Hey I am thinking about purchasing the Hotchkis kit soon. I did a search but didn't find enough info for me on what I really want to know. My Z is my daily driver so if I lower it I don't want to lose reliability just for looks. I saw some posts for 2006 but I wanted to see if anyone has had any bad experiences with the kit say 1 or even two years down the road with their stock suspension after installing this kit. Any advice is appreciated as always! Thanks guys, later.
-Andy

 

i dont have experience with the hotchkis myself, i was so close to getting them. but i think im gonna go with the tanabe gf210 springs instead because it offers more of a drop then hotchkis. from what i know, correct me if im wrong, but the hotckis should be fine with stock struts. and anything more then 1"drop you will have to get camber to allign it back to stock specs? but anyways, i think either way you cant go wrong with aftermarket struts while you are at it. with the extra load/drop from the hotchkis, overtime the stock struts should start to wear, how long? who knows? but mine as well install struts now while you are at it, better to install them now and if anything swap back to your stocks, then to ride your stocks till they are done and then getting new ones.
im getting the tokico d-spec struts to go with my tanabe gf210, seems like a pretty good setup for alot of people here. and i like to keep ALL my oem parts in my garage just incase one day i needa swap them back, so i dont have to go through the trouble looking for oem parts.

 

I love my TVS kit! IMO, for a daily driven car this is a perfect match. Doesn't lower the car so much you can't get over anything but still enough to give a nice stance. And the Sway bars are awesome! Once you play with the setting to fit your driving style you'll be golden.

 

yea forgot about that, tvs kit comes with springs and sways, very good combo, the sways are adjustable. would go good with tokico d spec adjustable shocks too

 

I highly recommend Koni over tokico. Just a much better shock. More adjustablity also.

 

Thanks guys! I appreciate the help!

 

beware of endlink problems. I have had mine on less than 400miles and am already experiencing frontend clunking. I am not sure if I am just going to adjust to a softer setting or breakdown and by the 400 aftermarket links

 

I have about 3K miles in my TVS kit, and love it...but i do need to Koni shocks to really make it handle great on the track. But great for the price!

BTW: If your sway bars are "clunking" the end links just need to be tightened up...

 

really great kit-20k with my kit on-no problems at all!I have my sways set on the 120 stiffer over stock (WOW)-0 body roll.

 

How do you guys feel about the rear spring rate of the TVS kit? This is for the '06+ Z owners. Hotchkis rears are nearly 100 lbs/inch softer than OEM on the newer Zs, although fronts are stiffer. That is the only thing that's making me doubt them.

 

I've had mine on for a while now and have had no issues. It's a great drop for daily, the ride is just as good as stock if not better. As mentioned before, it's not too drastic of a drop that you can't get over things. Here's a pic. or 2





Wheels are 19" w/ 255/35 in front and 285/35 rear.

 

Looking good as usual Method, soo jealous

 

My wife won me the TVS Stage 1 kit at last year's ZdayZ. I autocross, so my car's balance at the limit is more important to me than it used to be. After researching the spring rates, I decided to go with the RS-R Ti2000 springs.

The Hotchkis sways can balance-out the Z with either springs, but because I autocross twice a month, I decided to stay close to my 05's stock spring rates. (I didn't want to stress the shocks/struts beyond the lowering and autocrossing)

That being said, I would have used the whole kit if my Z were just for DD and occasional autocrossing. (Or if I had an 03-04.5 Z)

The RS-R's give an even .6" drop at all corners where the Hotchkis springs lower the rear just a little more than the front and give the car a better look. IMHO

Oh, and the Hotchkis sways are great for the street or track.

 

I have TVS kit + Tokico d-specs. Love it.

 

I have also been considering this kit, but also wondered about the rear spring rate vs the tvs.

 

The car feels stiffer all the way around...front and rear...and with no "nose-dive" under very hard braking...and I have a 06 Grand Touring with the TVS 1 kit

 

just put on these springs... Not super low, yet still noticable... Rides much better now, feels like you're glued to the road and alot less body roll... Best part, i havent scrapped on anything yet!!!

I can see alot of people on here not liking these though cause its not LOOOWWWW enough for them, but im happy with the stance...

Will def be picking up the Hotchkis sways and some shocks in the near future...

 

ur going to want spacers if you have stock wheels, so add those to the equation. If you dont have them, the wheels will looked tucked into the wheel well. I'll try and post up some pictures today if I get a chance. I am trying to order mine through a sponser. I am still waiting for my reply

 

So even being a bit lower, and the rear springs being softer, you are noticing less body roll AND less nose dive under hard braking? Makes me think the suspension geometry actually gets BETTER after you lower it.

From what I've been reading online, when you lower a car it messes with the center of gravity and the roll center of the car so that you USUALLY get more roll and more nose dive because now the geometry is out of whack. Sounds like you are observing the opposite.

Thanks for the observation, helps a lot. I've been obsessing for months over how lowering the Z affects the overall suspension geometry.

 

The front springs are stiffer than stock. (for less nose dive)

The rear springs are softer but the Hotchkis sways, that come with the TVS kit, stiffen up roll resistance. Without the sways, the perception of less body roll may come from having a lower center of gravity.