I'm looking to set my car up with the following parts.
I already have hotchkis sways and 350z h-techs 358/375
I have bought koni yellows and I'm wondering if I should go with
espelir springs or stay with the tein. Espelirs are progressive but
they have stiffer final rates at 409/515.
Any opinions from you guys??
Also, any recommendations of setting the koni rebound??
I was going to go pretty soft in the rear and hard front.
Need help!!

 

Hard-Front/Soft-Rear is the way to go to on the RWD. I wouldn't choose either of those springs. Why not the Hotchkis springs to match the sways?

 

Hard front and soft rear would increase the understeer even more in our cars.

 

 

i've found the harder F softer R to work the best in the 350z with konis.

not all the way hard/soft. but i beleive the setting was 2 clicks from the softest setting in the rear. about 1 click from the hardest setting in the front i believe.

 

I found out that not in the just the Z, but most RWD cars. Just like the FWD, just the opposite, front-soft, rear-hard. It seemed to have balanced everything out. Like you said, not the hardest setting, but just more than the other side.

 

I would love to go with hotchkis springs except that my car will be too low. Remember, it is my daily driver and I have a bodykit on there so I was looking to drop less than an inch(I have a G..). From my research, people seem to like the softer rear setting and harder front setting on the konis.
With the sways, I have the new 4-way setting in the front which are:
22-48-82-129 and 80 - 125 - 185% stiffer than OEM.
I was going to go with 48 and 125..

I still need help on the springs though!!

 

Absolutely go with Linear springs.

 

What about the Nissan Motorsports T2 springs? They are linear and work well with the Koni yellows. It's the setup I've been running on my T2 car until this year.

 

What is the spring rate?
How low is the drop from stock?
Keep in mind that 350z springs drop an additional .5 in. on a G35..

 

Nismo T2 350Z Linear springs 1”/1” drop on 350Z
Spring rates in LBS 625/700

Having run Koni's on my custom coilover setup with 448/427 rates, I could see how they'd be ok with the T2 springs, but frankly I ran the shocks almost at full rebound and wished for more control. IMO they'd be a much better match with TcKline shocks which are known to be valved for spring rates up to 800lbs in rate. JRZ shocks of course would also be another great choice.

 

When I ran 350Z H-techs is got the distinct impresison that they were not as stiff as their specs said they were.

The Espelirs may have decent peak spring rate specs but that is a mute point given that you have to work past much softer spring rates to get to those peak rates.

You won't really find a optimal choice in the spring aftermarket. You need to run something that's stiff enough to keep you off the bump stops. Since at a .5" drop your not going to have a great deal of bump travel. Since you already have the Koni's, IMO running the T2 springs would be the lessor to two evils, a bit short of rebound control, but enough spring to fend off running out of travel. Though I do know how you can make the front's into coilovers and run your choice of spring rate, the issue of enough spring to stay off the bump stops remains.

 

running the t2 springs will be too low of a drop for me..
I'm trying to avoid camber issues in the front and back.
So you are saying I will have issues with hitting the bump stops with the h-tech springs and koni??

 

I'm also considering the tanabe sustec pros.
The spring rates are 10kg/8kg which seems very ideal.
Plus, this can be done under 1k but it won't have any adjustment except height.

 

What kind of camber are you looking to run front and rear? With the T2 springs, you can expect -2 front and you can dial some of it out of the rear if you want.

 

Is that counting the extra .5 drop with the G?

 

I am running koni yellows with tom motorsport springs (500/500), 1" drop all around, square tire setup (r-comps), medium setting for sways for both f & r. This setup is a bit loose for my taste, but on staggered street tires (255f/275r), it feels really good. I might try going with a softer sway bar setting in the rear when I run the square setup again. Camber is about 2.5f/2.0r

Also, I've cut off about 1" from the rear bump stops, and I'm still bottoming out my shocks. I haven't gotten into the front suspension to install zip ties, so I don't know whether they are running out of travel.

Aside from the lack of suspension travel, I think these Koni's feel really planted. I might cut off another 1/4" from the bump stops.

 

If you're still considering the Espelirs you'll need more help.

I ordered the ESG059 (G Coupe) springs you're quoting above, they're no longer available from Mackin the importer. They sent me the ESG055 (350Z) springs that are rated 386/515 peak, and will include the extra 1/2" drop that I'm not crazy about either.

We both seem to be fighting the budget "bits & pieces" approach to a dual purpose suspension. Despite the large choice of springs out there it seems they're all compromised in some way or another. I guess unless you want to pay up to Mr. TC Kline you can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

That's what it seems like right now.
I'm looking into some coilover set-up as of right now.
It seems like Tanabe's basic coilover has a good spring rate and valving, but I havn't heard a detailed review from somebody who has tracked this particular coilover and the fact that it's not adjustable.
Stance coilover is an another option for me as they have received great reviews except the noise it makes... I'm actually leaning toward stance if I were to do a coilover set-up.

 

Hard front and softer rear is definitely the way to go IMO.

The Hotchkis drop is very subtle. I only got just under 1" up front and btw .5 to .75" rear drop. The only problem is that they are a little soft - especially for R compounds. In the pics below you can see that I actually managed to pick a tire off the ground, and the one below that shows how much compression the rear goes through in a quicker corner.

I then ran the T2 springs with Konis and they were able to do a respectable job at full rebound. I didn't care for the rear bias spring rate though. It wasn't too bad in the quicker corners where rear rotation was ideal, but in highly transitional sections (slalom) it was difficult to really attack.

I'm currently running 500 front Truechoice coilover conversion and 427 rear 'revised' with the yellows and they work very well for street/Solo2 duty. I've since had the front rebuilt and slightly revalved so I'm looking forward to seeing how they perform this spring.