To all of you who have upgraded your suspension, does it make the car more fun? I know with coilovers/sways, etc. the car can get around the track faster, but do you have more fun with it? You know that visceral experience of being one with the road and car? I'd like to walk away from the car and feel "damn that was fun!" I know the Elise can give that experience, but I'm wondering if I get some Zeals, etc., if I can feel close to the same experience.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

You’ve been patient!

The Fun factor is extremely subjective and personal. So this is my take on it, comparing my Z and the Elise Mk1 I also drove…

I’m not that interested in lap time. It’s a relatively good indicator of my progress as a driver, but there are many indicators of that. Stress, how “Zen” I feel with a given difficulty level, blabla..

The Elise is hard to beat in the “symbiosis” department. But it’s not a daily driver. It’s actually pretty awkward to get in and out of that little thing!

The Z is well balanced, great engine and responsive steering. Out of the box, it is pretty fun. If you want more of the responsiveness, dampers are probably your best upgrade. Ride height doesn’t need to be changed.

Good tires, not too sticky, will allow you to get the car in the sweet spot, slightly sliding, within reasonable speed if you’re on the road.

Another “fun” upgrade is a louder exhaust. The kid in me that used to put playing cards in his bicycle wheels loves that! Lol

Voilà!

 

Definitely an exhaust will up the fun factor as with an intake. I wouldn't say that installing my coilovers made the car more fun. It just makes the car hotter when i have fun!

 

I race autocross with the 350Z as is. I suspect that I could make the car better with some suspension mods. But each time that I run, my times get better without altering the suspension.

Fix the driver first then the car.

 

I think any time you make an adjustment on the car you can go either way.

For instance, you go and get yourself a hard set of springs and suddenly every drive to the store is like a ride into town on a buckboard circa 1800. On the other hand, if you install too soft a spring, it might feel floaty on the freeway or unresponsive in hard corners.

This is what makes tuning hard. Even opinions of others can be misleading. I for one think the stock ride is good on my 04.5, others think it's soft, while still others think it's hard. You also have to consider the roads you drive on most of the time. I would love to slam my car but I know I would end up scraping in the canyons and I would rather not worry about it. If I did worry, that would be less fun.

I am not saying don't mod, I am saying you need to research research research to try and figure out what you do with your car and what parts will make what you do feel better. If you get the car setup right for you, it will be more fun, if you set it up for somebody else or overestimate what you want the car to be when you are done, it will not be fun.

Chris

 

lol. I completely gave up on this post. Thanks for the responses. If the Elise didn't come out, I would have thrown thousands into the damn thing, but now those Exige S's are coming out. If I was in the States I could afford both, but nooo... I'm in Canada. Land of a 1000 surcharges.

I've driven my 350 hard, on and off the track, and I'm a very good driver. That Elise is so damn fun though. The 350 is a terrific daily driver, and is fun. I just need a bit more road feel. If only I could take it to the Elise dealer so they could breed.

 

More fun? Nah, the car is a blast from the second you drive it off the lot. Maybe....less stressful. When I'm on a twisty backroad now, I don't have to fight the understeer as much and I can concentrate on enjoying the turns.

 

There are plenty of Canucks in the States. Join us ! Aha!

One of my coworker just bought a used Elise '06. The thing has 1,600 miles on it. MSRP 52k, he paid 39k... Mmmmh...

 

He drives an Elise on Columbus roads? Brave man.

 

The car is still in Texas.

But yeah, that's the plan.

Nice white one with black stripes, black wheels.

Sport package
Touring package
Hard top

It's a sweet ride !

 

Awesome. Green with envy.

 

See, we get extra Canadian charges. To get the package described above is 68,000 plus 17 percent tax. That's more than 60 k US

 

One more reason why I moved to the States !

basically, I own a 2005 350Z Track and a 2006 Titan LE for the price of a Canadian 350Z....

 

I really, really want to move to the states. Maybe next year? Good thing is driving a 350 here is like driving a porsche in the states... bad thing is... you're paying US porsche prices.