Boomer

Thanks, Jeff. I will do so.

jmark

iTrader: (1)

Bump

jmark

iTrader: (1)

Jim,
Let us know how Carter does with the Z at the Tire Rack Solo Championship. Good luck.

jmark

iTrader: (1)

Carter did pretty well finishing in 6th and the only 350Z close to the S2000's & Boxster.

I got this note from Gordon from Koni when I asked about the bounce and the stock shocks/springs.

Mark,

>Are the Koni Yellow Sport shocks designed to eliminate the stock Z's bounce and work with the stock springs? <

Yes. All the testing that was done was with the stock springs. When we were finished and happy with the settings, we made that the full soft position. Thanks for writing.

Gordon

TCL

Mark, good info.

jmark

iTrader: (1)

You are quite welcome. This is the way I am leaning as far as suspension upgrades. This way if you Auto X the car you can stay stock. Now if Koni will just get them produced.......TCL you coming to the GA Cup race at VIR in October? Both 350Z's (dwnshift & Jeff@Performance) should be there in GSII.

10531178

Spoke to Koni earlier this week.

They said no new shocks for the 350z 'til next year.

TCL

I haven't been to VIR yet since it's on the other end of the state (Summit Point is a lot closer to me). The GA race may give me an excuse.

TCL

If they've been pushed to next year, let's hope it's early in the year. I'll most likely do the sway bars this year so I can feel the results of one change at a time.

jmark

iTrader: (1)

I asked Gordon at Koni about your statement and here is answer.

Gordon,

I am hearing from www.my350z.com members Koni will not have the 350Z SA Yellow Sport shocks till next year instead of late fall. Can you confirm or deny this?

Thanks,
Mark

Mark,

There is a chance that the shocks may not become available until after the first of the year but it still looks like they could be ready by late fall/ end of year. Please don't forget that these are estimates. The tooling and fixtures are being made for the first production run and this will have a huge effect on the exact release date. The whole "next year" thing was a bit of a fudge factor in case there are any delays that come up during the tooling. Without seeing the posting, I have a feeling that this wasn't mentioned. Thanks for writing.

Gordon

Boomer

I certainly hope it doesn't go into next year. I know they have to do it right, but I'm near my limit on the ride on this car. If I can't get some relief, selling it becomes a real possibility. I have 2 artificial hips and this worthless suspension on the Z has me in pain most of the time. I am driving over 3000 miles beginning on the 21st of this month and I hope I can handle it. If I am unable to tolerate the ride on this trip, I won't spend another dime on it and I will never buy another Nissan product the rest of my life.

With the Konis to be available soon(in June or July), I've been gritting my teeth and waiting. I won't wait for Jan. 2004 for the Konis, the Z will be history. Its a year old 9/9/03 w/5700+ miles and Nissan has done nothing to address many of the problems this car's suspension has had. Keith

little_rod

Keith, I am not sure if the Konis will fullfill what you are complaining about. They should decrease the bounce, but the ride should be even firmer than stock. Hopefully, it won't affect your stance on the rest of Nissan's products, cause really, the 350Z is going to ride firmer than any other car in their line.

Anyone know for sure that they will be firmer than stock?

jmark

iTrader: (1)

Boomer,

I hope your trip goes well. I would hate to see you sell the Z. Hopefully Koni will come through sooner than later. My ride complaints are more on the secondary roads than interstates.

Gsedan35

iTrader: (10)

With my conversations with Gordon, getting deeper into the R&D aspects of the new struts. He specifically mentioned that the problem with the stock struts is that Nissan dialed in to much compresssion dampening in a effort to get really good turn in and quicker overall responce. He said they(Koni) specifically designed their struts to have LESS compression dampening. Knowing that, the Koni's should have less, what some people would term,........harshness.

What I want to know is what spring rate limits did they design into the struts? Yellow's usually top out ar around 600/500.

little_rod

Hmmm, if the Konis do provide less harshness, they might get on a lot of people's to buy list.

Boomer

I Want firmer than stock! That's what is wrong w/the suspension, oversprung/underdamped. A MUCH firmer shock will control the springs' tendencies to bounce, unlike the stock shocks. I know you are trying to help, but don't think its firmness that causes me pain, its the lack of REBOUND control from the sloppy shocks that does it. Give me a firm shock and soft springs anytime and the ride will be much better than what we have and will be more controlled also.

Gcoupe35 has it correct, from Gordon at Koni, the stock shocks are overdamped on the compression stroke and underdamped on the rebound. This combination =Harshness, crashing from bump to bump on secondary roads and floating on wavy interstates. A stiff spring can be matched with a shock that is firmer on the rebound and will both ride and handle better over the road, any road, smooth or rough. That is how most sport suspended BMWs are set up.

Our stock suspension works better on the dragstrip being set up the way it is now. Think about it. Stiff springs and lots of compression stiffness on the shocks could reduce axle tramp and give you a better hookup at the strip. I didn't buy a dragster, I bought the reincarnation of the spirit of the original 240Z which was NOT a dragster, it was setup to be a road car over all road surfaces. Those of you who do dragrace, fine, but I am not interested. I want a real car, not a car which rides like crap over so many road surfaces. Remember, a rock hard ride does not define a sports car, it simply reduces its ability to deliver a decent ride.

BTW, drag racing redefined itself in the late '80s and '90s. Front wheel drive sport compacts and rear wheel drive Japanese sports cars are very new to the drag wars. I wasn't interested then and I'm not interested now. Steve McQueen must be turning over in his grave and I am really pissed to find out my new Zcar is set up this way. Nissan should be sued for false advertising, Spirit of the 240, more like spirit of the Supra TT, perverted by The Fast and Furious.

Thanks for trying to cheer me up people, I don't begrudge your taste in any way, you paid your money and you can do with it as you enjoy. I don't want to sell my Z, but walking comes first and I almost lost that ability before, no car is worth jeopardizing my health.

Boomer/Keith

little_rod

OK, dude, that wasn't clear to me in your first post. I thought that you were wanting something softer than stock. From what you said above, the Konis should be what you want, we can just hope they come out as soon as possible.

Anyone got any definite price info??

Gsedan35

iTrader: (10)

Most Koni yellow applications "street" for around $620-$520.

jmark

iTrader: (1)

As Gordon said:

All the testing that was done was with the stock springs. When we were finished and happy with the settings, we made that the full soft position. Thanks for writing.

Boomer

JMARK, LITTLE ROD, GCOUPE35, Thank you again for trying your best to cheer me up, I really think it helped. I'll try again to hang on for the Konis, I really think they will be the answer to my problem. Its just difficult to wait and wait, it gave me a major bout of depression and I lost it for awhile. Your sympathy has been a nice thing to see. It means we have some very good people here and that is comforting that we try to look out for one another.

Sincerely,

Keith.