I already installed eibach springs last year but never really wanted to invest in shocks plus many people told me that the stock p5 shocks were good enough even with the lower springs. But now i feel that if i went with a better shock maybe my car would respond a little better to potholes and not to mention add performance to the car. Any suggestions on which shocks i should go for.

 

Tokico struts seem to be the ones.

 

They are pretty much the only ones available so far, There are some crazy KYBs and Mazdaspeed adjustable dampers ($$$$$$$)


I heard from a guy at school that Tein is talking about making Type NR dampers for third gens but that is from a college drunk....

 

Anyone have firsthand experience w/ the Tokico Illuminas (spelling?) ?? Are they the Tokico's referred to above?

 

Nobody has any experience with Illuminas except for Tokico's R&D department because they're not available to the public yet.

You can buy OEM Tokico struts from the MP3 or MSP from your friendly neighborhood Mazda parts department, but no other Tokico shocks are available for BJ Protege yet.

 

I believe Tein already sells their SS kit for Proteges...

 

Is that the Super Street kit? I think that is a full coilover kit, not just struts. They make some nice short travel dampers desinged for use with the S-tech springs, but not for proteges yet. I forget the name too, Type NR or NA maybe??

 

Correct. Several high-end full-coilover kits are available (Tein, JIC Magic and AWR) but they're all expensive and they're not "struts", strictly speaking, since they also come with springs and adjustable perches. The only adjustable *struts* available for our cars are the expensive, no-warranty Mazdaspeeds.

I'm still holding out for Tokico Illuminas or Koni Sports. Both are supposedly under development.