Franknbeans

iTrader: (1)

Question here guys.

I found a guy selling the Nismo Suspension for $400 shipped. Pictures look good, no leaks.. but he is unsure of mileage. He estimated 20k on them. So I'm guessing 40.

Would it be worth picking this up or just spending double that on the Blisten B12 kit?

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Depends- are we talking about the NISMO S-Tune suspension kit, or just the takeoffs of a 07-08 NISMO model?

Franknbeans

iTrader: (1)

S-tune

MicVelo

Either way works.

S-Tune suspension will be more like an aftermarket kit with slight lowering and stiffer springs. Nismo OEM suspension will have a better ride but is a huge performance improvement over anything stock. $400 is a decent price for either IF you trust the seller.

Upside of the Bilstein B12 Prokit is that it's all new and can be trusted to deliver performance increases well over stock as well (and more) AND have a ride as least as good as (arguably better) than the Nismo OE and way better than S-Tune.

But another way to look at this: A nice thing is if you spend the $400 for the S-Tune (but are able to buy Bilstein), you can buy that set and have enough left over for the best bang for the performance buck adjustable sway bars that offer a dynamic improvement over OE.

Franknbeans

iTrader: (1)

buying the s tune for 400 would give me the extra money for the sways. I was previously looking at one or the other.

Speaking of that. would you do Suspension over Sway bars first?

Franknbeans

iTrader: (1)

djnekkon

I would go new bilstein. I have had bilstein pss9 in my m3 since 2009 and drove it slammed on jersey roads for 4 years, and now 5 years on florida roads. No leaks and the best handle you can ever imagine. will do the same to my 350z as soon as they become available since most store dont even have any of them on stock.

MicVelo

I'm presuming you're asking the specific order of things on a suspension build.

Ever hear the expression "Get your house in order."?

The automotive suspension build equivalent is to determine what needs fixing and understanding why one is doing it.

Meaning:

1. Determine your usage of the car be it: commute duty, weekends in the hills, track or whatever mix.

2. Based on the above, determine what the car does well for your discipline and, equally important, what it doesn't do well. Based on identifying these, you can then think about hardware fixes. (I won't get into my usual #drivingschool soapbox preaching here. )

3. Figure out what's broke and what's not.

4. Pull out credit card.

What all that means is simply this:

You have a base suspension system. Ideally, the first upgrade - based upon my learned-but-open-to-argument opinion - is that sway bars are the best upgrade to any car. (After tires! But I'm assuming we all know that.)

However, if your shocks are shot, you need to get that in order first so, since you're going to build it all eventually anyways, do the shocks and/or springs first. You already have functioning sway bars - non-optimal maybe but they work.

But don't jump into the sway bar pool just yet... if you do the shocks and lowering springs, be they static like B12s or coilovers, doesn't matter, you need to address what this all does to the alignment.

Lowering ALWAYS affects alignment. Don't care what anyone says, you lower, you have changed the roll centers, axis, and every other angle and locating point that the SYSTEM wasn't designed for so.... you need to address alignment through use of adjustable this, adjustable that. (Camber, toe, etc correction.) Consider that before the sway bars.

Finally, once your alignment is set for your use, put the sway bars in as the final adjustment hardware and set 'em to what you are comfortable with within your skills.

Given that, if this is your first set of adjustables, I ALWAYS recommend setting them at "full soft" to start with. They will already be stiffer and/or have a steeper angle of attack than stock bars. Get used to that setting THEN, after determining you need more/less roll stiffness front or rear, make the changes and work with the new settings and keep refining from there until you've reached the optimum setting FOR YOU. That's key. Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, what they're running their cars set at, it's all about you and your car.

That's what I mean when I say "Get your house in order." Have fun!

=========

This is precisely what I'm doing with my roadster right now... while I want to go to www . roadsters-are-bitchin-even-more-with-these-new-parts . coma and order everything at once, I'm taking the time to make these assessments on what works, what doesn't and hand selecting the right combination of components - and more importantly NOT selecting parts I don't need nor want because they may negatively affect the overall balance. More is not always better.

Franknbeans

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Right now the shocks are working fine, but I know the S-tune stuff does not come up for sale often. I also didn't know if the S-tune was a better setup than the Blistien.

My car is my DD/ HPDE car. I go to 1-2 HPDE events a month. BUT, I don't want to sacrifice a comfortable street setup for a minimal gain on the track.

Last time at the track I did notice some under steer that I was fighting in the corners.

MicVelo

Given your not wanting to give up too much DD comfort, go with the Bilstein Prokit setup. Bilsteins are well known for delivering a firm but compliant, streetable setup and deliver track performance improvements when needed.

Your understeer issues are typical for a 33. Adjustable bars with the static Bilstein setup should give you enough adjustability to add a touch of roll stiffness out back for HPDE track use. (And easily reversed if you need to, or you can easily learn to live with the slight bias to the increased roll stiffness on the street.

Spike100

I would go with the Bilstein ProKit. The Nismo S-Tune setup (JDM is the OEM) lowers your car slightly, but the springs are soft (providing a comfortable ride but compromising handling) compared to most aftermarket shock/spring setups.

I went with Bilstein B8 shocks and Tein S-Tech springs. I did this setup in an attempt to closely match the Nismo S-Tune suspension which I thought was grossly overpriced.

If I did it again (replacing shocks and springs), I would go with Swift Springs and Bilstein shocks.

guitman32

iTrader: (15)

My thoughts are dont get the Nismo kit, and wait for a used Bilstein PSS kit or similar to pop up. I sold my spare set recently and another set also sold within the last month iirc. Worth the wait if you ask me. There is also a set of Tokico d-specs for sale in the classifieds which arent half bad.

For sways you only really need a front bar, I have a Hotckis v1 front that Im going to put up soon for cheap.

jhc

I went with Eibach Pros and Bilstein B8s at 80k, absolutely love the ride and handling with Hotckiss sways. Twice what you're looking at spending. Springs don't have a lifespan per se, but shocks absolutely do.
If you buy new equipment from a vendor on here and don't like something, they'll probably credit your return for another kit.
If you buy used suspension and don't like it for whatever reason you're SOL.
gl!

Franknbeans

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info guys. Looks like I will not be grabbing the s tune then.