Hello,

The previous owner stuck some wonderful koni shocks on but I noticed that the springs are stock. Am I sacrificing performance or asking for anything to go wrong? What are the benefits of getting aftermarket springs other than lowering because my car is way too low right now.

Thanks,
JV

 

I looked into your past posts, according to that quick search you have a 2003 Z.

The Koni's you have were specifically developed for the oem springs your car came with, nothing is going to go wrong other then normal wear and tear issues. Koni's can suffer from seal issues on the front shocks at the upper adjustment blade (where you adjust rebound), though such issues are rare.

I could see any number of linear mild drop springs brining a mild increase in performance, but I could also see a whole lot of bigger drop progressive springs doing little to nothing other then a lower center of gravity and less shock travel.

As a current owner of Koni shocks that has tested them on a wider range of spring rates then the lowering spring market makes, do not attempt to run them with Cobb or Nismo T2 springs without a revalve and even then you are better off getting Bilstein's and having them revalved. I have also tested Koni's with Tokico 1" linear drop springs, I do not recommend that combo either.

Frankly, if you are ok with the car at oem height, just keep it that way and work at making sure the nut behind the wheel know's how to drive the car well and then maybe work on the other things that can improve handling.


Here is a list of mild linear springs that IMO make sense, I know pretty much every spring on the market, if I do not list it, that was done on purpose so please don't let anyone make a "what about GF210 or Pro-kit" post (just trying to be very clear).

RSR 350Z linear springs .6”/.6”
Spring rates in LBS 345/417

Hotchkis 350Z Linear springs .6”/.8”
Spring rates in lbs 340/330

Tein S-tech 350Z springs .7“.6“ (fronts are slightly progressive*, rears are linear)
Spring rates in LBS 386/402 (estimated front intial rate is 327lbs)
* Key is "slightly" progressive and only in the front

Tein H-tech 350z linear springs .3”/.2”
Spring rates in LBS 358/375

Swift 350Z linear springs .8”/.6”
Spring rates in LBS 336/364

Whiteline (I no longer list them because I have never seen them for sale in the U.S.)

 

Thanks so much for the ever so informative post gsedan!

The car is low enough as it is, I believe they're adjustable i'll just keep it this way. Just wish the ride wasn't so darn bumpy.