. You'll never have a good "bolt-on" option with these things. That time passed a decade ago. You can still get great stuff, but there's a distinct lack of midrange suspension knowledge. (I consider the Illumina and the AGX a midrange shock. They're...... good. But not great.) Right now, everyone is convinced they've either got the S/R + whatever springs, or KSports, then AWR. There's a distinct lack of anything in between.The Tokico Illumina is a higher end strut and so is the KYB AGX. Both offer dampening adjustibilty and increased valving. Sadly they are not options for us MX folk (direct bolt on) so we are stuck with these mid-low range options that really dont need too much discussion. Unless of course you can afford to shell out for Koni inserts.
[/quote]solo_ryder wrote:This is true, I was contemplating taking my brothers illumina/GC setup and running it on my mx, but he ended up selling them with his car. The ride difference was quite noticeable front he S/R and GC combo. It did not bob as much in the front end leading me to believe the valving was much better. The strut shaft was also alot beefier in the front and rear so they would be fairly heavy duty for a MX, good for track and auto-x for sure.concealer404 wrote:Bear in mind that i'm not 100% familiar with these cars other than tearing down my donor car, but i'm pretty sure that you can use anything the BG cars can use. And the BG cars CAN use 2nd gen MX6/Probe Illuminas. You'll need spacers between the spindle and ears on the rear, and that's about it. They also have a shorter stroke, which would be a good thing for autox application in particular.
As for the spacers, actually I think they are needed on the front, you will also need the probe/mx6 strut bolts as since you will be spacing them out you will need a longer bolt. The rears should bolt up fine
Sure, just bear in mind that the setup may have behaved completely differently on your car. When valving a shock, you also have to account for geometry and the weight of the car. They're somewhat different, but not too bad between MX3 and MX6 i guess, though. MX3 GS is way heavier than i would have thought. Within about 100lbs of the MX6, so i bet it would work.
You're probably right on the spacers... shortly after i did the research as to what was needed (still have the charts around somewhere, i'll find them tomorrow for you guys), i ended up going Koni/GroundControl/QA1/Eibach Race/Cusco, and didn't bother testing fitting the Illuminas.
I like this thread.
You can register your car and pay an entry fee. Thursday nights is pinks but you only ever see the high profile cars down there. Used to go to the drag at Greenvalley but they closed several years back.
