Chebosto

iTrader: (43)

I had the opportunity this morning to meet up with John350Z up at his 'hood' (as he described it) so i could pick up my Gunmetal TE37.. he gave me the opportunity to drive his Z.


Let's do a quick overview of his major mods:
Jic FLT-A2 coilovers, nismo sways, 4wheel Stoptech big brake kit, new Nismo Titanium shift ****, the Fujibuto Titanium exhaust, the infamous 19" volks, and the JWT/Injen hybrid intake.


Now after opening it up on the freeway, the first thing that came to mind was 'wow, this is a REALLY refined sports car!" the titanium nismo shift **** is considerable shorter than the stock Z shift **** and felt nicely in my palm (i grip the shifter from the side and not the top) and it even with some prespiration on my hands from the A/C being off, the **** didnt slip out of my hands (which happens to me sometimes with my Razo **** on the maxima..) i was impressed by the refined look and its really nice addition to the interior.

the Ride quality was VERY VERY nice.. the JIC i believe have a spring rating close to 500/600 or 450/550.. but it was not skittish at all. the skipping that was comon with the stock suspension is completely gone and the ride was perfect. i believe the dampening settings were at 5 front, 7 rear, and it wasn't harsh at all. although the rebound was very quick so if you had a quick elevation change (i.e. dip in the road) the car came down quick and dampened it hard..
i have the TEINs with EDFC (spring rates at 500/600) in my Z and i can say the quality of the JIC is near if not better than my TEINs. too bad you can't adjust the dampening electronically.. but that's ok. the JICs' dampening is great. with the 5/7 settings it feels like a stock suspension that would come with this type of car...
a big smile came from the abrupt lane changes.. the low prof tires with the 19x10.5 rear tires (19x9.5 front) is not noisy nor is it too "road feely" in which you feel everything in the road. it was comfortable.. and made me miss my car :P
the stoptechs are crazy. Aside from the slight annoyance of the brake dust squealing at low speeds.. the stopping power is crazy nuts. from a 60 ->20 mph slow down. the car stopped nearly too fast for my tastes... i had to get used to it.. compared to the stock brembos on the track edition, the 4 wheel stoptech is a nice upgrade but i think its a little over kill on the street and is probably nicer for those long track days where fade will be a problem.. i also noticed that when stopping hard, the car pulled a little to the left, so John. hopefully it was just me with the steering wheel askew, just make sure all those lines are equally bled correctly...oh yea. when hard braking. the car only slightly dipped due to the braking force, on my TEINs/stock Brembos, mine dont even with heavy braking.

the exhaust is only slightly noticable audiably over stock and looks great with those two huge tips sticking from underneath the butt. the JWT/Injen hybrid intake that was on the car (courtesy of StrictlyZ.com intake ideas.. hehe) sounded only slightly more aggressive than the stock growl, but when WOT, you could really hear the JWT pop charger scream.


i was quite impressed with the JICs when i got to drive it against my TEINs (which emit some of the tube fluid transfer squeaks/clunks at soft dampening)... but the kicker was the sway bars.. the car was very neutral and quick to turn in.. i didnt notice too much of an understeer/oversteer, but i held back because i didnt want to plant John's car into the wall or something. heheh.... but the sways help definately..

John's Z is slammed with less than 1 finger in the front and practically zero fingers in the rear, with a negative 2 degrees camber all the way around. a little low for my tastes but its does well for the look of the car especially with the rear lip. (which is why i must get the 10.5 rears. )

In conclusion: JICs kick ***/extremely well balanced coilover setup, the Stoptechs are fantastic but a bit much for me, the nismo shift **** is neat, and the 19" volks don't take away from the drivability of the Z at all.. fantastic for those wanting to go bigger.

Thanks for the chance to drive your car john! i just hope my Z will be as cool as yours..

--Cheston

john350Z

WOW!! nice review!!

but you made one mistake!!

yours and everybody else's Z is COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thanx for the comparison review CHESTON!!

enjoy the wheels!!

whatever

iTrader: (2)

nice review!! It's always good to hear comparsions... I knew John's car looked sweet. Now I know it performs even better than it looks!!!
Seriously, I agree with Chebosto... I wish my Z will be as cool as yours one day!!

LBC TRD

any pics of that shift ****?

i agree, your z is sick john!

john350Z

whateva- thanx for the praise, but i know your going to come up soon with mods. you gotta keep up with your boys moodie and failsaf there in the bay area.

lbc trd-thanx for the compliment and here is the link to the NISMO GT Titanium shift **** pix:

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....ium+shift+****

fairladyZ in Japan

Chebosto... your review was indeed detailed and excellent.

You gave it a nice twist... reading your review--- one could actually feel the driving experience as you described it.. thanks.

