You and all others who have thanked me are very welcome, D'oh. I am glad to be of some help. I'm relieved the Konis cured my bounce, now I can start enjoying my car again. My wife has already offered to take the Z off my hands and give me the 04 TL. Uh, huh!

 

I guess your wife has noticed a change in the Z too! Its almost like you have a new car! I am happy for you Keith. Enjoy the Z!

 

D'oh

Yeah had the Koni's installed Friday. Only drove them home. But I am excited to have the oprotunity to test them out at Thunderhill Monday. I will try to post some feedback later in the week.

Had them installed and purchesed through Roger Krause Racing. in Castro Valley (SF Bay Area). Very impressed with the allignment technician. He spent some time discussing the type of driving and the balance with Autocross. Zero toein in the front and negative 1.5 degrees in the rear was his reccomendation.

Ray

 

I plan to, Mark. I still only have 8200 miles on it and the ride is transformed for me. The difference between firm and harsh on a sports car is difficult to explain, but real easy to feel. My wife is dead serious, but she would do it only if I had not been satisfied with the Konis. Damn nice of her, I'll do most of the driving in the Z, but she wants to take some more trips in it as well as the TL. Best of both worlds for me.

Off topic, nothing serious, but why is the page here pink and the borders lavender? Is our multi-personalitied webmaster playing games again? If my computer isn't whacko, this is the Twilight Zone. Catch you in the next Galaxy.

 

Spend the best part of 5:30Pm to Midnight.. In a really cool "Drift Shop" in Whittier Calif. Eric Hu had his Koni's installed..

It was a real riot... The Koni Documentation are a few pictures..

The front's were installed with the provided "cad Plated" "Spring Retainers" up side down.. The car was looking like it was doing a wheely.. The guys installing know Supra's ( 700 Hp ) and 240 SX Drift cars.. But...

The New retainer plate is installed within the spring... If it is placed upside down the car is three inches taller in the front.

Rears are no problem...

Now for the good news:

Bang! at 1:00Am Eric calls from the cell phone saying he is going down the 60frwy to home and it's Not Bouncing...
He had let the car sit for three months, cause it was Pxssing him off. Now he feels he has a new car... This is after an hour of driving time.. He loves the Z..

P.S. He removed Eibach and has Stock Springs installed.
On the phone he said Stock Hieght is too tall. I suggested Hotchkis Sways and Springs.. -

What more can I say.... ( until I have mine done tommorrow.. )
I have Progressive Hotchkis, and full Hotchkis Sway Bars...
Prototype H****** Camber Rods will be installed also.

Stay tuned for news at 11 Saturday...


A few sets of 350Z Koni's left - eric@esportstuner.com

So Cal only.. Koni has not announced the next shipment date.

Must do production in batches - A lot of hand work - Guess thats why they are Lifetime Gaurantee. Made in Holland of Course

I have a Few Pictures... That will come later.. Of how not to do the Koni install wrong..

They are huge diameter wise.. The Factory Tokicos look tiny..
next to the Koni's

Can't hardly wait..

 

AmyCroft,

Did you say NOT BOUNCING?

 

Thats what he said, "NOT BOUNCING".

 

YES - NO BOUNCING !!!!!!!! Yeah

JMARK... BOOMER... ALL...

Went to the Fast and Furious hidden speed shop and had the Koni's installed tonight.... Heh ! ( remember the part of the movie 2Fast 2Furious.... ) Started at 7:30 and got out at 10:30

This is the same shop - I mentioned in a previous post. We did eric@Esporttuning.com last night.. ( Got four calls from him.. Saying he now loves his Z.. and the way it rides so well with the Koni's )

But tonight was my night to have the Koni's installed.....

The install went much smoother than last night's. Pop out the Struts.. Removal of the tripod mount was difficult because the stock struts ( Tokico ) do not have a hex pattern on the strut rod.
A cresent wrench was used, then an open end wrench.. Previous installer used a nut wich was not "Aircraft Quality" - It should have been installed with "Anti-Seeze".

New shocks installed with Hotchkis 350Z (silver) springs. Front and Rear.. 2 hours no Impact wrenches. All bolts tightened to factory specs. Then the rear stock camber rods removed and the hand crafted Hotchkis adjustable rear camber rods were installed.
These were ProtoType rods. Production Rods will be released soon, at a fantastic price point.

