Has anyone tried the Hotchkiss sway bars/spring kit? I want to install an s tune suspension package on my 2004 Roadster and came across the Hotchkiss kit while shopping. Any help/advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

According to my dealer, Cherry Hill NIssan (NJ) the NIMSO S-tune package only fits the 350 coupe. I am also thinking of doing the Hotchkis TVS spring/bar kit. Any other roadster owner using this yet? Are there any wheel alignment issued associated with the suspesion drop cause by this kit?

 

I have the Hotchkis bars and springs. The bars don't seem to be much stiffer than stock if I set it to medium(f)/medium(r). I was going to try stiff(f)/stiff(r) to see if it does anything.

As for the springs, they are heavier than the OEM's. The drop is nice at roughly 3/4". The ride is a little bit better because they softened up the rear spring rate a bit. The oscillating bounce on concrete pavement has been reduced quite a bit, but it's still a firm ride. As for performance on a track, I won't know yet. I'll probably get more understeer with the stiffer springs up front.

 

I've had widely differing opinions about whether the nismo s tune suspension fits the Roadster. Can anybody out there say for sure? It's a lot of money to spend only to learn the kit don't fit.

Considering dnguyent's experience, Ive got to wonder whether the nismo kit makes that much of a difference, either. I ask this since the Hotchkiss front bar is 35mm/the nismo is 36mm, and the Hotchkiss rear bar is 24mm/the nismo is 22mm. Also. I don't think the nismo bars have the 3 position progressive that the Hotchkiss bars have.

Help from any source would be appreciated.

 

Hope the Nismo Type S fits on the Roadster, since I have it on my car as we speak

Makes a huge improvement in handling over stock setup... Plus it only lowers you 0.8" so you wont be scraping driveway approaches... I highly recommend it....

Only thing is, Nissan will not warrenty it on the Roadster.... The reason is because Nissan never tested it on the Roadster like they have for the coupe even tho the suspension setups are identical.... Its just a BS reason so they don't have to cover it... Anyways it works good for anyone interested in installing it..

With my stock setup it would feel like the backend was floating a bit when I took corners really hard... with the Nismo Type S, the floating feeling is completly gone....

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm struggling between the nismo and the Hotchkiss 3 position progressive. The price difference is substantial--nismo is much more but includes shocks.

If Nissan won't warranty either on the Roadster, I'm leaning toward the Hotchkiss. with some Bilsteins later. Whaddya think?

 

Not sure, I've never used Hotchkiss before on any of my cars... I actually have the Nismo Type S Suspension on my G35 Sedan also.. I like to stick to factory aftermarket parts... When I had my 2000 Honda Prelude It was all Mugen parts with the exception of the Jackson Racing Supercharger...

In all honesty this thread is the first i've heard of hotchkiss.... Maybe someone else has some experience with them...

Good Luck with modding your car...

 

I spoke to Hotchkis today. They do not recommend using thier springs on the roadster. I was told that the rear of the roadster is heavier than the coupe and this caused additional compression of the springs.

 

Thanks for the Info. The nismo kit seems to be the best way to go, although the nismo price seems high. I'm shopping for a price I can afford and will post a new thread with my results.

 

Roadster is maybe 150 lbs heavier... I can't see where that would do anything to the springs, considering if someone put couple 12" woofers and amps in the back of his 350z, the weight would be pretty close to the roadster.... To me that says Hotchkis make low quality springs if there worried about 150 lbs...

 

Interesting thought. The same must be true for the average weight passenger. This reinforces that nismo is probably the way to go.

 

Just a follow-up. I just had the NISMO sways installed this week. Springs are still stock. The sway bars made a significant improvement. The understeer is gone and the car now has a very neutral feel. Also swapped out the orange side markers for the clear. The look of the clear markers is much nicer ( BTW the clear markers are illegal in NJ)