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Finally… Here are pictures of my car with Tein s-Tech springs and Bilstein B8 shocks. The drop is minimal (0.7” front and 0.6” rear).
Note: I didn’t post “before” pictures because the car had a stock suspension, and stock 350z pictures are available everywhere.
The wheels are Enkei Ternjin Tuning wheels. The wheel sizes are 18x8.5” and 18x9.5” with Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires (245/40-18” front and 275/40-18” rear).
ABOUT ENKEI WHEELS
For those not familiar with Enkei, the company makes great wheels in several categories. The categories of interest to 350z owners are Racing and Tuning. Many of the Enkei Racing and Tuning wheels are available in offsets designed for rear wheel drive cars.
Enkei Racing wheels are light weight (often near or less than 20 lbs for a 18x10.5” wheel and much less for 17” wheels), very strong, and designed to prevent tire slippage on the rim itself. The price for these wheels makes them a great value, and they are very popular with owners who enjoy tracking their cars.
Enkei Tuning wheels are heavier (typically 3 to 4 pounds heavier than a same-sized and similar-design Racing wheel) and are often not available in the wider Racing wheels sizes (10.5”). A typical maximum width for Tuning wheels is 9.5”. Although the Tuning wheels are heavier, less attractive, and lack larger widths; they actually are excellent wheels, and are about $100+ less than the comparative Racing wheel.
EDIT: I forgot to provide the wheel offsets. The front 18x8.5” is 25mm and the rear 18x9.5” is 15mm.
Finally… Here are pictures of my car with Tein s-Tech springs and Bilstein B8 shocks. The drop is minimal (0.7” front and 0.6” rear).
(PICS EDITED FOR SPACE CONSIDERATIONS)
Note: I didn’t post “before” pictures because the car had a stock suspension, and stock 350z pictures are available everywhere.
The wheels are Enkei Ternjin Tuning wheels. The wheel sizes are 18x8.5” and 18x9.5” with Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires (245/40-18” front and 275/40-18” rear).
ABOUT ENKEI WHEELS
For those not familiar with Enkei, the company makes great wheels in several categories. The categories of interest to 350z owners are Racing and Tuning. Many of the Enkei Racing and Tuning wheels are available in offsets designed for rear wheel drive cars.
Enkei Racing wheels are light weight (often near or less than 20 lbs for a 18x10.5” wheel and much less for 17” wheels), very strong, and designed to prevent tire slippage on the rim itself. The price for these wheels makes them a great value, and they are very popular with owners who enjoy tracking their cars.
Enkei Tuning wheels are heavier (typically 3 to 4 pounds heavier than a same-sized and similar-design Racing wheel) and are often not available in the wider Racing wheels sizes (10.5”). A typical maximum width for Tuning wheels is 9.5”. Although the Tuning wheels are heavier, less attractive, and lack larger widths; they actually are excellent wheels, and are about $100+ less than the comparative Racing wheel.
EDIT: I forgot to provide the wheel offsets. The front 18x8.5” is 25mm and the rear 18x9.5” is 15mm.
Excellent, Spike!! Great to finally see the rest of the car beside those outstanding seats in your avatar pic!!
As I said waaaaaay back at the beginning of this thread, a GREAT SETUP for the street (and even for the occasional HPDE!)
It sits perfect in my opinion.... not a$$-dragging low, relatively conservative and effective tire/wheel setup. Good job!
Slight change in plan. Canceled my order with ajusa.com for the B12 Pro kit (they were very cool about it - great company to deal with I highly recommend them). The lead time was just to long. I did try to piece together my own kit, but it came close to $1000 (ajusa.com really does have a great deal for them). So I when back to my original plan and ordered the B16 Pss10 kit from THMotorsports.com for $1709 shipped. Add in the following items and I think I might have a pretty decent suspension system for both street and track.
Hotchkis Sport Suspension Sport Anti-Roll Bars Front and Rear (tirerack.com $333.00)
Cusco Upper Control Arms (Forged Performance $469.00)
SPC Nissan/Infiniti Rear Camber Kit (zspeed $152.00)
Powergrid Endlinks front and rear (ebay $320)
Lug:
Good to know for others but I personally would have persisted with contacting Bilstein directly for a supplier. I had to wait about 4 weeks for my shocks, although I ordered from a German online company, saved around £120 compared to a UK distributor.
