350Butcher

Also i wasn't going to but have decided to change the suspension on the car. After loads of homework I went with MCS (Motion Control Suspension) and their 2WNR (2 way non remote) this will give superior ride and control over my current Bilstein's even with using much higher spring rates for far improved handling. If you've not heard of them they are headed by a guy called Jerome Van Gool, he was formerly of JRZ before forming Moton until they were sold to AST and MCS was born. Today I have collected my SPL toe links courtesy of Tarmac Sportz as I'm converting to rear coilovers. Then I get a very exciting email from Wyatt from MCS to say my dampers have been finished and have been shipped today!! Attaching a few studio pics of my actual dampers!! These will be coming with Eibach 2.25" springs, 600lbs 8" long with 12lbs helpers in the front and 300lbs 9" long at the rear. Fronts Rears

After my slightly iffy evening session at Donington I was back there on Friday and had a great day! The car I can now confirm is 102Db drive by so I have to fit the 2xDecibel Devils I ordered and they do the job and get it down to a level that keeps me out on track! The weather was mostly good throughout the day with the odd shower and then total down pour at 4:30 so perfectly timed to finish up and head to the pub for a debrief of the day!! The new 18's felt really good and offered up more feel and grip I would say.........knocked nearly a second off my lap time from the other day but the temps were a lot lower so not sure if that played a big part. Sharing the day with my brother in his Vxr220, as always, is great fun but an added bonus to the day was sharing the garage with a really nice couple with their 911 996 gt3! My misses blagged a ride out in it and loved every second!

I had ART pipes on my DE Zed followed by my HR Zed too! Both installed along with my Tanabe system Assuming you still have cats in at the moment then fitting these will free up a few HP (have a remap after to maximize the gains) and a bit more noise too. They don't have that horrible nasty rasp sound at all, like the Berks I had when very first bought my first Zed, just a nice low V6 note. Pricey but worth it for both HP gains and noise.

I didn't even look on eBay for manifolds when I was making a decision. I'm confident that anything on there will be poor quality and certainly untested for any true gains. I think the PPE's are as good as they get and you can order them direct on their website. Might be worth dropping them a mail first though, Paul Prentis was a great guy to deal with when I ordered mine and kept me informed from start to finish and went out of his way to find me the best deal on shipping when they were ready. Keep us informed with what you go for.

This is a good link I found to it all http://eibach.com/america/en/motorsport/products/suspension-worksheet

Thanks for taking time out to answer this so well, some really good info there. You answered what I meant even though I used the wrong terms to describe it and I understand the rear being stiffer as a result of the weight distribution. I think that's the same with everything, I have definitely worked out a far bit of "vehicle dynamically worthless" info myself over the years..........but that's what we learn from!

I've had mixed results with going through traders or going direct to manufacturers in the States so its well worth doing your homework both ways to get the best price. My manifolds I ordered direct from PPE as at the time the trader wanted hundreds of quid more for them, then had the front to send me a moody email saying "I know you've gone direct to them!"..............I don't mind anyone making some money for a service but not when they're taking the p So retro_al are you going for these? Are you DE or HR? You wont be disappointed if you do

They are more popular in the states because like every other high end part they cost so much less there than they do in the UK!! I think my PPE manifolds are a big part of my car making 343bhp and with good flat torque too, so they are one of the best things you can do to our cars. Regarding install, I think the Zed is one of the easiest cars I've ever worked on. It's not a hard job its a big job! Support the engine and drop the front subframe inc engine mounts and you can access everything you need to swap them out. This is my build showing manifolds from post #69

That's what I mean about it being difficult though, I wouldn't know where to start working out a cars wheels frequency and suspension motion ratio with only a socket set and a calculator in my garage at home.................we need suspension people like you with fancy maths and computer engines to tell us Jerrick! With my car I meant in terms of spring energy to the ground it must be slightly more at the front, as its got to deal with the engines weight and braking forces etc? Handling wise they've delivered exactly what I asked for then which is good to know, want the front as sharp to remove as much understeer with on throttle oversteer so I can steer a little with my foot. Have you had any experience yourself with the MCS stuff?

Already have Eibach bars fitted...........although I think I'd go for the H&R bars now That's what makes it all so difficult to decide spring rates, every cars different, suspension pivot points and spring location change it all and every driver likes a different handling car! I'm assuming what the wheel sees at 11/5.5 is fairly equal to slightly front biased?

Good little Vid and worth watching all of it but skip to 2:10 and Mike agrees with what I found too!

Cheers Yeah I think it should be pretty serious with these on. I'm looking forward to dialing them in and as you say keeping records on what settings have what effect. They have 18 clicks of rebound and 14 clicks of compression and have a blow off valve superior to Ohlins DFV system, my expectations are sky high!!.........and so they should be!!

