pacfwu

iTrader: (4)

Originally, I was going to do everything through a (relatively) local shop. But to save some money, I just decided to do it on my own. I went through Z-1 and they have the Cusco's for $1600.

Most of what I know about suspension I've gathered from this site. With that being said, I wouldn't recommend just putting a lower set of springs in the car. I would almost certainly say that would compromise the handling. My understanding is that you need to have a suspension that is matched up. I don't think the factory shocks would do very well with a different spring attached to them.

I make no claims that my choice in suspension will make the car turn better numbers in either a test or on better times on a track as it sits. It may, it may not. My choice was based more on daily driving livibility and that this suspension will still handle very well on a track if I decide to go to one and play around. Another reason I went with Cusco's is so that if I decide to track the car more and get heavier into it, they have sways that're matched up specifically for their suspension and can make a complete system.

Considering my main concern was that I just wanted to lower the car for aesthetics, I probably really overthought this whole thing.

MsLiLBlackNismo

iTrader: (1)

LOL..... I think it was a good choice... Mine is also a daily and I dont want to just put lowering springs on my car. I mean, I paid $38k for a car that has a sick a$$ suspension why ruin it with $200 springs... So I have been waiting for someone else to do it At least now I have an idea of what I would be spending if I decide to do it...

pacfwu

iTrader: (4)

Well there's certainly less expensive setups out there that would probably be fairly comparble if you aren't planning on tracking the car. You could save a couple hundred bucks and go with the Zero-1's if you don't care about adjustable dampening. Or even go with something like a set of Tein Basics for under $1k.

Even if you "downgrade" the suspension, it's not like the car is all of a sudden going to decide to head straight for a rock wall. Just do what I did and search the suspension section and see what people have to say about their setups and figure out what works with your budget. If it works on a "regular" Z, it should work even better on this car with the other things it has going for it. It might not pull as many G's in a skidpad, but if you never do a skidpad test, it doesn't really matter does it?

But one thing you can't deny is that it looks effing hot.

Sensi09

Personally, I wouldn't want to "downgrade" the suspension with a lower level set of coilovers. You can get something decent like PSS9s, KWs or the Cuscos for not much more.

From what I've read, the Nismo suspension does have matched springs and shocks, but since the shocks are higher grade, it should be able to handle other springs just fine. If you look at something like Koni or Bilstein shocks, they might not be matched with a particular spring, but they will work very well together.

Pacfwu, how is the ride compared to stock? And do you know if the sway bars are Nismo sway bars or just regular stock Z bars.

pacfwu

iTrader: (4)

I wouldn't want to "downgrade" it either, but if it doesn't see a track, it doesn't really matter. I don't know how higher of a grade the shocks are. Never found any specs on 'em for a comparison. All I've read is that the springs are supposed to something like 35% stiffer. I think the s-tune suspension is something like 50% stiffer than a stock Z. The more I researched, the more confused I was. I do know that the shocks are made by Tokico. I'd imagine they aren't the same as the standard Tokico's that you could just order up from Les Schwab.

I remember reading awhile back that the front sway bar is the same bar found on all '07 and '08 Z's which is supposed to be comparable to the old s-tune front bar. The rear was upgraded for the NISMO, but I don't know about how it compares to the s-tune. It's different than the s-tune bar though. I know that.

The ride is a bit stiffer than before. But's I think that's to be expected for 2 reasons. 1) I have the rears set all the way to 5 (just to see if it was livable) and 2) because it's a linear spring setup versus a progressive setup. I haven't really played with the settings on it or driven it harder than I would normally drive any car because I can't get it aligned until Saturday. Plus, it's always raining and wet here this time of year.

After it's aligned and we have a decent day, I can give a better impression of them. But I'm hardly an expert, so I'm sure any of the reviews on this forum would give you better information.

black06z

iTrader: (1)

Looks great man.

MsLiLBlackNismo

iTrader: (1)

It does look hott I would never take that away... I think I am going to talk to someone at Nissan's performence shop down here about lowering the car to see if something has been released yet (I'm sure nothing has but maybe they will have a different insite about the topic).

I'm really not sure what to do... I am just confused I will also look into the Zero-1's because I know I will never put the car on track other than the drag strip.. But thank you for your help, you've been very informative...

chunky_baby

It really doesn't bother me if you guys are changing stuff, but you have to ask if it's really going to be a better set up.

Autech and Nismo know what they are doing, I'm personally going to leave mine how it is.

If it's just for "looks" or whatever then great... but I'd keep the stock parts for sure.

pacfwu

iTrader: (4)

I don't dispute that Autech/Nismo know what they're doing, but it doesn't mean other companies don't. Since this is a car that's sold by Nissan, they still have to be concerned with appealing to the masses and still offering a warrantee.

Probably THE BEST version of the Z33 would be the 380RS-C and I doubt very much that it uses the same suspension as the Factory Version NISMO. If Nismo released that suspension for the general public, I bet a lot of us NISMO people would buy it without any hesitation or debate.

I really expected to see a lot of posts saying that I've ruined it and flaming me for changing the suspension. So for everyone that feels strongly that I have, thank you for having the good taste to keep silent. And thanks also to the people that've chimed in with all the positive posts.

dut

iTrader: (2)

Neeeeeezmo.

Z1 Performance

iTrader: (564)

NISMO has nothing offered nor in the works

chunky_baby

Hey - it's your car man

I hope you enjoy every minute of it!

kennylin888

iTrader: (1)

It's your car, and who cares what others think.
Most important is that you love what you doing to it, right?
Everyone has different taste. Maybe they prefer it this way but that's their taste and not yours. CAPICE???

TJ350Z

I think it's all about preference....And to be blunt, I think you're car looks sweet man. And to top it all off, you installed a good set of coil-over suspension from, as we all know, a well respected, well recognized suspension manufacturer/tuner. So, imo, it's a win-win situation for you.

east1999bt

looks good man, any new nicer pics?????

pacfwu

iTrader: (4)

Not yet. It's been raining pretty much non-stop for the last week or so. And it looks like it's going to be raining for at least the next week. As dreary as that might sound, I just look as it as "as long as it keeps raining, at least we don't get snow"

MsLiLBlackNismo

iTrader: (1)

Thank You for the note..

randysduality

any new pics after the alignment?

cheshirecat79

iTrader: (9)

Looks great, just fix that camber

pacfwu

iTrader: (4)

So even though it's pretty low, the fronts are still within factory spec. The rears are at -1.75 degrees. This is without any sort of camber kit. I didn't even think about getting a print-out until after I'd left or I would post up all the specific information.