Nismos S-Tune Suspension installed. A couple of pics.
02-14-2003, 09:38 PM
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Nismos S-Tune Suspension installed. A couple of pics.
All in all it took about 5 hours to install taking my time. I used the service manual, but I would have probably been better off without
it. Service manual says to just unbolt the front shock/spring assembly and disconnect the swaybar link and it should come right out, but I had no such luck. The only way I could remove the from shock/spring was to disconnect the upright from the upper A-arm. Nissan is also full of **** on their torque specs. Some of the **** was hard to get off even with an 18" breaker bar!! Especially hard were the front sway bar brackets and the links that connected the sway bar ball joints to the sway bars. The rear goes much faster from the front and the only puzzle was removing the rear anti roll bar, but it's actually pretty easy, you just need to move it back toward the rear of the car. No need to remove anything else. I did the job at my friend's house in Sherman Oaks and then drove the car 45 miles home. I'll let the springs settle another few days before I align it. Seems a bit stiffer is all I can tell right now, but the alignment doesn't seemed to have changed at all, the shocks and springs on this car are not a locating member and even though Nissan quotes and 8/10th of an inch drop, it doesn't look it yet. Here are the pics:
it. Service manual says to just unbolt the front shock/spring assembly and disconnect the swaybar link and it should come right out, but I had no such luck. The only way I could remove the from shock/spring was to disconnect the upright from the upper A-arm. Nissan is also full of **** on their torque specs. Some of the **** was hard to get off even with an 18" breaker bar!! Especially hard were the front sway bar brackets and the links that connected the sway bar ball joints to the sway bars. The rear goes much faster from the front and the only puzzle was removing the rear anti roll bar, but it's actually pretty easy, you just need to move it back toward the rear of the car. No need to remove anything else. I did the job at my friend's house in Sherman Oaks and then drove the car 45 miles home. I'll let the springs settle another few days before I align it. Seems a bit stiffer is all I can tell right now, but the alignment doesn't seemed to have changed at all, the shocks and springs on this car are not a locating member and even though Nissan quotes and 8/10th of an inch drop, it doesn't look it yet. Here are the pics:
02-15-2003, 07:32 AM
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You don't sound that happy. Regrets? Did you make precise measurements of the wheel gap before and after? Did you line up the struts side-by-side for visible/measurable differences in length before completing the install?
I do hope you come back and say it's worth it...
I do hope you come back and say it's worth it...
02-15-2003, 02:38 PM
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Hey Steve,
Looks good. I didn't think my alignment was out either, but my mileage went down until I got it done, so that may be the best way to determine if your's is OK or not.
Let us know what you think of the ride. I can't get the rear end to pull out at all, and it seems completly neutral now. The understeer seems to be completly gone.
Kevin
Looks good. I didn't think my alignment was out either, but my mileage went down until I got it done, so that may be the best way to determine if your's is OK or not.
Let us know what you think of the ride. I can't get the rear end to pull out at all, and it seems completly neutral now. The understeer seems to be completly gone.
Kevin
02-15-2003, 05:15 PM
#6
Steve, good to see you got the suspension installed, and I'll be very interested to hear how the handling / balance of the car has been changed after your next track event.
My concern was witht the difficulty was the installation, how difficult was it? Could you take a little time and write a tech article on your install? I too would like to do this in my driveway, but if it requires a lot of physical strength, I'll be deterred.
My concern was witht the difficulty was the installation, how difficult was it? Could you take a little time and write a tech article on your install? I too would like to do this in my driveway, but if it requires a lot of physical strength, I'll be deterred.
02-15-2003, 07:16 PM
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Let me start out by saying that this will only be a brief initial impression as the car isn't aligned yet, but I couldn't resist driving her a bit harder today!
First off is the car is about an 1" lower, my regular jack no longer fits under the car and it had about 1" of clearance before. The look is very nice, really transforms the car.
Took it to my secret test area. First thing I notice is the near total lack of body roll, very nice! I'll have to get used to driving the Z all over again because roll was one of my biggest complaints. Finally the car seems to respond. When Road and Track says the car won't do anything to bite you, what they are really saying is that there is way too much steady state understeer. No matter what you do, that's what you get. Not anymore. Lift the throttle mid corner; nose tucks in nicely. Trail some brake into the corner and turn in seems razor sharp with the back rotating in direct proportion to the ammount of brake. Here is the real Godsend though, get on the power off a medium speed corner and the car is totally neutral. Lets you get on the power much earlier and not scrub the front tires!! This is how the Track model should have been from the factory period. GOD DAMN LAWYERS!
The ride is stiffer that is for sure, I never noticed much "porpoising" before so I can't say if it's been reduced or not. Sharper impacts like expansion joints seem better damped though.
Droid, I am totally happy with this setup so far. The true test will be the track day at Buttonwillow on March 21st right after I return from the Caribbean for a few weeks.
Install is not that bad at all. It's just that Nissan puts the car together without following their own torue specs. As long as you have a level driveway and some jackstands, you can do the entire install yourself with just medium mechanical skill. Just make sure you have an 18" breaker bar to make it easy on yourself.