Still, nice to have that set up!
(checking out the vids)
MCJEEPERS - no helmets ????
Spike:
Are you on spacers or are the wheels like that ?
(I like the rays but they are tucked in too much on my car, however I don't want to mess up any steering feel from spacers)
Spike:
Are you on spacers or are the wheels like that ?
(I like the rays but they are tucked in too much on my car, however I don't want to mess up any steering feel from spacers)
Rob, I’m not using spacers. Enkei wheels are available in offsets that bring your tires flush with the fenders.
The main reason I canceled the order for the B12 Pro Kit is I wanted to install everything during my vacation at the end of the month.
Piecing together a kit on my own wasnt hard, but the cost of the kit started to climb to the point that I just said *bump it* just get the pss10 - I may want the adjustability later. I've been looking into Solo autocross here in atlanta. The solo time attack courses are driven by normal people in daily-drivers. I may try it out one day.
Btw that's not me in the video (i wish I could drive like that). It's just a video of a 350z with the pss10 kit that answered all of my questions of the viability of the pss10 kit for track use.
^^ Thanks for posting the videos. Fun to watch. It shows the importance of suspension and tires.
_______________________________________________ EDIT: Watching the video I’m surprised at how relaxed the driver appears and how seemingly little effort he expends passing every car in the race.
^^ Thanks for posting the videos. Fun to watch. It shows the importance of suspension and tires.
_______________________________________________ EDIT: Watching the video I’m surprised at how relaxed the driver appears and how seemingly little effort he expends passing every car in the race.
He has tons of videos on youtube. The thing that really impressed me other then his driving skills, is his Z's only mods are tires (Mich super sports) and suspension (pss10s). He does list an upgraded exhaust in one of his other videos (cant remember which).
His Z is overpowered on the straightaways by the GT3 and Vet but he always seems to catch up in the turns.
^^ You describe exactly what I noticed watching the videos. His Z is too slow to catch the higher hp-cars on the straights, but he confidently catches the higher-powered cars in the turns and curves.
^^ You describe exactly what I noticed watching the videos. His Z is too slow to catch the higher hp-cars on the straights, but he confidently catches the higher-powered cars in the turns and curves.
His driving seems almost effortless.
And this is the living proof of why I'm always harping to "improve the software before the hardware" or in case anyone's not paying attention, "driving school before mods."
"A stock car is better in the hands of a talented driver than a super modified car is with a newb with more bravado than skills at the wheel."
Can anyone confirm if the Bilstein B12 Pro-Kit comes with B6 or B8 shocks? I've been getting conflicting information. Main reason I'm curious is I may want to switch to Swift springs at some point and feel they'd be a better match with the B8's. The B12 kit can be found for less than buying B8's separately.
Can anyone confirm if the Bilstein B12 Pro-Kit comes with B6 or B8 shocks? I've been getting conflicting information. Main reason I'm curious is I may want to switch to Swift springs at some point and feel they'd be a better match with the B8's. The B12 kit can be found for less than buying B8's separately.
B6 (Heavy Duty).
Verified. You can measure them AND/OR read the PNs on the shock bodies or the boxes they came in. PN's for B8s are listed in Spike's (OP) first post on this thread. (And I think I added the ProKit/B6 PNs somewhere in this thread as well.)
Great shocks with great ride quality. I've not driven a Z on the B8s but I'm betting they're still more comfortable than my Koni Sports. But then again, I don't drive a Z for comfort. Heh heh. (But I do like my teeth too so some compromise must be made.)
This thread is awesome and has answered most of my questions about suspension upgrades.
Given that I daily drive my 07 Z and it need new shocks anyways it sounds like bilsteins B6 are a perfect replacement.
I have been debating springs though and given that I don't want to lower the car much my options have been the stock springs or Tein S-Tech. Reading through this thread it sounds like the the nismo springs might be a good option for better, optimal?, performance while having a stiffer but civilized ride.