The JIC does sound like an excellent suspension -- tight !! Gawwd... I would love to test drive John's Z to feel the difference compared to the S-tune.

John

iTrader: (17)

Tein and the JIC share the same front spring rate, but the rear on the JIC is 2kg/mm (110lb/in) stiffer than the Tein rears. The JIC also uses a larger 45mm piston, and has an inverted monotube design. The JIC system is more conducive for track driving.

Chebosto

iTrader: (43)

Yea. John's car handles very very well..

i had to the chance to drive the G35Coupe on the way back to LA yesterday..

how about a review bout that?


the G35 coupe's suspension, although much more refined and luxury conscious.. is fantastic. the dampening is great, alot softer than the stock Z, but not as quick as the JICs or TEINs.
The G35C has a tendency to roll slightly due to the lack of front strut bar, but on the long sweepers on the 58 through Bakersfield/Mojave it was great.. i had the chance to drive that same route with my TEINs on med/hard (front rear respectively) and i was impressed with the G35C. i noticed that the TCS/VDC kicks in later in the G35C than in the Z.. strange... and i got alot more wheel spin before SLIP indication and the cut off in power...from a 3k clutch dump at a green lite transitioning 200 feet later to a 90degree left hand turn with VDC ON, the tail came out only slightly and the SLIP indication only turned on after i had made the apex of the turn and was goign straight... i think the way nissan should have gone it was that all the lower Zs should have gotten the G35C suspension/damppening specs and the Ztrack would stay the stiffer spring rates... perhaps they are the same specs and that the G35C is just heavier so it doesnt feel as skittish...

man.. GIVE ME BACK MY CAR !!! :P

cbsuper

Well, I was torn between the S-Tune Suspension and Jic suspension setup, but I think this review helped me make up my mind.

zland

Chebosto:

Thanks for the review of the two coil overs and the G35 drive. I like that you are able to give a somewhat non-biased review rather than just trying to defend your own purchases. I really wish you could drive a Z with Nismo S suspension now to compare the 3. I am thinking of going with the NISMO but have not driven any of them. I am just not sure people that own only their system and not haven driven otherscan give a accurate comparsion nor somone that is selling them because both parties may have a bias.

I am still open to all options. I hope all input from everyone will get me the info so i can make a best choice for myself.

Jeff

Moodie

iTrader: (3)

So where do we sign up to drive John's Car???

phile

Cheston, does the JWT pop charger scream like it would with a normal injen/AEM filer on the end? Or is it more aggressive?

350z4steve

iTrader: (1)

Out of curiosity john350Z..how much have you tinkered with the JIC adjustments and how did you arrive at the 5 front 7 rear..is a good allaround setting or mainly for driving hard.

Speaking of adjustments did you drill a hole to get to the rear adjustments or you bent the tool to fit at the odd angle in the rear its not that easy to get to?

Thanks

steve

Chebosto

iTrader: (43)

I'm sure you'd get a deep throaty growl if you bought a 3inch adapter to stick the JWT to the end of the AEM or INjen bend.. but that velocity stack's not gonna help too much down there... i did that with a similar design with a Place Racing CAI before, and although the low end was great. high end power suffered....

i've concluded that the engine bay is seriously in need of a cooling down.. that top injen piping gets heat soaked so easily and with the pop charger so damn close to the engine cover i'm not convinced the JwT heat sheild will do that much..

ive got about three designs of a fiberglass insert for the front nose to get some cooler air into the engine bay from the hole in fender area from the stock air box.. i plan on cutting up one of my nismo replica bumpers to try the idea and hopefully if its all good i'll have a local company mass produce it in CF...

that heat inside the engine bay is just incredible.. Yikes..

350z4steve

iTrader: (1)

indeed..pop the hood open everyone after a long drive say about 50 miles and youll see something surely could improve the air intake performance if their was more space to move it besides down near the front grill.

jmark

iTrader: (1)

John,

How does the shifting compare with the stock unit? I had the titanium shifter in my S2000 and liked it. The heavier shifter seemed to make the shifting more precise......

Chebosto

iTrader: (43)

John's nismo **** is just a stock replacement *chuckle.. stock ****. mwuhaha* its not the short throw shifter...

but even with the titanium ****. its very slick! i liked it.

Chebosto

iTrader: (43)

Vic-
yea. i saw it at SEMA.. they stole my idea! haha. well. it was very interesting to see them do that..... their scoop is actually in the most ideal area at the front of the stagnant pressure zone of the nose of the car..

my vent hole is similar to the Mine's CF scoop/duct, but i want to put a little bit of a leading edge curve to it, so that when the air naturally flows up the curve of the bumper.. it will follow some of the lines of my duct into the stock air box hole area..

bobowah

iTrader: (5)

hey wait..

When do I get a ride in the White 350z in sacto...

Can I be a judge whether not john's car is better than sex?