ZZtopp

iTrader: (1)

I'm considering dropping my car just a bit more than H-Techs have done, but not so low that I need a camber kit.. Has anybody driven on both sets of springs? Any recommendations or preferences?

ZinMiami

iTrader: (2)

It depends on what you are looking for and what your goals are. I have the Hotchkis and decided on them based on what they are meant to do.

The Hotchkis will:

1. Cause a conservative drop of no more than .7", normally no camber issues.

2. Decrease the rear bounce of the stock Z by using a lower than stock spring rate.

3. Provide for a very good balance of much improved handling while not adversely affecting the ride quality compared to stock.

4. Provide a good match to the damping capabilities of the stock shocks; ie. no need to switch to aftermarket shocks unless you want to.

5. Great bang for the buck IMHO. I paid under $400 for springs and sways shipped to my door.

Overall my experience has been very good and they do what I was looking for. I also put in the Hotchkis sways as part of my suspension upgrade.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask me more about the Hotchkis TVS kit if you like.

ZZtopp

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info.

The Konis and H-Tech's that I have right now are a good combo of handling and ride quality. I really don't want to lose anything in either area.....just looking for about the amount of drop that both the Hotchkis and Tein S-Tech springs offer. The RS-R Ti2000 G35 coupe springs would also offer a similar drop, but the rates might be little too soft...not sure if these are progressive or linear springs.

I'm also considering giving the Tokico d-specs a try.

ZinMiami

iTrader: (2)

The Hotchkis are linear.

ZZtopp

iTrader: (1)

I knew that......I was wondering about the RSR springs. Their website does not say.

ppw350Zunit

iTrader: (14)

that's the same reason why i'm really considering getting the hotchkin's instead of the s-tech's.

jreiter

iTrader: (6)

For what it's worth, I believe Hotchkis specifically designed their springs to work optimally with the stock shocks. Using aftermarket shocks should be completely unnecessary, and might actually not perform as good as using the stock shocks. (Shock damping levels typically should be taylored to match the spring rates being used.) That's why I like the idea of having a spring and shock set designed to go together.

ZinMiami

iTrader: (2)

According to Greg at GSC, which is where I bought my Hotchkis setup, that is exactly right. He did mention that the Konis go well with them as well and would be a next step if I wanted to improve thing a bit more.

But you are right they did seem to design the package for stock shocks. Diehards will criticize that aspect, but I think it was a good thing to do. Not everyone wants or needs to go all out. In my case I wanted a noticable/tangible improvement but wanted a practical daily driver. That's what I got. But even though this kit trys to be conservative the handling improvement is considerable over stock.

I think the vast majority of folks wanting to bump up street performance will find this system ideal if they give it a try. IMHO of course, YMMV.

Driven

Am running Hotchkis springs also...stock shocks...happy. From purely a highway driving standpoint I maybe should have considered a different set...but very happy with drop and fairly happy with ride. Not happy with weight...these puppies weighed a TON! Over 4lbs per spring! Anyway, I vaguely recall the RSR Ti2000 had a drop I would have liked also...and I think they were slightly progressive...which for me might have been better...good luck.

Dunc

The comment "fairly happy with the ride" beg's the question what arent you happy with? I am going to install Hotchkis springs and their sway bars on my roadster during the Christmas holidays. Do you have sways on also and can you expand what your not happy with on the ride?

Driven

Guess I typically get long winded and maybe my short response wasn't clear. What I was trying to say is that I'm "overall" happy. I tried to indicate that I am not a hardcore course driver and only autoX once in a great while. No, I don't have the sways, but plan to eventually. Because I like to be able to drink coffee without wearing it, the Hotchkis springs did little in my opinion to "soften" the ride. There will be many who argue against my opinion that our cars ride stiff to begin with...you know...the guys that say, "that stiffness is supposed to be there cause its a sports car and this is in direct relation to road feel and handling". I say they're full of crud. I've been in a Z06 which is arguably one of the best stock handling sports cars out there for the money and they ride much more smoothly on highway driving while giving nothing up on the track. I don't know...considering our cars weigh well over the 3K mark, I would have thought the right spring/shock combination might have given a smoother ride while not giving up performance. I did see a little improvement in the porpusing which my early '03 seemed to suffer a little bit from. So...to summarize, I didn't like the fact that these springs added nearly 20lbs to my overall weight, and that they didn't improve the highway ride. But I did get the look I wanted with a quality product at a very fair price. Make sense.

jreiter

iTrader: (6)

I know the Hotchkis springs are heavy... but they didn't feel that out of the ordinary when I held them. I have not, however, held the stock springs. Are the stock pieces substantially lighter? 20 pounds lighter?? That seems crazy. On my Audi, my stock springs and Neuspeed springs felt pretty identical when holding them. (I didn't weigh them on a scale.)

Driven

Yup! I actually weighed the stock and the Hotchkis. Can't remember what thread I posted the numbers on...and I didn't write them down anywhere, but my recollection was that they each were about 4.5lbs heavier than each stock spring...you DEFINITELY can feel the difference when you have one in one hand and one in the other!