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First impressions of my 370Z


PS13Silvia

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Nice car. Although the slider in me has a weakness for that PS13 you had. Oooh. And thanks for the initial write up by the way. Really interesting, and a good effort mate.

 

One word of warning about parking your zed or turning in to go through tight gaps -they're longer at the front than you think. I'm forever bumping mine (350Z mind you, not a 370Z) - a silly issue I've never had in any car I've ever had before. New front bumper soon I think. :blush:

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Looks really good. B) Think it would look better over this side of the pond though, nice roads and backdrops to play on. :p

 

Cheers :) It's not all bad here, fun roads if you know where to find them, and some decent locations for the odd photo too, these were taken by a friend, he got a Nikon DSLR for his 21st couple weeks back and loves taking pics of our cars, here's a couple he took:

 

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Cool pics man, did you say you were going to get some spacers ??

 

Regards the Gruppe 'M costs, yeah, silly, however at this point I'm not really worried about power gains, as power gain hunting on NA is a bit of a mugs game anyway, not that I'm not going to do or think about doing that, but it's something I'm not too concerned about.

 

I just fancied something that will sound epic and not many other people would have

 

Yeah most likely, I'd like to try a set of eibach springs but need to seek advice if I can run 25mm spacers all round with them fitted / how much travel / wheel arches rubbing etc. But like I say, won't be modding till 6 months later once warranty is over, it's a dealer warranty and any modifications will void it. I've never had warranty before so want to keep it while I can - just in case.

 

To be fair, either V6 with an intake will grunt away and sound angry! Like yourself, only 'power mods' I'll do are for sound; induction grunt & exhaust note. Between my friends a lot of Hondas have come & go, DC2 / EP3 / EF / CRX / ATR / EG / EK's with various mods & stuff done before and after we've had them, at the end of the day they're all pretty similar on the straights :lol:

 

Nice car. Although the slider in me has a weakness for that PS13 you had. Oooh. And thanks for the initial write up by the way. Really interesting, and a good effort mate.

 

One word of warning about parking your zed or turning in to go through tight gaps -they're longer at the front than you think. I'm forever bumping mine (350Z mind you, not a 370Z) - a silly issue I've never had in any car I've ever had before. New front bumper soon I think. :blush:

 

Glad you liked it :)

 

I'll say this, if you ever drove that car, it would instantly be your favorite S chassis, by far the best I've ever driven or been in (15+ at a guess) - Wish I still had it at times...

 

ahaha, not had any dinks yet, but I see what you mean, I'll keep an eye out!

 

Love your Passion .. Love your previous car choice over the years .. Love your new car ... Agree with your opinion about the exhaust note .. Its is pathetic .. Its a ZED enough said !!!!!

 

Thank you!

 

Injen CBE is my favorite at the moment, matching Injen intakes would be even better, we shall see. I've got to leave this car alone and get on with my Evo! Must resist... For a short while anyway lol

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well my plan has failed - buy a nice car I wont modify... Yeah, like that worked.

 

Springs & spacers going on tomorrow, I'll update this thread over the weekend guys

 

Out of interest, what size spacer have you opted for on the rear (assuming you have gone for 25mm on the front)?

 

Cheers,

 

Scotty

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Well my plan has failed - buy a nice car I wont modify... Yeah, like that worked.

 

Springs & spacers going on tomorrow, I'll update this thread over the weekend guys

 

As it stands I like the way the car is damped and handles, however, it could be stiffer, could always be stiffer :lol: .

 

Besides the obvious visual improvement springs give, I think I'll leave it OEM for now, spacers however are on the list.

 

Looking forward to seeing yours with new springs and spacers :teeth: .

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Well my plan has failed - buy a nice car I wont modify... Yeah, like that worked.

 

Springs & spacers going on tomorrow, I'll update this thread over the weekend guys

 

Out of interest, what size spacer have you opted for on the rear (assuming you have gone for 25mm on the front)?

 

Cheers,

 

Scotty

 

25mm front & back fella

 

Well my plan has failed - buy a nice car I wont modify... Yeah, like that worked.

