How much are people paying for G35c's rear shocks? I might have a set for sale since I'm installing my koni's soon.

 

Thanks John..

Good Information.. Post a note when your changes are made.

I was feeling a little noisy this morning on Concrete Freeway ( 2 ) pulled off on Mountain and set the Front Konis to full soft.. Last twenty miles were smoother.. Lost a little turn-in but the H Sways are plenty stiff.

Rear is setting at one/half sweep from full soft. ( one eight of a turn ) Just enough to stop rear end vertical oscilation.

Cheers Amy -

 

Thank you very much for that.I would welcome your further comments on your ride impressions.

 

if there is someone who reports that these will solve the tire feathering issue, i am SOLD!!!

waiting...waiting...waiting...

 

LawnMower ?
Er Lawnmore:

I hope Eric has a chance to Give you a Ride in the White KONI Mule.. Drive a bit and have him set front Full soft... I did that this morning..

I feel the Koni valve is Full soft with Valve Closed then Just a crack open for the compliant ride John Hanna is seeking..

Just an early morning experiment while Commuting.

The rears are set to 1/8 turn ( half a sweep - on Eric's and Mine )

Cheers Amy -

 

Can you hang for 3000 Miles at 120 Miles per day? I got to go to work from Orange County to North San Fernando Valley..

I guess I could hire some one to drive it up and down the Central Valley of California while I'm working.. Ha ! I couldn't pay for the tickets..


This car is stock except for the suspension.. No lean through tight turns but smooth at Speed. Translation: low speed wheel noise to chassis. Over the road gate, very stable. Difference of 100 to 150 not very noticable. Just a number..

Time to look at a BBK. ( Er Big Brake Kit - Stoptech - 13" fronts for the 17's in the Garage. )

Or sell all 17's (8) and Go 18's only and put in the StopTech 14" BBK

Cheers Amy -

 

Opps Edit - I have the camera mount.. Going to install DV CamCorder or DVD Camcorder.. For testing - this may document the suspension testing... DV=$300 DVD=$900 Sony Model 201.

Cheers

 

 

Amy,
Reinstalled the G35C shocks on rear. This reconfirms my opinion about this being the correct combination for a compliant ride. One that allows fairly long distance cruising without undue fatigue to the passengers. I will stay with this unless my useage of the car changes. I have found that I need to go about 1 full turn from full soft on the front Koni's when the car has two passengers and luggage on board. I'll hang on to the rear Koni's for now. Never know when needs will change.
Thanks for your input on this post.
John

 

Amy, you're confusing me.

I've got the Hotchkis springs and sways as well. The springs are linear, not progressive. Also, the sway's middle front results in 32% increase in stiffness and softest rear is 54%. Are you running a prototype setup of theirs?

IMO, including the stiffer springs, with middle front and rear there's still a little too much sway, front especially. I'm going to try full stiff up front and see how that goes. Ride however is much improved, but the side-side jiggles are still quite pronounced. I wonder how much that has to do with bushings and OEM tires?

 

Don't forget the OEM shocks!

 

While I trust the shock helps the bounce and rebound valving issues, I can't see how it prevents the lateral movement. Unless there's some kind of flexing and deflection happening within the OEM shock body...

 

FritzMan you are correct - my memory did not serve me well. ( hic )

Here are the specs from Hotchkis web page.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Sport Sway Bars
Item#: 22413
2003+ Nissan/Infinity 350Z/G35

Hotchkis Tuning Sport Sway bars improve your handling and reduce body roll. Turn in with confidence and late brake in the corners with our track tested lightweight hollow sway bars. Sway bar sets include front and rear bars, greasable bushings, and brackets.
Front 1 3/8" (35MM) Hollow (Bar Weight 13.5lbs)
3 Position Adjustable
Rate Increase over stock
+9%,+32%,+63%

Rear 15/16"(24mm) Hollow (bar weight 5.5lbs)
3 Position Adjustable
Rate Increase over stock
+54%,+92%,+146%
-----------------------------------------------------

so I'm +32% over stock in front, +54% over stock in rear. And about one inch drop on both axels. Feels pretty good at the moment. I can say that I used to be able to kick out the rear end at will. However with the Koni's added and move Front Sway from +9 % over to 32% ( middle ) I can no longer kick the rear end out.
We even tried it in last saturday's rain.

I have too much negative camber in the rear, and will adjust on my day off friday. I hope this lessens the lateral move on ditches across turns. I took Ed Mendez for a little ride Monday night. One 25 mph turn at 40 mph was an example. "Very firm" is what his impression was. Ed's Z is stock 6Spd Touring.

Also John Hanna Wrote:

Amy,
Reinstalled the G35C shocks on rear. This reconfirms my opinion about this being the correct combination for a compliant ride. One that allows fairly long distance cruising without undue fatigue to the passengers. I will stay with this unless my useage of the car changes. I have found that I need to go about 1 full turn from full soft on the front Koni's when the car has two passengers and luggage on board. I'll hang on to the rear Koni's for now. Never know when needs will change.
Thanks for your input on this post.
John
-----------------------------

I don't know John's configuration from memory.. But touring seems to be the goal - with out the car beating you up.

Koni's Half turn up front, stock springs and sways ( like Eric's PPW ) and G35 Base shocks stock rear springs and sways.
Elimination of bounce, and less butt shock... ( can I say Butt ? )

Back to FritzMan

I'm using production Springs and sways.

My question: At your current settings Mid Mid on sways +32%/+92% how can the car lean. Do you feel the car harsh yet?

What type of driving is your goal?

Also do you know the spring rate in pounds for front/rear springs..

Some one asked on a different post, and I could not remember.

I guess we are all shooting for a different soulution. Eric Boomer JHanna.. ( CS style ) Then JMark and your self want a tighter car.

Inquring minds what to know...

Cheers Amy -

 

Hotchkis won't advertise their rates, and only state that it's "stiffer". There's a lot of that secret stuff going on amongst manufactuers on spring rates. Frankly, couldn't a competitior just find out by buying a set and getting the spring analyized? It's linear so it should be simple to do.

With my current setup, I find the 350Z very easy to catch, good in powering out, and nice under threshold braking/turn-in (although brake dive with the Hotchkis springs is still too much IMO). Harshness is not an issue for me, with the Hotchkis springs I found it to be more firm while being less harsh. My concern right now is that I find the car really lacking on many cornering aspects when the road gets even slightly bumpy.

At slower 1 & 2 gear speeds the sway control is good, 3rd gear and higher I find the 350Z's limits are so high that it's overwhelming even the upgraded sways. Maybe I need more than a Hotchkis band aid (DA shocks and bushings IMO). The 350 is also the heaviest car I've tossed around so there might be some aspects to it's handling that I won't be able to address.

For me, the good news is that I find the potential is certainly there, it's just a matter of sorting things out. Thankfully this board is around to help out.

 

Hotchkis has published their spring rates, check there site.

This is a direct cut and paste from their site:

Front Front 9/16" (15mm) Drop
340 lbs/in
Stock 310lbs/in

Rear 3/4" (19mm) Drop
330 lbs/in
Stock 350 lbs/in

Greg

 

Jim,
How did the AutoX go with the Konis?

 

It rained here (hey, it's Oregon), and I didn't go. I should have gone anyway, I'll bet they ran during the rain breaks. There's another event next month.

I'd hoped to hear back from Gordon @ Koni about the adjustment range, but he didn't reply. I sure wish they'd use instructions with actual words...

 

Jim,

Does this help at all?

http://www.koni-na.com/adjustment.html

 

Bump

 

Any new input from Koni owners?