Beautiful car, silverstone. We bought it for my wife and It's only a few days old. It's so much fun, am _almost_ willing to sell my car and get one of my own. BUT...

I am very disappointed in the handling at this point. If I am taking an off-ramp and go over a hump, the car seems to bounce and unweight the tires and they slide out. Also, If I hit expansion joints while going around a corner, it slides out and takes a second or two to regain traction - very unnerving; It's bad enough that I just have to slow down

Tell me it's something easy to fix like the tires suck or something. It has the bridgestone re040 tires. Maybe the stock shocks are not valved well (on rebound); although it seems quite stiff.


So you know where I am coming from, I currently have a 97 M3 with H&R OE springs (.75" lowering front and no lowering in the rear, but a higher spring rate), Koni adjustable shocks, and Michelin pilot Sport ps2 tires. If I hit the same expansion joint in my m3, it loses traction for a few milliseconds and then it's back on track; no drama. Taking the off-ramp with the humps, I don't even notice the M3 doing anything weird at all. At this point, the z doesn't even come close in the handling department. BTW, the z has the 18's with 225's and 245's.

The Z seems to have more suspension travel and feels stiffer than the M3, yet it is not as stable on corners with rough pavement and not as smooth. (??)

Also, the brakes in the z seem a bit mushy compared to the m3. It was like that on the other z I drove too. I am hoping it has something to do with the fact that the car has ~100 miles on it and the brakes need to break in. (could be the deal with the tires too???)

Anyway, I still love the z. The wife and I think it'd be cool to have hiz and herz cars. It seems like a cross between my old 91 crx si; small 2-seater, 2-door, and the 97 m3 power, braking (hopefully) and handling (maybe).

Any help or input is appreciated.

Thanks...

 

Tire pressure too high???

 

Not sure what it's supposed to be at. Have not checked yet. What to you suggest?

 

maybe im wrong but im not sure if its fair to comapre a e36 m3 w/ suspension & tire mods to an unmodified Z...

 

i run my tires at 34. and i like, about the brake pedal, do you have the brembo kit on it or the oem? you can get brake pedal dampeners or get a better braking system. i love the handling in my z, i easily outhandle my freinds beemer, its a 325i. not sure what the diff is for the m3, i just know they are alot faster. what kind of tires do you have? i didnt whatever they put on factory, the first thing i did was some racing harts with pirrelli pzeros. or you could go with eagle f1. both are qaulity

 

It would help to know which version Z you have.

Some of the models don't come with VDC.

 

it kinda sounds like you want another m3, the z is a diff car, why would you want both cars to drive exactly the same?

 

Also as a side note.

Are you powering out of the turns. The Z is designed so that
you can power through the turn.

Try you bumpy turn and try accelerating just as you enter the
turn. The Z should literally jump to attention so to speak.

 

Heres my thoughts.....

1. Stock width rims are too thin. Needs wider rubber.( biggest problem)
2. Takes time to learn the z.

Main problem is #1, after I went with the 18x9 and 10.5 I can barely get it to break loose unless the tires are cold.

 

Must be the driver!

 

The stock tires suck and the fronts are to narrow (stretched) on the rim to grip over disruptions. If you think its a mess now, wait till you try it in the rain.

See this Tire Rack review, the stock RE040 rank 45 out of 46
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...y.jsp?type=UHP

Chris

 

Probably is the driver! Thanks fo rall the replies. You guys are great..

I do have to learn how to drive it. The steering is a much quicker ration than the m3. I was braking in that particular corner and when I hit the bump the back-end started to come around (I know... brake betore the corner). Still learning the car.

My wife wanted one at the dealership that had the nismo wheels, exhaust and tail, but they were on a base model. I insisted we go up to the enthusiast to get the LSD/VDC. We can do our own mods later.

