Car 2008 NISMO 350z

I have been reading for hours on end what would be best setup for my car.

I don't really drive it that much with maybe on weekends, I want a setup that will let me do Street with Track setup as well, when I want to go have fun.

The STOCK NISMO setup is very good so far lots of road feed back.

I have been looking at ZEAL,Function-Xs HKS HyperMax 3, KW V-3

But after reading this on ZEAL website this kind of made me think that this might be pain in *** to keep up!!

Does this apply to all After Market setups'??


*1: Strut Type is an inverted monotube type Overhaul CAUTION ZEAL Height Adjustable Suspension Kit requires periodic overhauls Wear and tear on the coilover can weaken compression of the damper. We recommend replacing worn and old parts periodically for safety reasons. We recommend an overhaul every 1-2 years, roughly 10,000 to 30,000 miles yet this really depends on driving style, driving conditions and the environment. Regardless of any distance you have driven or how long you have been using them, if your regular driving conditions are harsh or you notice any oil leaks, please let us know immediately. Ignoring this and continuing to use the coilovers can be dangerous and potentially lead to hazardous situations. Please be careful. Aluminum version coilovers need to be more carefully maintained. When considering secondhand ZEAL coilovers, please be sure to contact us to see if an overhaul is recommended. The number of secondhand coilover purchasers have been increasing and it is difficult to tell what conditions secondhand coilovers are in. Thus we recommend overhauling the units prior to usage. We recommend getting an overhaul as soon as possible. This will be beneficial to you in the long run.




Because I want to lower the car about 1/2 inch all the way around, I was thinking about NISMO S-tune setup it will lower the car just bit and let me keep them for more then 30K miles with out having to pull them of the car to have them overhaul

 

you said you dont drive it that much, how many miles do you think you put on it in a year?

 

Well I may do about 7,500m a year but this summer I will be going out of town to diffrent shows and events this year we well.

Everyone seems to really love the ZEAL setup, but looks like they are only ones who want you get them overhual every 1-2 years.

I would think if they were the best and when I'm paying $3K for them I should not have to pay out who knows how much for my shop and ZEAL to keep my setup working.

 

i think its partially the lawers talking there... however you can't possibly expect struts to last forever... that being said, this is the exact reason i went with BC racing coilvers, cause its like less than a hundred bucks per side to get replacements (new, not revalved)

 

yeah but only 10K miles ? I don't push my car hard maybe sometimes on turns and such.

I also saw that looks like HKS is only setup that comes with 1 year Warranty.

I was also looking at KW V-3 on there site they don't tell you about having to do anything to them but just put them on car, but no Warranty or from what I can find on there site.

I would not mind paying top dollar for an setup that will get me 25-40K miles out of them before they go bad.


On another note, how is that NISMO and OEM setups last longer? does the R-D that goes into them! more then After Markets?

I Priced out OEM NISMO Shock for my NISMO 350z if blows out after 36K miles it will run me $500 to replace $250 for shock at dealer $250 for the work, at that point I would not take it to a NISSAN dealer but my Shop.

But it's funny how the NISMO S-tune setup comes with 3y/36Km Warranty. And I get that setup for $1600. KW and ZEAL are pushing almost $3K. HKS is around $1800


Update, After doing some more reading I found this!


http://myg37.com/forums/brakes-and-s...view-look.html


After reading that post, really help to feel better about getting KW-V3, I still feel a bit funny about putting German setup on car built in Japan.

But I guess now days no car really I guess made with all 100% parts of it's own from one place.

I'm pretty Sure ZEAL is a nice setup, But I feel better about KW just because they are not telling me to get them serviced all the time.

 

Those are standard disclaimers that every manufacturer has - contact any of the manufacturers and they will all tell you the same thing - "it depends". The world of the aftermarket is filled with such disclaimers. But I'd guarantee if you call each of the manufacturers, you'll hear similar language.

We've been a Zeal dealer for 4 years now -I've never once had to send a set back for rebuilding. I have the HKS on my own car now for about 3 years, over 35k miles, no problems at all and they continue to work as well as the day I got them.