So a bit of an update from my end!! I have indeed posted some bum info with the 14/9 setup........this was I think for 2 reasons......firstly I don't think we (me and sales guy) were sure what we were talking about when it comes to spring rates neither were we sure whether I was going down the divorced spring or true coilover setup on the rear so there was some confusion and a result bum info!! Sorry about that. I have been in direct talks with MCS now as distributor in UK guy was out of his depth and quite rightly said I should get advice from the guys themselves. (I needed advice too as I am no suspension guru I just know how I want me car to handle) I did a far bit of homework before pulling the trigger on ordering the MCS's and if you've not heard of them or Jerome Van Gool have a little look in to them. With their advice I have gone with 600lbs fronts 300lbs rears (true coilover rears) think that equates to 11/5.5. with their 2WNR dampers. This was for a fast road / track setup given all the details for my car specifically, weight, geo, tyres used etc. I can't wait to get them on and see how they transform the car Hope that helps a bit and can I say its great to have input from Jerrick a suspension guy and Lizard a racer on this topic too!

My engine isn't forged in my Z but I have in the past built a few and run them for few years and over 20k miles in some cases with plenty of track work and hard use. What makes you think a forged engine would be less reliable? For most the whole reason for building the engine is to gain strength and reliability. I would say the biggest killer of engines forged or other wise is poor mapping and especially the case when its turbo'd/supercharged. What plans do you have for yours?

I've been talking with Motion Control Suspension in the States this week and their upper recommendation for spring rates for fast road with track use is 14/9. When I your post before I thought 18 fronts would be too hard and it seems 6 on the rear would be on the soft side from what MCS have said. With the 'Ring in mind, which I know you're looking at, too hard a setup is gonna hurt your time as with the surface there and riding the curbs etc is could knock the car off line and be a handful! I'm no expert but this is just my opinion. Every driver is different with different styles and preferences so its always going to be quite a personal decision but I think it would be a good setup.................its what I'll be ordering anyway!

A few stills I quite liked from Donington last week

Cheers Stu!!

On to the new wheels........ So after what feels like forever I have finally got round to having these refurbished, new Nismo stickers applied and a fresh set of AD08R's in 255/265 The results of which look like this! And on the car..........I'll let you decide for yourselves Before on the 19's and on the new 18's Before on the 19's and the new 18's..........and that rear dish!!! I'm well happy as I've wanted a set of these for around 5 years! Can't wait to go for a proper drive on them. I weighed the 19's that came off and these 18's save 1kg a corner which I know doesn't sound that impressive but given that's unsprung weight and the equivalent of reducing the cars sprung weight by 16kgs I'll take that! The only other news is that I'm currently in talks with MCS suspension for a set of their 2 way adjustable coil overs (Link http://motioncontrolsuspension.com/2wnr/) so I shall keep you posted on that.............so I may have a set of 19" Nismo LMGT4's and Bilstein PSS10's coming up for sale very soon!!

Been so busy the car has hardly had a seconds attention or turned a wheel since Anglesey..........and those beautiful 18" Nismo wheels have just been waiting too Till a friend with an Evo 7 just happened to mention he'd booked an evening trackday at Donington Park on the 5th July! Fancying a run in the car and also curious about whether or not the new spec was too noisy and in need of baffles for our day there on the 28th I grabbed one of the last places available! It was perfect weather and we got a few clear laps and its always good to get on to Donington as its such a great fast flowing circuit.................but the general driving standards and abilities on the night were horrendous bordering dangerous and as a result it was red flag after red flag till eventually they were all thrown off!! The other slightly sad news was it would appear my car does create more noise than east midlands airport after all!!! At 100.3dB I did have to shove a pair of decibel devils up my exhaust.......but the man with the black flag never came over again so they did the job which is great news and I can relax knowing I've got that sorted for future trips! Here's a little vid of the laps we did get.......this probably quite an accurate representative of how much of the entire 3 hours wasn't a red flag too! and although definitely not at my quickest what "Harry's" said by the end

Give these guys a go if you haven't already http://www.paceward.com/motor Been insured with them for years on various highly modified cars with everything declared, good luck!

Cheers for the feedback guys, good to know! I assumed being built like a tank the Zed's shell would be ok for it but always nice to get some feedback. Seems to take a bit of a track work and getting smashed up on good ol British roads then, what more can you ask! I may just take the plunge with a set of full coilover MCS 2 ways then!!!

I'm looking in to suspension options at the moment. I know there are pros and cons to the above so we don't need to discuss that here but for now I'm just wondering if it's safe as the suspension top mount isn't really designed to take the full weight of the car? Is it assuming this setup is for folks with full cages not road car. Anyone have this setup and run it for a while on track etc with any feedback? Appreciate your input/info

Now sold

Replied to all PM's

I did not realise I owned a novelty tyre tread gauge.........till today!! So the fronts have 8mm and the rears 7.5...........brand new these have 8mm........they should probably be £100 more expensive!