 

Springs & spacers going on tomorrow, I'll update this thread over the weekend guys

 

As it stands I like the way the car is damped and handles, however, it could be stiffer, could always be stiffer :lol: .

 

Besides the obvious visual improvement springs give, I think I'll leave it OEM for now, spacers however are on the list.

 

Looking forward to seeing yours with new springs and spacers :teeth: .

 

Yeah I know what you mean, it's got that great balance of stiffness / performance / comfort / handling all in one as stock, I've done a little write up but I've only done 40-50 miles on them yesterday without having alignment done at that so didn't go too mad, either way, vast improvement visually at least!

 

Lovely car & Mods to the brakes are great happy motoring ... and stopping ahead !!

 

The K-Sport kits are on my Evo, my 370Z will be keeping standard set up :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right, the fitting, me & a friend did them Saturday morning, here's everything all unwrapped & new:

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Parts used are as follows:

Eibach Pro springs – supposedly a 25mm front drop & 20mm rear drop:

http://cougarstore.c...&products_id=59

 

And spacers are 25mm Eibach all round:

http://cougarstore.c...&products_id=94

 

We did rear rears first, stupidly simple to do took no longer than 10 mins each side, spring comparison

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And all fitted

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It's only 50mm wider but makes a huge difference! (half jacked up in the photo by the way)

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Oh, and just for laughs I put my rear wheel against my friends Subaru – don't think he can wear fat 19†wheels on that!

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Also, as each wheel came off I cleaned inside & out and put a layer of Poorboys wheel sealent on them – hence why the fronts & dirty & rears are clean in this pic as we moved onto the fronts (lovely place / day to work on a car eh?)

P1150932_zpsbcaf118a.jpg

 

The fronts were a bit more tricky, the bottom 19mm bolt of the shock was mega tight, had to get an extension on the breaker bar to crack it! But once that was out the rest was simple, removed the shock, compressed the spring, usual process

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As we finished the first wheel I couldn't help a quick snap – before:

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After: (keep in mind the front had just been dropped & car not moved since fitting springs, just handbrake left off so they not even settled in here)

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Forgot to grab a pic of the fronts all finished but nothing special, same as it was before but with a different spring fitted.

 

Time taken: 2-3 hours including fag breaks, cleaning wheels, nattering to people dropping by etc

 

Wasn't difficult at all, as long as you've got power tools for spring clamps to do the job in 1/50th of the time it takes manually and a breaker bar with a 6-sided 19mm socket you'll be fine, rest was easy.

 

Short drive back to my house was trouble free, no knocks, clonks or anything, drives straight & true – A couple pics now the springs had settled a bit more here's the finished product – enjoy.

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Defo looks a lot meaner!

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Looks wise, I'm 100% happy, it's spot on.

 

Quick little story, when I nipped out yesterday evening for a test drive there was 2 R8's parked in town (probably some posh party or something) I had to stop in front of them to let traffic through, more people were looking at my car than the 2 more expensive R8's ahead = awesome :D

 

After the above happened I chucked some V-Power in and went for a test to see how they were:

 

Spring rates / harshness – They are noticeably stiffer springs, if I had to guess 2-3kg's over stock. Driving normally there is a very slight change in how the car behaves, just over the more aggressive bumps it's a tad firmer. But slow speeds the car does feel more 'bouncey' than stock, mostly due to the dampers I reckon, this is where 4-way shocks would over come, low / high speed bump & rebound adjustment. But I'm keeping stock, I live in a rural area full of A & B roads, the average speed on my daily run to work at peak time is around 50mph, all the roads are 60mph limit very little traffic and just roundabouts dotted about. Can't comment on high speed yet as I've only done 40-50 miles on them so far, took over 100mph once to check alignment / shakes and there is a very small pull to the left, so I won't be doing those speeds until I've had the alignment done on Monday, just to be safe.

 

Usual lowering issues – Of course the car is lower, it'll catch on things it didn't before. It's not that bad though, just slow down an extra 5mph for tall speed bumps and all is good. Little things like that don't bother me to be honest, but I know to others it does so best mention it.

