Suspension upgrade help
 

Hi all. After hours and hours of researching I can't seem to decide on what suspension upgrade to do. Currently my car has stock suspension and it seems fine (it's just a base model). I can pitch the car hard without body roll. The car will be used mostly on the track so I should be able to improve from stock. BC Racing BR coilovers seem to be a popular budget upgrade. I've read mixed reviews on them. Would I be happy using them on the track? And are they an upgrade over stock? Or should I just spend more on something a little better? My goal is to have a great handling car and I'd like to get the ride height down a bit too. Any help would be much appreciated as I'm losing my mind trying to decide haha.

Thanks,
Steve

Welcome and you can read about suspension upgrades here until you're blue in the face. Personally, I still like what I've used on the street since 2005. Koni Sport shocks, Eibach Pro-kit springs and NISMO S-Tune swaybars. Others like Bilstein B9s and Swift springs and I've heard good things about them. Coilovers are great for racing, but you need to be able to reset the suspension settings each time you adjust ride height and other variables. Even I would rather dial it in and forget the suspension, so that's my advice.

Here is a discussion that you may find interesting/helpful:
https://my350z.com/forum/brakes-and-...coil-over.html

The one thing I would point out is that I should have installed Swift springs. The Tein’s are comfortable but at the price of being just a little too “bouncy.”

my question is do you really need coilovers, or just trying to get swag points with your friends?

I love my s-tune kit, I'm sure Nismo did more R&D than your average company as far as springs go. Then again I'm not into slamming cars to the ground or the current "stanced" fad.

Guess a couple of questions that might help lead you on your quest.

You mention almost exclusive track use. Type of racing? W2W, AX, TT? Same track or tracks? What other modifications? High power? Stock? Overall budget considerations?

All of these questions, when answered honestly to yourself, help to dictate what you need.

If you travel many tracks in many conditions or AX, you'll probably need adjustability. Meaning coilovers or at least adjustable shocks. If you are limited to a couple of tracks local to you, you may/may not need COs; depends, as dkmura mentioned above, on whether you have the time, equipment, and wherewithal to set, re-set, set again between events or even between rounds/sessions. Meaning corner weighting, biasing, etc.

Personally, I don't race (any longer) and am very happy with my street suspension: ProKit springs, full alignment gear (FUCAs, camber arms, etc.), adjustable sport Konis (all detailed and commented on in the thread that spike ref'd above.) I have full range of camber/toe/caster adjustment but I only re-dial it when I'm experimenting with a new tire/wheel set (and haven't done so for at least the last three-four sets at least). I do dial the shocks depending on the wheel/tire set that I have on on a particular day (due to weight variances) but..... most of them are right in the same unsprung weight range/corner now +/- a pound; so I'm pretty dialed in with my shocks set at just a couple of clicks stiffer from zero/median front and a few more than front in the rear, keeping with my preferred bias to oversteer.

You cannot go too far wrong with a static setup but if you do feel you need coilovers, I recommend you don't mince $$$ on them. Go for the full range of adjustability - ride height, both way jounce & rebound with the correct spring setS (including helpers if needed) - or don't bother, IMO.

Thank you all for the input. I guess I wouldn't really need coilovers... but I've convinced myself they would be nice. I really think having adjust-ability would be great. The car is basically stock. It is getting a set of Wilwood brakes all the way around and some of the interiour has been stripped to get the weight down. Engine is stock. I want to do different road courses with the car. I read something interesting on the attached link: that the 03 is known for a buckboard ride despite it handling well. My car is an 03 and as I mentioned it handles very good and yes it is stiff.

Does anyone know the spring rates on the 03 base? I haven't been able to find them. I'm leaning towards Swift swings on the budget BC coils. I want to keep the car stiff and I hope the BC coils will be an improvement over stock. I just need to decide on what rate of springs to go. Lastly I do want to keep my budget somewhat reasonable.

Again thanks so much for the help!