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Advice required from you suspension guru's please!


shire350Z

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Right guys been thinking about doing something with my suspension for a while now but always ended up spending my money in other area's of the car, which at the time i found more imperative!! I know alot will say suspension should always be first mind!

 

Now even though iv really spent my 'allowance' :lol: on the car already this year with all the bodywork alterations im thinking which route i should go with the suspension!

 

Now i know alot of you will just say go for the coilovers which id like to, just cant afford them at the moment so until i can is there any other areas i can improve my handling (bare in mind i have the car lowered around 15/20mm on springs) was wondering if anti roll bars or anything would help me in the mean time?????????

 

I had the car setup as im now running 295/30 19's on the rear and 245/35 19's on the front and the guys said that the camber was ok where it was at between plus 2.5 to 2.9 on the rear as the car had been lowered!

 

Just dont seem to have much feel through the steering wheel and a fair amount of body roll also when hitting high speeds the car can feel a little unsettled over small underlations in the road!!!

 

Was looking at the MeisterR coilovers as they seem a great price just want to make sure i keep the ride height below i already have as it sits perfect over the wheel so dont want it any higher but cant go any lower as i wont get over speed bumps and the tyres will rub on the bloody arches

 

All your ideas and advice more than welcome as i havent really a clue when it comes to the ARB's, drop links, A arms, bushes, camber kits, etc etc many thanks :thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

 

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Camber at the rear is a bit high as it shouldn't really be above about 2 degrees. I imagine the unsettled ride will be due to running 295 rear tyres on standard suspension - I imagine it would tramline a bit for a start. Only way to really sort it out is decent suspension with a camber kit on the back and ideally adjustable ARBs; depends how hard you want to drive it and how much you want to spend - you always get what you pay for....

 

No experience with the MeisterR myself, but you can't beat the KW kits (although they are not the cheapest). I have the KW3 with a rear camber kit, although I think I also need better ARBs according to the race engineer who set it all up (and then the drop links will need doing and then I need a new mortgage and then I may as well get a 370 instead....)

 

At the end of the day James, you need to spend reasonable money to get reasonable improvements and good money to get good improvements - think about what you're trying to get out of the car and budget accordingly?

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I have KW Var 3 coilovers and if you can stand the clearance issues they are great. The car feels like it is driving on rails. :drive1

 

You only get clearance issues if you lower it too much ;)

 

You only get clearance issues if you dont plan your route properly ;)

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i agree neil thats why im thinking the cheaper option as for the last two years iv been happy with the springs alone, would it help stiffen the car up at all by just fitting some ARB's and maybe some chassis bracing like the summit ones?

 

:thumbs:

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I have KW Var 3 coilovers and if you can stand the clearance issues they are great. The car feels like it is driving on rails. :drive1

 

You only get clearance issues if you lower it too much ;)

 

You only get clearance issues if you dont plan your route properly ;)

 

:clap:

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Just saw you said Summit Braces... you wont see a difference on stock suspension and you may up with more negatives than positives. The stock suspension was set up for the stock car, if you change the stiffness of the chassis you may cause the car to drive differently...

 

I think alex has some nismo suspension and nismo antiroll bars up for grabs. Would suit your nismo car!!

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i agree neil thats why im thinking the cheaper option as for the last two years iv been happy with the springs alone, would it help stiffen the car up at all by just fitting some ARB's and maybe some chassis bracing like the summit ones?

 

:thumbs:

 

Personally I would say that chassis bracing is only worth it if you are seriously tracking the car. Decent ARBs will help, but only in conjunction with decent dampers. Maybe your existing dampers are a little worn if they are original?

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Springs make the ride very crashy! Defo need to go either ...

 

Stay stock

 

Shocks and Springs as a package - something like the tokico blue with an eibach spring

 

Or just bit the bullet and get some decent coilovers - you wont regret it!

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Hi james, i think the first thing to do is do a full geo check and realignment to factory specs and that might just give you the feel you need. looking at the pics(2) the seems to be some an increase degree of -ve camber the rear which i presume is a result of the drop with springs ;) and thats not the 295 MPS :scare:

 

With a full geometry check you will be able to tell if both sides are equal or if you are achieving factory settings without camber arms or toe bolts. My guess is there is an exagerated or unequal camber and or toe (because the factory unit is quite limited on adjustment and i doubt you can dial -ve 2.5-2.9 deg camber and also get the toe set within specs!) and this is made worse by the wide profile 295 tyres :surrender:

 

Only after checking and adjusting the alignment can you objectively say what needs uprating ;) If camber and toe are all fine and you are having loads of roll then you might want to be aggresive with the their setting, but i thing you would need aftermarket camber/toe kit to do this. Next will be stiffer ARBs +/- adjustable droplinksand ultimately if not fully content then you need to reduce the CG and only coilovers can help you achieve that properly B)

 

There are other things putting the right tyre pressures, worn bushes which can create a big disparity at the front camber arms which is not adjustable! you also have not commented about the attitude of the car which gives more info about what the suspension is doing all round. eg oversteer?, understeer? and damping? What springs are you using? they could be unmatched for the zeds dampers if its not a good brand like eibach as things like g-max etc donot really do any r&d and could sell saggy or overdamped/underdamped springs.

Also donot let the tyres compromise the handling because you are worried it will rub :surrender: if the correct setup means it will rub then roll the arches which will be cheaper that trying to upgrade stuff when the rea culprit is under your nose

 

Suspension tuning is hard and takes time and i should now because i recently made my suspension fully adjustable and it took me $%^&&' tries to get it right for road use :bang: (track set up is relatively easily :teeth: )

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cheers mark, sure alex will be along shortly, think ill go for the ARB's first as you suggested and see how i go from there :thumbs:

 

How will the ARB's help more than the OEM ones are they just a stiffer version or...........

 

Thicker so much stiffer... Am running the nismos and the uprated drop links. Ran with the RSR Sportsi coilovers first and then fitted the Nismo ARB's, first run out from the garage I almost turned in to a bend about 5 meters before the actual bend as they were much more "responsive"! and then more improved when the drop links were fitted!

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i see!! would you def need these then by uprating the ARB's or is it just advisable

 

Ran for ages without them, but just advisable they do help with the whole setup... again something that Alex supplies so you may be able to get a deal!!

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cheers mark, sure alex will be along shortly, think ill go for the ARB's first as you suggested and see how i go from there :thumbs:

 

How will the ARB's help more than the OEM ones are they just a stiffer version or...........

 

Thicker so much stiffer... Am running the nismos and the uprated drop links. Ran with the RSR Sportsi coilovers first and then fitted the Nismo ARB's, first run out from the garage I almost turned in to a bend about 5 meters before the actual bend as they were much more "responsive"! and then more improved when the drop links were fitted!

 

When did you get droplinks?

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ill speak with him thanks any other terminology or pics with parts shown i should need to know about learning some good stuff here :lol:

 

Whatever ARB's you get make sure the fronts are adjustable, they will have 3 holes in each side that you attach the droplinks too. Esp as your running springs and then maybe going to coils. Depending on fitting this will give you a soft, medium and hard setting which you can change quite quickly. Have known some people to change between seasons or between track and road..

 

 

Bout 8 months Ian.

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