Well, coilovers are going to be a lot stiffer than the S-Tune setup. The S-Tune isn't a coilover setup. I don't understand how his got stiffer as time passed on. That makes no sense to me.

 

Well, it is his car and he is the one that rides in it everyday. Maybe he was just excited over the handling early and ignored the ride til later, don't know. But he has to have a reason behind his thoughts, this guy knows his cars and is a very good driver.

 

Not trying to argue man just saying that suspensions don't get stiffer. I think it is interesting that he feels that way. Maybe the foam in his seat is more compressed and worn out.

 

so the s-tune nismos are not a coilover? i was going to ask if you could adjust ride height and dampning...but if its not a coilover i guess that would answer my question...

 

S-Tune is just a shock/strut/spring package.

 

The S-Tune does drop the car 20mm from stock.

 

OK, I did get a chance to ride in my friend's car with the Nismo S-tune and sways. I have to say, I don't feel the same way he does, of course he is always hard on his car. Went for a joy ride with some 300s, one TT with modified boost.

Got it sideways in a few turns, it was a blast. This car was extremely flat, with no noticeable body roll. As for the ride, well he is riding on 18s, and the ride was fine with me even though he thought it had gotten a tad rough. I guess the reason I was so forgiving was cause he had no bounce and my car is like a bobbing head doll in comparison.

One thing I did notice is that I don't care how firm the suspension is(nothing that hurts the car, you know what I mean), so long as the bounce is gone. It was nice to drive a car that hit a bump, and that was it. He had both the sways and S-tune, wish I knew which one had more of an effect on my drive, I know both work together, but I am cheap, and I just want one, lol.

Well, the drive didn't really make up my mind on getting either the tein basics(supposed be similar to S-tune) or some sways(too cheap to buy both right now, lol). But it did make my mind up on one thing, I WILL change the suspension. Was going back and forth about this, but the stock suspension on my 03 sucked when I got back behind the wheel, so I will definitely change it now.

 

I can get you the sways for 378 plus shipping. they will help counteract the roll but won't really change the regular ride any.

 

Yeah, but I have also decided that I want to cure the bounce. There are really only two ways I want to do that, either the konis or basics(maybe s-tune). I am hopeful that the tighter springs of the basics or s-tune lessens the need of the sways. Least that is my hope/thought.

Guess I will have to buy them and see, but with the stiffer setup of the basics or s-tune, I would like to know how they feel by themselves. I am also worried about feathering(of which I have none right now) in the future, which scares me a little by not going with the nissan backed S-tunes. Of course, there are many, many other guys going with suspension setups outside of Nismo, so I wouldn't be the only one, lol.

Of course, the konis and sways would be interesting.............decisions, decisions.....

 

little_rod,

Sounds like we are in the same boat. Glad to read that the S-Tunes fixed the bounce problem. I'd love to test a car with the S-Tunes too. Firm doesn't bother me either. The bounce does however. I have till spring to decide. Konis are out then. I'll do sways either way whether they be 350Evo or Nismo.

 

I can get the S-Tune out to you for 1360 all day.

 

Yeah, my initial post might be misleading, I was driving my friends car with the nismos. They are so much better than stock as far as bounce, it is makes the stock 03 car almost feel like an SUV. I would encourage a drive, cause it is harder to tell about suspension mods without a drive. Most other mods, even engine mods, you can get a feel for them just reading someone on this site post their thoughts on the mod. But with the suspension, you don't really know anything til you drive it yourself with your particular wheel/tire combo and roads you drive.

I think we are similar jmark, I will make the koni/s-tune/basic purchase before I even think of sways. I want to see if I really need the sways after I make the other changes. It should be obivous to you that I hate wasting money, lol. Now, I know if I bought the konis, I know I would have to buy the sways along with them by the very least. Since dwnshift is saying they will be coming out with a spring/sway/koni package, I will watch that closely, although I have my doubts with their tendency to be on the expensive side of things.

I also was in no hurry to make a decision about a suspension until this spring, although I am starting to get tempted to make a change now cause I now know what I am missing.

 

Welcome to the hazardious world of independent reviews. In one way or another I have been in charge of sifting through user reviews on suspensions for years on another car forum. It has been a eye opening experience to hear some of the same suspension systems I had driven on myself, get compleatly different reviews. By and large the jest of it was that the worse a setup was, in liveability and driveability, the more people tended to ignor that bad behavior in their reviews. Also, it is soooooooooo important that people doing reviews don't go by their first impressions, put some miles on the new system and over a wide variety of driving styles and road conditions. And most importantly, be willing to stand up and voice something that just might be unpopular, only with truthfull honest reviewing can others truely benefit from your assesment. So, always weigh the things you hear on reviews carefully, everyone has different opionions, you need to work harder to filter out down to facts. Plus theirs nothing wrong with a extra dose of caution on reviews that are NOT independent, those done by a seller or reseller.

Keep in mind on the Nismo suspension that it's entirely possible that your looking at a combined difference of shock valving AND spring rate's, the relationship between the two could have shifted in difference to the Nismo's having stiffer springs.

Something else to add, I have noticed, IMPO,.....that the OEM 350Z springs and struts on my sedan, tend to "feel" stiffer when I drive in low temp conditions (below 45 degree, California low temp that is )

 

Gsedan35, in my ride, you also have to include that he has the sways and the s-tunes. Like you say, there are so many things to look at when it comes to suspension, things can get confusing real quick. That is why it has taken me so long to purchase, I think we have been talking about this for months with each other, lol.

I also tried to keep in mind that the s-tunes are progressive. I have to wonder if a setup without progressive springs would lead to a rougher ride on smaller bumps than I experienced with the s-tunes. Honestly, I am just looking at whether the nismo name as far as feathering coverage is worth the extra $500 for me. Right now, I don't think it is.

 

My Z tends to ride better with a full tank of gas IMHO.