Still no word on price and availability. I should know some more info on the Sachs tomorrow. I sure wish i lived where it was warm all the time ........................the Z is no winter car!

 

I take it the weather has not been good for shock testing! We have a chance at ice/snow here tomorrow too. The Z will be warm in its garage. What's the changes Koni asked you to try?

 

I, too, am waiting not-so-patiently for Koni to come out with shocks for this car. The stock ones have way too much high-speed bump, and remind me a lot of some Bilsteins I once put on my '88 Supra. They did better than stock with the stock springs, but hurt the handling because the tires skittered over bumps. Once I got springs about 50% stiffer than stock and had some Koni's revalved, it rides great now. I expect the 350Z will improve with the same treatment.

Once Koni sells these shocks, I'll be sending mine off to be revalved to get lots of low-speed bump and not much high speed. There are places that can make them double adjustable, both externally. (Though you'll need to get under the car to adjust the rebound.)

Nissan must've gotten Bilstein to design their shocks...

 

Koni has actually gone softer on the compression (low speed) to help with the wheels spin issues. The high speed bump is fairly good. I havent started playing around with the rebound as they are now set on full soft. I am actually going to add some more to the front. There is alot going on with the Z's suspension ecsp in the rear.

 

Well, that shows what I know. I've been out of tuning for a while since I got my Supra set up many years ago.

It's when I drive over something like a speed hump (less steep than a speed bump) the front end is launched a bit into the air. It does make sense that it's the low-speed compression damping that does that. I'll have to look up where I set my Supra's shocks (only the bump is adjustable on those).

 

Be prepaired for sticker shock on your revalve idea to make them double adjustable. Koni wants $375 per strut to do that, of course that's on top of the purchase price to buy them in the first place. I really wish Koni offered a double adjustable version, call it a sport S and charge a 25% premium. Then and only then would they be right for my "I have no scca rules holding me back world" and the stock springs are not stiff enough for me either.

 

The low speed and high speed get me everytime.

 

what do you guys mean when you say "adjustable bump stops"? What is a bump stop?

thanx

 

I'm definitely considering the Koni's. I'll wait till I hear the impressions from other owners (like yourself and Boomer) before I buy. I'm not going to be a guinea pig!!

 

Talked to a dealer who says he has had a couple of Nissan engineers checking out several customer Z's for the tire issues. They went so far as removing shocks & springs and measuring them (shock dyno etc.) He says a fix will happen. I think they are trying to find a common cause for the issues. Also if you plan to go aftermarket as far as suspension upgrades (as I am) be careful. He says anything other than NISMO could cause NNA to blame the mods you made for your problems. The other thing he told me is that the NISMO S-Tune kit seems to fix the problem after a proper alignment is done. This kit replaces the OEM shocks/springs with properly matched NISMO shocks/progressive springs. I am wondering if the crappy OEM shocks/ poorly matched springs which contribute to the "bounce" I have complained about for a year now is also causing the tires to get screwed up too. I also believe Nissan should have built the Z with camber adjustability in the front end (can't without an aftermarket suspension piece) and that is causing a problem. Right now I will get my front end checked at my oil change for documentation of my problem. I am now considering the NISMO S-tune kit too. I know this kit improves the handling and takes out the bounce. BJ are you having tire feathering on your street Z? Mine has just started to develop.

 

A friend of mine years ago had True Choice make his Konis double adjustable. I don't remember how much it cost, but I don't think it was that much. Their revalving service was also great and not a bad price. They even include the velocity/force curves for the total suspension geek.

The ones I had revalved by True Choice 8 or so years ago for my Supra are still going strong and I drive it daily (except weekends when I drive my '04 Z...).

 

Why not just buy DA's? I know TC ran his T2 cars on DA Konis and Carter Thompson a board member has them too. I am sure you are looking at several grand.

 

"I'm not going to be a guinea pig!!"

Your not I am!

 

 

I think the stock shock/spring combo could contribute to increased tire wear but if the feathering is largely on one side of the tires, I'm assuming there are other factors at work as well.

I looked up my first post on the suspension just for kicks. It was in October of 2002. I didn't consider it extreme at the time, but I didn't think the Z felt as composed as my old M3. Here's the link:

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....&threadid=7729

 

TCL, I had an E36 M3 before and I agree the damping/springs on the Z aren't as composed. If they were the Z would about perfect for the money. I am still curious that the NISMO S-Tune which only replaces the shocks & springs (progressive vs. stock linear) reportedly fixes the bounce & feathering when properly aligned. I wonder if the alignment specs that come with the S-Tune in combo with the new parts are the fix. I am showing symptoms of tire feathering now as well as the bounce.

 

Nathan never got back to you and the springs are stiff, the shocks are stiff on compression, not rebound. Gordon at Koni told Mark they were turning down the stiffness on compression and turning up the rebound control for the bounce cure. ? Downunder disease?

 

ME!

 

We are getting 10 sets in as soon as they are released.....I believe 4 of them are already spoken for. No word on pricing as of yet. I am going to put a package deal with the Konis, sport springs and the 350EVO adjustable sway bars. We will also de doing just a spring and shock package also. Sure would love to know about pricing.
BJ@350EVO.com

I cna tell the bump is softer. The rear squats a lot more on initial loading. Sure wish it was about 65 and sunny so we could go play with it a bit. I am really not looking forward to this snow. I would like to have just a bit more low speed in the back and remove the OEM bushings.

 

Sport springs? Please don't tell me their progressive. Not liking the weight transfer talk, but then again didn't you say the rebound settings are set right now on the soft side and their's the issue of having less compression dampening than stock to.