Hey all I'm looking for a little advice on a drag suspension setup... I have a built motor twin turbo setup on my 350z. Next year I plan on competing in the no prep and roll racing events at the local track but want to increase my chances by doing a quick n easy drag suspension setup. My plan is to have 2 suspension setups I can run on the street and at the track. What I'm thinking of doing is cutting the stock springs for ride height and mating them with some adjustable shocks that I can run on the softest setting for dig racing. Has anyone tried a similar setup? I currently am running hotchkis springs with KYB shocks for the street. I have my old stock springs sitting around and was curious about using them for a drag suspension if anyone could chime in on this it would be much appreciated! I'm also in the midst of getting some drag wheels and slicks but trying to figure out a size that will fit.

 

Wish I could help you here but doing a drag setup on a Z is not in my wheelhouse.

But I will say this in general....

Your front suspension needs to have a lot more compression control than rebound for effective weight transfer. (Or is it the other way around....forget which way drag shocks worked . Cutting your springs will increase compression some but your shocks have to be willing to comply. Your current setup appears to be set more for even compression/rebound (handling/track) so unless you invest in some good/different shocks (90/10s come to mind but not sure of availability for Z car).

In the back, to go along with the front, you also need more compression control because while you want the rear to "sit" on launch, you don't want it to squat, which will take too much weight off the front end. You'll definitely want shocks at the rear that control compression but again, also to give you a little more rebound than the front to get the front end re-settled by the 60' mark. Seem to recall that 50/50 was what the hot tip was in our "simplistic" (suspended) Chevies.

Good luck on this, be curious to see how it turns out because building a street/strip compromise in a Z "seems" more difficult (to me) than building a dual purpose street/road course machine.

It's a delicate balancing act.

I would suggest you look at sites that are all about Import Drags.

 

Cutting springs for height, odd. I would swear you want that travel for weight transfer.

Stock suspension including shocks would be better than most off the shelf coilovers and any spring cutting idea

 

[QUOTE=terrasmak;10809015]Cutting springs for height, odd. I would swear you want that travel for weight transfer.

Stock suspension including shocks would be better than most off the shelf coilovers and any spring cutting idea[/QUOTE

You could be correct I have no idea. Since there is nothing on the market for drag suspension for these cars I guess it will be trial and error to figure out what works best. I'll try stock shocks and springs first and go from there. I was mainly going to cut the springs to get a more aggressive stance so the car doesn't look like it's going off roading haha. I will cut the springs next and see if my ET's improve or stay the same. Another thing I'm trying to avoid is the car getting sideways on the track with slicks. Being that the car is a 6spd and with a 28/10.5/15 slick it will be hard to control as I've seen stock suspension supras with similar issues.

 

Get a set of camber arms, toe bolts and bring the rear camber to 0 with a max of -0.5 in the rear.

 

The problem with real drag suspension is that they basically are designed to be a death trap.
They do not work, because they are design to get a car to squat down, and stay down, all the way down the strip.
If you drive with it on the street, as soon as you see any bumps and uneven road surfaces, that entire suspension will jack down and stop working.

In terms of a road / drag car, you just want a good road suspension.
It will work, and it will do fine.

Unless you have a dedicated drag car that are trailer to the track and back, and will never see the road, then a "drag" suspension may not be for you.

Jerrick