Hey Guys,

Looking for opinions.

I have some money to spend on the car I am looking to do one of the following things:

-Sways and Springs (Bilstein b8 and swift spec-R) with Whiteline bushing essentials kit (FUCA, FLCA, compression rod, differential, etc.).

OR

-Quaife/Wavetrac LSD with 3.9/4.08 gears and rear differential bushing

Which one do you all think I should do?

The car is a 2006 Touring 350z with the stock VSLD. Car has about 60k miles.

Usage is mostly canyons with 2-3 track days a year and I am looking to increase cornering performance.

Thanks!

 

VLSD and stock suspension are extremely capable. What don't you like about your car's cornering right now?

 

Yea, I mean I really just want the car to feel tighter and more planted. The stock suspension is great don't get me wrong, but I just feel it is a little 'floaty.'

For LSD I'm wondering how much of a difference a true lsd will make for hard canyon driving in terms of feel and fun, but maybe there really isn't that big of a difference for street?

 

I just installed pss10 and godspeed sway bars. It feels completely different in a good way. Still not as good a handling as my 997 but very close.

I also have a 1.5 way lsd i was planning to install but now i'm just going to sell it

 

I say go for the suspension. Your stock VLSD may not be the best, but at least it's better than having an open diff. I feel like you'll get more benefit out of the suspension and bushing replacement, especially if you're looking to have the car feel "tighter and more planted".

As a side note, those happen to be the exact shocks, springs, and bushings I was planning to order soon. I'd love to hear how they work out for you.

 

i would say better tires. I have Toyo Proxes R1Rs all same size so I can rotate. 140 treadwear rating so they won't last long on a daily driver though. my car is predominantly driven on track 30-40 times per year. i drive a comfortable/boring Camry daily.

 

^^ Tires... +1 (assuming you need new ones as Z's have generally decent tires on them unless someone cheaped out previously.)

But choosing between suspension and VLSD....

Definitely suspension. While VLSD benefits will be evident in many corners, suspension works 100% of the time. (Yes, before anyone says it, even straight line stability is improved.)

Here's a helpful post seeing as how others indicate that it's Springtime and that means "new suspension"! Hahahaha.

 

Thanks everyone for input! Yea I already have really good tires (RE-11s with Nismo Rims) for what my purposes are.

Based on comments I'm starting to lean toward the suspension stuff now just because I am realizing that I will probably notice it more on a day-to-day basis.

@MicVelo yea I read that post. Very Helpful. I was originally looking at RS-Rs instead of the Swifts, but since I was going to buy a rear camber arm anyway I decided to just go with the spec-Rs since I have heard very good things about them and know others have had success with that combo.

@lifekenophobic cool, maybe I will do a post at some point on them once I get everything put on the car. One interesting thing I found was that if you go here and control+F "350z" you will find that the B8 shocks are not listed for our car.

But if you go here and enter the part numbers for the B8 shocks (ex. 24-101585 for rear B8 shock) you will see that it says they are B8, but with a description for a B6 HD.

Very strange....makes me wonder what is going on with these.

 

Don't forget weight reduction. Grab some lightweight wheels, flywheel, ect. I've always done poly bushings on my Zs, but noticed much better handling with spherical or going back to rubber.

 

From what I understand, the B8 is just a revamped B6 anyway. It was designed more specifically for lower springs, I believe.

I was planning to order mine from ConceptZ (https://conceptzperformance.com/Cart...ype=350Z&CA=36), who list them as B8's.

Solid bushings would be out of the question for me personally, but I'm curious about the poly bushings now. Swift springs provide a pretty mild drop, but do you think it would run through the rubber bushings fairly quick?

 

Honestly I have heard you should definitely do bushings when lowering if you are serious about performance. Typically the compression rod bushings are the first to go so if you were only going to do one I would do that one.

The FUCA and FLCA bushings are a good idea as this car is hard on them especially when lowered, but not 100% necessary.

My philosophy is just my car has 60k now these bushings are starting to wear anyway let me just replace them now and I will be able to enjoy the benefits for longer. Finish the job completely.

I have heard good things about Whitelines, but these poly bushings all have the possibility of starting to squeak after a period of time so that is something to keep in mind (although I hear Whitelines are better about this).