I've been reading for about 2 hours and need some guidance or at least a point in right direction.

I have both cars in the title but the ZR has a much better ride stock than the coupe. I have upgraded the ZR now with the Nismo spring and strut kit and frankly it still rides much smoother than the choppy coupe ride. My question is if I replace the 03 suspension parts with that of the 06 (springs, struts and sways) will I get the smoother ride of the 06. At this point not looking for the car to hanle any better as both cars were comparable, but the quality of ride seems much less in the coupe. My track has less than 40k miles and it has been choppy like this since I bought it with 22k miles on the dash. Any help would be appreciated as I don't really wish to buy another suspension set up if I can help it.

 

The track is supposed to have a more stiff ride than the other models.

 

Please don't post misinformation. The suspension is the same on all 03-04 Z's, the Track just has less padding in the seats.

Sway bars are the same in all years. 05+ has better dampeners and slightly higher spring rates in the rear, so if they are in good condition I would put them on the Track model for the sole reason that they have less miles on them.

 

um, no it is not


the suspension got upgraded from the original 2003 and some model 2004 suspensions (the 2004.5 and up) so if you take the newer suspension and drop it on one of the older models, the ride should be better.

 

Yes

 

The 2004.5 revision included a stiffer front sway bar courtesy of thicker hollow wall construction, 17% stiffer to be exact.

The revision also includes a change in the rear dustshields where Nissan added in a soft form insert to their construction (front dustshield/bumpstops were unchaged).

 

Are the spring rates and dampeners actually different? I did read about the sway bars being thicker. At the present time I am not ready to buy new suspension parts to install on the coupe if ever

Thanks for all the help.

 

Yes.

The revised suspension which occured mid way in 2004 production was done to address issues with ride and drive quality. Included in that revision is a change to all 4 dampers, 25% stiffer rear springs (342 to 427), a stiffer front sway bar (+17% as mentioned), and a revised rear shock dustshield/bumpstops (also as mentioned).

Nissan was very public about these changes and the shock part numbers changed as well. I tested the springs for 2003 and 2005, so that's how we know the rear spring rates changed. I also shock dyno's for 2003, I tried to locate front shocks from a 2005 car to dyno, but wasn't able to (I already ahve rear 2005 shocks on hand).

2006 shock part numbers are different yet again vs 2003/2004, and 2004.5/2005. Nissan never made mention of any change, if they might be valved differently vs 04.5/05, we do not know. If you were to send me one front and rear oem 06 shock, I would dyno them for free and return them on my dime.