I am leaning towards the nismo + b6/8 or Tein S-Tech + B6. From this thread it sounds like nismo would be the best non-adjustable setup for handling, and the S-Tech is a great handling setup for the street.
Two questions, what are your opinions on daily driving the nismo springs, and is the nismo ride height lower than the stock (07-08) car and would need B8s or would the b6s be fine?
1. The Nismo S-Tune springs which lower the car about 0.6” and are ordered as a kit that includes the shocks. You see it advertised as a JDM Nismo S-Tune kit.
2. Nismo springs that were OEM on the 350z Nismo model have the same ride height as a stock 350z. You order these from the Nissan dealerships parts department.
The 350z OEM Nismo spring has slightly higher final spring rates than the Nismo S-Tune springs (i.e. the S-Tune springs are slightly “softer’). When comparing spring rates you need to factor in the spring rate’s range since the S-Tune is progressive front and rear, and the Nismo 350z OEM spring is linear in front and progressive in the rear (as are other Nissan 350z stock springs).
You might find it difficult locating a JDM Nismo S-Tune suspension kit; they are not available from Nissan dealerships. If you do locate one, it will be expensive and likely on backorder (and probably 60-120 days).
You buy the OEM Nismo springs (that came on the 350z Nismo model) from a Nissan dealership, but will probably be a special order and also expensive.
So you can see that you will probably be ordering aftermarket springs. Many aftermarket springs are every bit as good as the OEM springs. You can drop the car a half inch or even slightly more without the requirement of additional suspension components or making any modifications to the fenders.
Either of the Bilstein shocks (B6 or B8) will work for the application you are asking about (no or minmal drop). The B6 is good down to a one inch drop while the B8 allows almost 2 inches (which many would categorize as overkill).
1. The Nismo S-Tune springs which lower the car about 0.6” and are ordered as a kit that includes the shocks. You see it advertised as a JDM Nismo S-Tune kit.
2. Nismo springs that were OEM on the 350z Nismo model have the same ride height as a stock 350z. You order these from the Nissan dealerships parts department.
The 350z OEM Nismo spring has slightly higher final spring rates than the Nismo S-Tune springs (i.e. the S-Tune springs are slightly “softer’). When comparing spring rates you need to factor in the spring rate’s range since the S-Tune is progressive front and rear, and the Nismo 350z OEM spring is linear in front and progressive in the rear (as are other Nissan 350z stock springs).
You might find it difficult locating a JDM Nismo S-Tune suspension kit; they are not available from Nissan dealerships. If you do locate one, it will be expensive and likely on backorder (and probably 60-120 days).
You buy the OEM Nismo springs (that came on the 350z Nismo model) from a Nissan dealership, but will probably be a special order and also expensive.
So you can see that you will probably be ordering aftermarket springs. Many aftermarket springs are every bit as good as the OEM springs. You can drop the car a half inch or even slightly more without the requirement of additional suspension components or making any modifications to the fenders.
Either of the Bilstein shocks (B6 or B8) will work for the application you are asking about (no or minmal drop). The B6 is good down to a one inch drop while the B8 allows almost 2 inches (which many would categorize as overkill).
Thanks Spike, I was thinking of the OEM Nismo springs and yes I don't know if they are worth 400 over the Tein S-Tech. Courtesy has them on there website for ~600 (85 for front and 200 for rear) and shipping from there warehouse, but I don't know if they are really in stock.
According to that, it's the b8 shocks.
As I said, I'd just email them to double check and confirm it
Effectively it's the same unit, just that the b8's are for going even lower.
The Bilstein B12 kit available* stateside is definitely the B12 ProKit with B6 shocks.
*Available means they're sold here, but sure doesn't mean any vendors have 'em in stock as was pointed out earlier in this thread. Rare as hen's teeth apparently. I got mine from TR 18-some months ago.
There IS a B12 Sportline kit but I have NEVER seen them available here in the U.S. The Sportline kit has really low springs (Eibach Sportline) paired with B8s. But again, no vendor I've looked at has ever offered that kit here. And Rob, you KNOW I've done my shopping.
But yeah, when I got my kit, I looked up the part numbers on the shocks to be sure. Definitely B6 HDs.
