Ordered the Tokico HP blue shocks from forum sponsor THMotorsports.com. Units arrived fast and as ordered, and I got them installed today at my local shop. My car is a 2004 6mt sport sedan.

First driving impressions: Nice. My car has 97,000 miles on it, so the original shocks were...uhmmm..."a little tired." The new shocks have brought back a lot of the new car feel, high speed stability, and razor sharp reflexes I associated with my G when new. If I could I would dial in a TINY bit more stiffness, but overall I'm not unhappy with the valving. As best I can tell, these are pretty much identical to the OE sport suspension, so if you're looking for more stiffness you might want to go with the D-Specs.

The only down side is that I can now feel a little undamped high frequency chassis motion that I think must be coming from the tires. A few psi in the tires might get rid of that and sharpen the response some more.

Overall a good purchase and very necessary for a car with that kind of mileage on it.

One question for the group: My mechanic called me during the install and told me the rears are about 1.5" shorter than OE. I called THM really quick and he told me that I had the right shocks and yes they were a little shorter. Anybody noticed this, and is this correct? I guess it wouldn't make any difference unless I was about to catch air, and there doesn't seem to be any problem, so I'm really just double checking this by the group.

Thanks.

 

I just installed mine today but didnt notice that they were shorter, but the ride is much better though im running 350z revised springs on my sedan

 

Are the HPs a good match for the 350Z revised springs? I was thinking about getting the D-Specs, but I'm probably never going to adjust them.

 

what's the diffeence between HP's and d-specs?

 

HP=not adjustable, D-Spec=adjustable.

 

Maybe the hi-frequency motion damping is what Infiniti was referring to when they said in the marketing description that the G35 was equipped with "ripple control" shocks from the factory. Though Tokico was the OEM shock supplier, IIRC.

 

z shocks are shorter than the G shocks..

you got Z shocks.

Did the ride height change?

 

most aftermarket shocks are shorter than stock. i got the blues also & my ride is pretty good. play with the tire pressure & you'll see a difference in the ride.

 

Dudefish, a couple of questions I hope you can answer:

- did the ride height change at all?
- did you use the OEM springs?

thanks

 

Nope.

Yep.

I think in retrospect I would have gone with the d-specs or Bilstein sport shocks. Something stiffer. I find that I want more damping.

 

Love my d-specs. keep them set four from full stiff. They really make a difference.

 

thanks for your reply. so, what's the affect of HP Blues and OEM springs? - what are they doing, exactly, that you're not liking?... are you talking about the high-frequency motion? appreciate the explanation, seriously considering HP's.

 

Not sure I can really communicate or even figure out exactly what's going on with the chassis. I do think the undamped high frequency motions are coming from the tires but havent experimented around with tire pressures to get rid of it. I still think I've got spoiled compression rod bushings, tie rods, or something else that is preventing everything from working just right. Confounding all that is that the roads around here aren't as smooth as they once were.

I guess I'm just saying at least if I had the d-specs I'd be able to tweak them to see if extra (or less) damping would help.

 

I have a question relating to the Tokico HP's. I have the OEM 350 z springs and am planning on installing them with Tokico HP's in the spring. Should I order the 350z or G35 shocks and struts? I would think I should get the z's.

 

Wondering if you have sorted the issues out with the Tokico Blues. I am considering them looking for replacement dampers close to OEM non-sports in my 2003 Coupe.