KW, Zeal and HKS are all warrantied. KW and Zeal are rebuilt in the US. HKS I believe requires it to go back to Japan. Regardless though, there are tons of places that can rebuild them for you, you certainly don't have to go back to the manufacturer if you don't want to, for whatever reason.

 

Thanks for info, So really all of them would be good to have, I really wanted the ZEAL until I saw that post on there site.

I was not able to find anything like that on HKS or KW site.

I don't do track days all the time, maybe 1 time per year in the summer.

Do you have HKS Hypermax 3 ?

 

it's not something you're going to find on most manufacturers sites -but if you actually speak to someone who know's what they are talking about, you'll find the same types of answers

I have the predecessor, the HKS RS. I only have some limited experience with the Hipermax III - good units, but not in the same category as the KW or Zeal IMHO

 

So ZEAL and KW would be better.


I hear KW V-3 can ride very smooth but at sametime use them on track.

 

Better is a subjective word - we carry all 3, I've used all 3, I prefer the KW V3 and Zeal to the time I spent with the HKS. One reason was dampening adjustability. The HKS suffers from something alot of coilovers that tout huge clicks of adjustability do - that not all clicks make a difference. Even the ones I have in my own car fall victim to this. All are certainly capable units though. The second issue is that they don't really fare very well at the stiffer damper settings. The KW and Zeals, IMHO, stay better composed as you stiffen the valving up. How important that is to you will of course depend on your own personal preferences. On my own car I can't remember the last time I made a change to the dampening settings. Even when I tracked the car, I never played much with it, for the simple reason that there are so many other things to adjust, that will have a bigger overall difference in what the car is telling me it's doing on that day, that I never really found it useful.

The KW V3 are a very nice blend of street and track - they will take the longest for you to dial in, due to the independant compression/rebound settings. Considering their price point, they are a bargain IMHO - a very, very nice setup overall, without breaking that magic $2000 (street) barrier

 

Thanks that really help me feel better about what to get.

I did not want to spend $2K+ on a new setup to only have problmes down the road.

 

With the ZEAL's consider you are getting an adjustable legnth body. With the KW you need to change the spring perch height to change the ride height which alters where in the bore the piston travels.

The ZEAL's use a coaxial top mount which does not side load the piston shaft causing seals to wear.

 

I'm curious how the Ohlins would compare to the Zeal and KW3 coilovers? Also, I noticed that the KW coilovers don't seem to be height-adjustable via shock body, does this have any ill-effect on the life of the damper?

Sorry for thread jacking, I just saw an opportunity to ask a couple questions I've had for a while now.

 

Very true, but the OP stated he's only looking for a minimal amount of drop, so the way it adjusts height really isn't an issue in that case. The KW doesn't use any mount - it reuses stock ones - no premature wear issues that we've ever come across.

 

It really depends. Dual height adjustment is certainly nice to have, but it doesn't necessarily make or break a unit IMHO. I've run both types on my own car, with a variety of different coilovers, and I have not found any practical difference in longevity, performance, etc. For example, my Cusco were dual height adjustable, my HKS aren't - car behaved admirably with both. The HKS have been on my car now for about 3 years IIRC, and the car is used often in a wide range of conditions. Of all the coilovers I've used on a Z, and there have been tons (over 20), I have not found this to be a limitation except on the Tein Basic - which gets very bouncy as you get to the lower height range. On other units like the Bilstein, KW, HKS RS (what I have), etc, they just don't experience this.

Due to their cost and limited availability, cost, etc there just isn't alot known about their stuff on the Z. I've used their products fairly extensively on Evo's and Subaru's, the 2 most popular platforms here in the US, and they have been fantastic. We have a set going on our other Z here at the shop, as part of a major build project we've been working on for awhile. Whenever that is done, I know Kwame will post a full review of them. We've sold a few sets to date, mostly to international customers, and they have given us very favorable reviews. They are certainly a top notch firm, who's only reason for being is suspension products for various vehicles, from cars to bikes, so I'm fully expecting them to work out very well for us.

 

Let it be known, I will dyno any one or all three of them on a Roehrig shock dyno for free, even pay return shipping.

 

They're awfully pretty...