I started with the front of the car. Remove the STB first, remove wheel, disconnect roll bar link from roll bar, remove lower bolt holding shock assembly, remove three nuts on top of shock studs, remove cotter pin and remove nut that connects upper A arm to upright. Remove shock/spring and reassemble in reverse order. Repeat for other side. Remove front belley pan, remove 3 bolts and one nut that holds each ARB bracket (the breaker bar will be handy here) Put in new ARB with new bushing, tighten bracket bolts and nut a little bit at a time all around to get them even, reconnect ARB to ARB link, reinstall belley pan, reinstall wheels.
The rear is a not too bad either; jack up rear and place on stands (you could also jack up the entire car but I feel more secure one end at a time) remove wheels, disconnect ARB link from ARB. Place jack under lower spring perch transverse link, remove bolt from bottom of shock absorber, slowley lower jack, remove upper 2 shock nuts, remove shock, continue to lower jack until you can remove the spring (To get the transverse links low enough I actually had to loosen the inner bolt on the transverse spring perch, take the upper shock seals, boot, bump rubber and mount off old shock and place on new one, put new shock in upper location with the 2 bolts, hand tighten, put now spring in place on bottom, make sure spring lines up correctly with the pearch, use the jack to lift the lower arm back into place compressing the spring, put in lower shock bolt once in place, tighten. Go under car and remve little fairings covering ARB bracket, remove ARB bracket bolts (2), repeat on other side, finess ARB toward back of car and remove (take not of you you remove ARB so you can get the new one in the same way. Put it all back together, torqueing everything as you go. Pretty easy!
First off is the car is about an 1" lower, my regular jack no longer fits under the car and it had about 1" of clearance before. The look is very nice, really transforms the car.
Took it to my secret test area. First thing I notice is the near total lack of body roll, very nice! I'll have to get used to driving the Z all over again because roll was one of my biggest complaints. Finally the car seems to respond. When Road and Track says the car won't do anything to bite you, what they are really saying is that there is way too much steady state understeer. No matter what you do, that's what you get. Not anymore. Lift the throttle mid corner; nose tucks in nicely. Trail some brake into the corner and turn in seems razor sharp with the back rotating in direct proportion to the ammount of brake. Here is the real Godsend though, get on the power off a medium speed corner and the car is totally neutral. Lets you get on the power much earlier and not scrub the front tires!! This is how the Track model should have been from the factory period. GOD DAMN LAWYERS!
The ride is stiffer that is for sure, I never noticed much "porpoising" before so I can't say if it's been reduced or not. Sharper impacts like expansion joints seem better damped though.
Droid, I am totally happy with this setup so far. The true test will be the track day at Buttonwillow on March 21st right after I return from the Caribbean for a few weeks.
Install is not that bad at all. It's just that Nissan puts the car together without following their own torue specs. As long as you have a level driveway and some jackstands, you can do the entire install yourself with just medium mechanical skill. Just make sure you have an 18" breaker bar to make it easy on yourself.
I started with the front of the car. Remove the STB first, remove wheel, disconnect roll bar link from roll bar, remove lower bolt holding shock assembly, remove three nuts on top of shock studs, remove cotter pin and remove nut that connects upper A arm to upright. Remove shock/spring and reassemble in reverse order. Repeat for other side. Remove front belley pan, remove 3 bolts and one nut that holds each ARB bracket (the breaker bar will be handy here) Put in new ARB with new bushing, tighten bracket bolts and nut a little bit at a time all around to get them even, reconnect ARB to ARB link, reinstall belley pan, reinstall wheels.
The rear is a not too bad either; jack up rear and place on stands (you could also jack up the entire car but I feel more secure one end at a time) remove wheels, disconnect ARB link from ARB. Place jack under lower spring perch transverse link, remove bolt from bottom of shock absorber, slowley lower jack, remove upper 2 shock nuts, remove shock, continue to lower jack until you can remove the spring (To get the transverse links low enough I actually had to loosen the inner bolt on the transverse spring perch, take the upper shock seals, boot, bump rubber and mount off old shock and place on new one, put new shock in upper location with the 2 bolts, hand tighten, put now spring in place on bottom, make sure spring lines up correctly with the pearch, use the jack to lift the lower arm back into place compressing the spring, put in lower shock bolt once in place, tighten. Go under car and remve little fairings covering ARB bracket, remove ARB bracket bolts (2), repeat on other side, finess ARB toward back of car and remove (take not of you you remove ARB so you can get the new one in the same way. Put it all back together, torqueing everything as you go. Pretty easy!
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02-16-2003, 03:58 AM
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Sounds like the package to get for those who don't mind a slightly stiffer ride. Will likely be my first modification once NISMO officially hits our shores. Don't need it now with over a foot of snow on the ground.
02-16-2003, 05:08 AM
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Great
Great wright up....
Can you post picture of the car in the day time from a distance. Maybe a side shot and an angled rear to front shot? Also, what was the total damage ?
Can you post picture of the car in the day time from a distance. Maybe a side shot and an angled rear to front shot? Also, what was the total damage ?