The Camber rod CAM bolts were set centered.. and the length of the Adjustable Rods were set to 12" center to center.

The car was rolled back about 10 feet, then rolled forward. We used a simple inclinometer. The rear camber setting is now near spec at -1.5 degree.

Test drive - no suspension noise... back to the shop.. I'll run a few hundred miles then take it to the local alignment shop.

Paid my bill ( cash of course ) had a beir.. and drove home..

Just like night and day... It's like a new car.. Do I love my Z now - more than ever.

Statement...

If you have a Fat *** Z, you need some Fat *** shocks.... Koni !
The way to go..

Do I endorse them.. Yes - This solves the Nissan 350Z bounce..

G35C owners a thumbs up..

Not cheap.. But cheaper than trading out your ride...

My car no longer feels like I'm going to detach a retina...
It will be a few weeks of break-in and adjusting to the "New" Car before I take it to speed.. But I predict at speed ( 135-150) - I'll be able to see clearly in the rear view mirror..

Cheers Amy -


P.S. Going to Easter dinner... Then test time for the new Koni's

 

Thanks Amy! Keep the reports coming. The Konis have a lifetime warranty too! Are the Hotchkis springs linear or progressive? How much drop?

 

Here's my impressions:

- bounce is reduced greatly but is not gone entirely
- ride is still pretty crappy on concrete roads where it's smooth but you have the repeating dips
- stock harshness over bumps is gone, car does feel more normai in this respect
- jitteryness from minor bumps is still there
- turn in feels sharper

I have 18" wheels, tire pressures hot were around 32.

Testing was done in ambient temps of 40-45 deg

Oh, and I noticed the inside of my front tires are feathering before the shocks were put on - 4500 miles on the car.

Overall i feel i wasted money on these, as I think the springs now have to be replaced.

 

Why do you think the springs have to be replaced? Also, do you still have the OE tires?

 

Sounds like there is improvement. I don't think you'll completely eliminate the way the car reacts on the repeating dips even with springs. Tire pressure hot of 32 is too low IMHO. Pressure should be 34-35 cold. Get an alignment & tire replacement if possible. Make sure Konis are set at full soft. Sorry you feel the money was wasted. Some feel the same way with the Nismo S-Tunes. I guess everyone has different expectations.

 

Thank you for your review, your one of the people I've been waiting to hear from. Interesting that you felt sharper turn in, what with these having less compression dampning. Did you have them set full soft on the rebound control or did you tweak that? And are you thinking about different springs as a method to increase compression dampning? Or are you thinking about improving ride quality with progressive springs?

 

Replacing the springs with progressive ones may get the ride where I want it. I still have the OE tires. Don't know if I can get a warranty replacement since I've had the car over a year. I haven't hit the mileage limit (12K miles).

I'm starting to feel like "How much money am I willing to spend to try to correct ride issues, with a 50/50 chance any specific fix is going to work the way I want?"

 

I'm going to check the rears again to make sure. They're supposed to be set at full soft from the factory. The fronts were, I checked with the ****.

I don't know if I can get a tire replacement now, since I put the Konis on. I'll ask the dealer by me, maybe they'll be a progressive dealer that still allows warranty replacement even with non-stock shocks.

Possibly the whole problem is I can't tolerate this type of ride for long periods of time like I used to when I was younger

 

It just felt sharper, more responsive than what I remember. Though, I could be wrong. Possibly the effect of having something new on the car

All shocks were left at full soft. I need to verify the rears are still at full soft, since the mechanic turned the rear shock bodies to align the slot outwards, so the shock could be adjusted without removing the wheel and shock.

Maybe some tweaking of tire pressure is in order.

I want to improve the ride quality with progressives.

 

Hey I am right there with you! I have been driving my '78 280Z alot lately and the ride of the 350Z doesn't seem so bad now! Do you have a Track model? I do think a progressive spring will help some. I am just sure I want to drop the car.

 

damn I was hoping to see a package from Eibach when I got back in town. I guess I'll tackle the install with stock springs & do them later. Maybe it's for the better since I'm still waiting for 350evo's A arms & need to select some adjustable parts for the rear.

 

Just give some time for the shocks to settle in. Drive the car for 500 - 1000 miles and it will improve the ride even better. I have to say that I am very happy with the Konis. Maybe you should try to get a more cushion seats or a nice back support will help. The 350z seats are very hard compared to any other cars.

 

Did you install with OEM springs?