Hi there

After recently taking my car on track - See me here on Google Video - I think I want to upgrade my suspension from stock.

The thing is, the driveway to my home is 'kinked' such as any drop will actually scrape down the underside of the car, so I don't want any drop.

Is that possible? Obviously, I can achieve this with coilovers, but my major concern is a much better track ride, yet the car still being realistic to drive for street and no (or minimal, i.e. less than 10mm) drop.

I like the look of the Hotchkis TVS but I think the drop is too much

Thanks in advance!

 

Start with swaybars and tokico d-specs on stock springs, which should stiffen up your rid considerably, then decide if you need springs

 

i am a bit biased (see signature) but i would say just throw a set of Koni Yellow Sport Adjustable shocks on there and see how that affects the handling, the range of dampening is incredible, should be pretty straight forward to get a setup that you like - from there investigate a sway bar setup and you would have a pretty nice seutp

 

As stated above... Sway bars and new Shocks...

You can also upgrade some bushings as well...

 

Thanks everyone. Anyone have any particular recommendations on swaybars? I've always been a Hotchkis fan (from my Celica days); but what else would people recommend?

 

Pretty much all of the popular swaybars are good, just make sure they are adjustable, so you can set them to where you like, thats most important. Hotchkis and Eibach seem to be the best bang for the buck(cheapest)

 

+1 on Koni- cheap and easy to install.

Yet, I would take a set of adjustable A-Arms before I bought sways. Yet, if you have the money get both.

I love my Hotchkis, yet there are many other high quality brands. I would just look for a used ones that where adjustable.

As for A-Arms out of all the ones I have seen to date, there is still only one I would buy (and I have) - 350EVO! I have seen members on here selling used ones.

 

Thank you, come again!

 

Thinking about the stock suspension. What to you hope changes with the installation of a new setup?

Looking at your join date, I'm thinking your have the unrevised suspenison on your z. Koni's were specifically developed to have less compression dampning and better rebound control vs unrevised oem shocks.

 

If you have an 03 Z, the Konis are a no brainer.

 

look into Cusco sway bars....rear isnt adjustable but theyre about as stiff as they come i.e. No body roll hardly...or 350evo sways..theyre good too...both versions have been used in full race 350Z's

 

If anything on the cusco sway bars, the rear is perfect. The front needs to be on hte 'soft' setting which is far from soft anyway. Otherwise, the car gets pretty hairy to control and becomes unpredictable.

 

really?

i'm on the hard setting for the cusco front.. it feels good!

 

what is the primary function of the sway bars, and where exactly are they mounted?

 

A sway bar is a torsonal spring that connects the left and right tire. They are usually mounted to one of the lower suspension linkages via an end-link. The sway bar effects the amount of roll and the RATE at which weight is transferred in the car. They do not sprevent or reduce the amount of weight transfer just the rate at which it occurs.
By using this spring to connect the left and right side of the car, as the outside tire is compressed in a turn, the sway bar transfers some of that energy to the inside wheel and compresses it, thus the stiffer the bar the less the inside will raise as compared to the outside.
The problem with the sway bar is that the stiffer you go with it, the less the independent suspension becomes independent. Thus, if you hit a bump on the left side, it will effect the right side.
Sway bars are installed on the front and rear of independent suspension cars, yet not always. Some manufatures do not put a sway bar on the rear of the car. Yet, the 350Z does come with a sway bar on the front and the rear of the car. It looks like a bent up black tube steel at the bottom of the car. It is easy to see the rear sway bar on our cars by simply looking from the rear under the car.

Hope that helps?