We have the regular brakes. I have heard good things about the brakes, so I am thinking they just need to break in. (have to get the brake lining material embedded into the rotors for them to work well)

I kind of do want a new M3! At least I used to. Mine has 219k miles on it (I used to commute) so I'll need a new car at some point. IT still runs/drives like new, but has a lot of squeaks and rattles. I was interested in an e46 (2001 or newer) M3, but the price is WAY up there unless I buy one with a lot of miles. Also, any mods for bimmers are $$$. I'm all about bang for the buck and I think the z foots that bill quite well.

I just want the car to have excellent lateral g-force and not get too upset when it hits a bump while cornering.

I'd like to hear feedback from someone who has:

1. swapped the tires on the stock rims with something better (eagle F1, micheling pilot sport-2, bfg g-force kd) to see if it made a big difference in traction. I think this might be the main problem.

2. Swapped out the factory shocks/struts with Konis or similar. I don't think I'd replace the springs yet as the car seems quite firm as-is. Although if we get big wheels and tires, it'll probably look better lowered a bit. It almost seems like the rear shocks are more damped than the fronts (on the compression side anyway. I prefer more rebound damping and less compression damping as long as the shocks don't get packed up. And by bigger tires, I mean wider. I don't think larger diameter would get us much more than more expensive tires. Although they look sick!

Yeah, comparing to a modded e36 isn't fair. The stock e36 M3 had good grip and handling, but had way too much body roll for me. the springs and shocks took care of that and improved grip. Now it's perfect for me.

So what's the hot setup for springs and shocks for the z without going with coilovers?

Thanks again guys. ALL feedback is appreciated.

BTW, I am really nit-picking on the Z here. Don't get me wrong. It feels awesome (nine tenths out of the box) but I am always looking for better. I am sure it would be a REALLY fun track car as-is (well, with different street tires)

 

the 06's weigh more so may affect the handling?

 

Stock 350Z's basically pull .89 lat G's from the factory. You can easily improve that will some simple mods. I remember an article coming out in one of the mags in 2003 that took some modded Z's and tested them for braking and handling. Of course being years ago, the details are fuzzy off the top of my head but what stuck out to me was the one that had 265 tires on front and 295 tires on rear pulled .94 G's. I believe it had stiffer sways and possibly different springs or coil overs. If you really want to know the details, I might be able to find the article.....

 

sounds like your tires are tramlining...they are picking up the groves in the road and moving to them. I've noticed it a little, but not that bad. Some tires do it worse than others.

 

Thanks for confirming that they suck! At the bottom of the ultra high-performance category says it all. I think I'd prefer to be at the top of the Max performance category!

Interesting about the tire being stretched over the tire to much. I noticed that but didn't give it much thought. The feelings I get from the handling now make more sense... if the sidewall can't deflect to absorm the impact of even a small bump in the road, the whole wheel will bounce up off of it and upset the suspension. I suppose this stretched-out carcass is condusive to track driving though.

Has anyone fitted wider, possible lower profile tires on the stock rims? I do really like the look of the 06 5-spoke rims

 

Learn to drive NOOB

 

Wow, I had no idea. You'd think it'd be better being a purpose-built sports-car. The Stock E36M3 pulls .91g. With the Springs and Koni shocks added and a few other tuner suspension mods (suspension bushing shims), it's way better than stock. And i am under way $1k in suspensoin mods. I'd definitely be interested if you ca find the article. Thanks!

 

All that I know is that my Z owns my old Camaro in all aspects of driving.

 

haha... I have spent some time between the cones of auto-cross courses. I agree I need to learn how to drive this particuar car. I probably don't even have 2 hours behing the wheel yet. But the stock z has a few minor limitations that need to be addressed. I was only braking in the corner because I realized mid-corner that the z could not handle the corner at the same speed as my other car. It was cool until I hit a bump and the rear started to come out. It didn't take much to recover, i just eased off of the brakes and steered into it slightly.

I just can't wait to start modding it!!!

Problem is that this is my wife's daily driver. At her pace those crappy tires are likely to last 20k+ miles. DOH! Maybe I'll have them shaved in a few months "Look how fast these tired wore!" Must get PS2's!

I am really tempted to get my own so I can have at it.