EDIT: Thought I'd pull out this list of parts to save anyone from going back to look for it...
Parts Reference:
Bilstein B12 ProKit: PN 46-190529
Individual (a la carte) Bilsteins
Bilstein B6 HD (Front Left): PN 24-118927
Bilstein B6 HD (Front Right): PN 24-118934
Bilstein B6 HD (Rear L&R): PN 24-118941
Added Note: My B12 ProKit definitely came with these part numbers on the shock bodies.
Bilstein B8 Sport (Front Left): PN 24-101561
Bilstein B8 Sport (Front Right): PN 24-101578
Bilstein B8 Sport (Rear L&R): PN 24-101585
Special note: as was pointed out earlier in this thread, the Bilstein B6 HD is good down to lowering of -30mm; Bilstein B8 Sport good down to 50mm. (Say bye bye to spoiler lips, exhaust components, and x-members. Laff!)
Koni Yellow Sport (Front Left): PN 8241-1216LSPORT
Koni Yellow Sport (Front Right): PN 8241-1216RSPORT
Koni Yellow Sport (Rear L&R): PN 8241-1217SPORT
1. The Nismo S-Tune springs which lower the car about 0.6” and are ordered as a kit that includes the shocks. You see it advertised as a JDM Nismo S-Tune kit.
2. Nismo springs that were OEM on the 350z Nismo model have the same ride height as a stock 350z. You order these from the Nissan dealerships parts department.
The 350z OEM Nismo spring has slightly higher final spring rates than the Nismo S-Tune springs (i.e. the S-Tune springs are slightly “softer’). When comparing spring rates you need to factor in the spring rate’s range since the S-Tune is progressive front and rear, and the Nismo 350z OEM spring is linear in front and progressive in the rear (as are other Nissan 350z stock springs).
You might find it difficult locating a JDM Nismo S-Tune suspension kit; they are not available from Nissan dealerships. If you do locate one, it will be expensive and likely on backorder (and probably 60-120 days).
You buy the OEM Nismo springs (that came on the 350z Nismo model) from a Nissan dealership, but will probably be a special order and also expensive.
So you can see that you will probably be ordering aftermarket springs. Many aftermarket springs are every bit as good as the OEM springs. You can drop the car a half inch or even slightly more without the requirement of additional suspension components or making any modifications to the fenders.
Either of the Bilstein shocks (B6 or B8) will work for the application you are asking about (no or minmal drop). The B6 is good down to a one inch drop while the B8 allows almost 2 inches (which many would categorize as overkill).
Thanks as always, Spike, GREAT info. I wasn't actually aware that the OEM Nismo springs weren't any lower than stock Z (of that era, with post-2004.5 - or thereabouts - revised springs). You made me go out to the garage with a tape measure. The Niz IS about the same height (hub to fender lip measurement) as my '03 was stock. Learn something new every day.
Off-Topic Hi-jack, sorry: My current project/research (car-wise), thanks to you and your blasted new wheels , is looking at new wheels for the '03 (not that it needs 'em ). I get so turned around looking at all the differing offsets and trying to keep it all straight in my head. I mean, I understand all of it (my having been a parts, tire and wheel salesman as a side job at one time) but trying to differentiate between a +15 RPF-1 and a +27 NT03+M with respect to actual fitment on my car, well..... grrrrrrrrrr..... Hahahahaha... In the end, best thing to do is keep the Track V1s intact and the money in my pocket.
Thanks Spike, I was thinking of the OEM Nismo springs and yes I don't know if they are worth 400 over the Tein S-Tech. Courtesy has them on there website for ~600 (85 for front and 200 for rear) and shipping from there warehouse, but I don't know if they are really in stock.
Rancor, buy the Teins or other aftermarket spring set and use the $350 you save over the Nismo springs and get a set of sway bars. Best suspension upgrade you'll make.
04-02-2015, 04:47 PM
PICs of Tein s-Tech & Bilstein B8
and has answered most of my questions about suspension upgrades. 
, is looking at new wheels for the '03 (not that it needs 'em 
Hahahahaha... In the end, best thing to do is keep the Track V1s intact and the money in my pocket.