Yim's Review of RS*R & Tokico Down & HP

---

Name: Yim
Email: [email protected]
Product: RS*R & Tokico
Model: Down & HP
Store: Discountperformance.com and STILLEN
Price: $460 incl shipping
Car: Nissan RS13 240SX 1990
Worth_it: Yes
Difficulty_Rating: 3
Date: 18 Apr 1999

Problems

Just make sure you have at least 1 other person and, if you care, a set of boots and bushings. Munroe makes the front boots and bushings, but only Nissan carries the rears. You must replace the front bushings because they will have shit the bed by now. The rear Tokicos come with bushings, but the boots have to be found, unless they are in good shape and can be reused.

Tips

Use a 17mm medium depth bit for pretty much all of the strut-to-suspension work. 14mm are used on all of the strut shafts. The beauty of the RS*R springs is that you don't need a spring compressor to affix them to the new struts. Don't bother upgrading to these springs if you're not going to get new struts; the stock crap, especially after 9 years, turns to shit and has absolutely no dampening capability left. You may even blow the seal on the shaft housing and kiss the strut goodbye.

Thoughts

It is pretty much covered by one word: damn. Looks are subtle but well appreciated over the normal wheel well gap. Performance is where it's at. The car is point-and-shoot now. Corners are easily dominated and oversteer can be easily dialed in because of the slight increase in front negative camber. Ride is much more controlled and firmer over the stock Tokico shitters, especially on those S13s that weren't equipped with the sport package, like mine. Dampening is short and well controlled with little floatiness and oscillating rebound common with the old struts.

Other

If you go with this setup, you are pretty much ready to start autoXing out of the box. I plan on fitting competition tires on different alloys, so an alignment isn't quite necessary. For camber adjustment, I suppose looking for camber plates could help. A highly worthwile investment in your ride if you want to exploit its legendary handling capabilities.