02-16-2003, 02:20 PM
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Originally posted by raceboy
The ride is stiffer that is for sure, I never noticed much "porpoising" before so I can't say if it's been reduced or not. Sharper impacts like expansion joints seem better damped though.
The ride is stiffer that is for sure, I never noticed much "porpoising" before so I can't say if it's been reduced or not. Sharper impacts like expansion joints seem better damped though.
02-16-2003, 02:59 PM
#14
Originally posted by droidekaus
Steve, this is what I want to hear. So you can say without a doubt that dampening and springs are better matched than could ever be realized with the stock suspension? My big complaint with stock is the inadequate dampening that allows the rear to bounce like a cheap mattress over bumps after the springs rebound. If this is gone, I'm as good as sold.
Steve, this is what I want to hear. So you can say without a doubt that dampening and springs are better matched than could ever be realized with the stock suspension? My big complaint with stock is the inadequate dampening that allows the rear to bounce like a cheap mattress over bumps after the springs rebound. If this is gone, I'm as good as sold.
02-16-2003, 07:36 PM
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Originally posted by droidekaus
Steve, this is what I want to hear. So you can say without a doubt that dampening and springs are better matched than could ever be realized with the stock suspension? My big complaint with stock is the inadequate dampening that allows the rear to bounce like a cheap mattress over bumps after the springs rebound. If this is gone, I'm as good as sold.
Steve, this is what I want to hear. So you can say without a doubt that dampening and springs are better matched than could ever be realized with the stock suspension? My big complaint with stock is the inadequate dampening that allows the rear to bounce like a cheap mattress over bumps after the springs rebound. If this is gone, I'm as good as sold.
02-16-2003, 10:42 PM
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I am no drag racer but my guess is that for a drag racer you would want a soft rear spring and soft compression damping in the rear to transfer weight, but you would want a high rebound damping rate to keep the weight on the back, for the front you would want to set rebound damping to minimum.
As far as axle hop, most stiffly sprung sports cars suffer from it.
As far as axle hop, most stiffly sprung sports cars suffer from it.
02-18-2003, 02:17 PM
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You have definitely got my attention. The S-Tuned sounds like a winner. I'll be interested in your thoughts on how it performs on both the road and the track. I find the stock setup way too bouncy and the front tires take a serious pounding when the car is driven hard. It makes the car feel nose heavy, which I'm sure it can't be given the weight distribution. Did this feeling go away with the new setup?
Fly
Fly
02-18-2003, 07:40 PM
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Well, I got the Z aligned this morning and headed for the canyons. I headed out just as I would at the track with the spare and tools removed. Problem with the Z is that all the weight you can remove is off the rear of the car and that makes the car even more nose heavy. The 12lb battery up front really helps. The car has settled nicely and I am also really pleased with the look. I would say it's at least a 1" drop.
So how did it feel? Well let me just say that for the first time I did not miss my MR2 Spyder! The car just feels like a completely different animal. It responds the way you would expect a real sportscar to. The throttle is now just as useful in steering the car as the steering wheel is. All the throttle did before was increase understeer on application. Steering is also so much better. I have always felt that the turn in was muted on the Z, seemingly a half step behind. Now like my featherweight, sport suspended, 2100 lb, mid engined MR2 Spyder, the Z seems to anticipate my moves. She is now an excellent dancing partner indeed. What is even more amazing is how little ride comfort you actually sacrifice. I took my wife for a ride and she could not detect a difference. The only thing that remains to be seen is how it performs at real racing speeds.
I would 110% recommend this setup. It has always been my personal experience that adjustable setups just give you something to blame at track days VS just concentrating on driving. A well engineered non adjustable setup takes out the guesswork and who can engineer a better total package than the manufacturer? It will be an especially good deal when you actually can get it through dealers and the price drops to $1400 for the entire package. I guessed on that price by comparing what I paid for my TRD Sportivo package vs what Japanparts sells it for.
I promise some pics tomorrow with some nice side shots.
So how did it feel? Well let me just say that for the first time I did not miss my MR2 Spyder! The car just feels like a completely different animal. It responds the way you would expect a real sportscar to. The throttle is now just as useful in steering the car as the steering wheel is. All the throttle did before was increase understeer on application. Steering is also so much better. I have always felt that the turn in was muted on the Z, seemingly a half step behind. Now like my featherweight, sport suspended, 2100 lb, mid engined MR2 Spyder, the Z seems to anticipate my moves. She is now an excellent dancing partner indeed. What is even more amazing is how little ride comfort you actually sacrifice. I took my wife for a ride and she could not detect a difference. The only thing that remains to be seen is how it performs at real racing speeds.
I would 110% recommend this setup. It has always been my personal experience that adjustable setups just give you something to blame at track days VS just concentrating on driving. A well engineered non adjustable setup takes out the guesswork and who can engineer a better total package than the manufacturer? It will be an especially good deal when you actually can get it through dealers and the price drops to $1400 for the entire package. I guessed on that price by comparing what I paid for my TRD Sportivo package vs what Japanparts sells it for.
I promise some pics tomorrow with some nice side shots.