 

Cornering & performance – Yeah, it's much better. Flatter round corners, turn in is sharper, even when already cornering pretty harsh, to turn in more & more (testing & throwing the car about basically) it doesn't even bother it, just does what you ask without drama. Much more fun to drive now definitely. The rear doesn't squat as much as it did when stock (2nd & 3rd gear out of corners) but there's still as much if not more grip, could be the springs, or a 50mm wider track, or combination of the both effecting this I can't say for sure.

 

Either way, I can't wait till it's had the geo-set up done on Monday & give it a proper test after double checking everything. One thing that might happen is the standard Bridgstones might let the car down a bit, Yoko AD08-R's are top of my wanted list next!

 

 

 

 

 

Edit:

While searching on the web this morning found this guide, it's pretty accurate and could be helpful to anyone wanting to attempt this themselves but not sure where to start:

http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-do-yourself/28034-diy-370z-lowering-spring-install.html

Edited by PS13Silvia
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Cool man, interesting seemingly honest write up too.

 

The wider track makes it look much meaner, the lower ride looks great too, pretty much a given but still good to see it come out as planned.

 

I'm tempted by springs, very much so, but I so want to be happy with the OEM set up which was always the plan - so far, so good.

 

Any ideas what sort of geo you are going to go for ??

 

Also, get a good side on shot of the car ;) .

 

 

:teeth: :teeth: :teeth: :teeth:

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Absolutely great post and great read, good to read a review from somebody who has had to work to buy the car he drives.

I dont think anybody who has bought a stock Zed is happy with the Exhaust note or lack of it - my previous 350Z had a much better sound even in its stock form, dont know why Nissan who develop such a great car then ruin it with the exhaust. Look forward to reading about your Mods and especially you choice of exhaust and your reason why. :D

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Nice work looks great.

 

If you are after replacements for the bridgestones i can definitely recommend the michelin PSS's

 

Not just yet, I'm not that impressed with them in the wet, more curious as to how they handle the change of stiffer springs than anything. I'll wait till they need replacing as I've just spent £400+ on my Zed and £1,600 on my Evo already this month, got a holiday to pay for and a few trips down south for family stuff too :S

 

looks heck or a lot better mate. :thumbs:

 

Absolutely, everyone who's seen it before & after have said how much better it looks, road presence when I'm following, its wide rear end when they're following, really has improved it visually.

 

Cool man, interesting seemingly honest write up too.

 

The wider track makes it look much meaner, the lower ride looks great too, pretty much a given but still good to see it come out as planned.

 

I'm tempted by springs, very much so, but I so want to be happy with the OEM set up which was always the plan - so far, so good.

 

Any ideas what sort of geo you are going to go for ??

 

Also, get a good side on shot of the car ;) .

 

 

:teeth: :teeth: :teeth: :teeth:

 

I dropped in the usual place I use for Geo this morning on way to work and they've closed down! So think I'll just go & get a average alignment back (or as close as possible) to factory settings & go from there.

 

I'll grab a side shot later, walking back to my car from Asda this morning the rear is a tad higher, could be the fronts looking too low or the rears too high, but I noticed a slight change even in stock form depending on the ground which the car is parked on so could even be that. Still early days with them yet so I'll see how they settle.

 

Absolutely great post and great read, good to read a review from somebody who has had to work to buy the car he drives.

I dont think anybody who has bought a stock Zed is happy with the Exhaust note or lack of it - my previous 350Z had a much better sound even in its stock form, dont know why Nissan who develop such a great car then ruin it with the exhaust. Look forward to reading about your Mods and especially you choice of exhaust and your reason why. :D

 

Thank you.

 

As for exhaust it might be a while till I change it, it will most likely be the last thing I do to this car as well. But for now I'm enjoying the peace and maturity for a bit, all my cars over the years have been loud, or stupidly loud so it's a very nice change at the moment.

 

Interesting post. Do you folks think it's worth fitting spacers without springs? I'm not sure I want to lower the car but I do like the idea of filling out the arches a bit more with some 25m spacers.

,

 

This is what I was going to do first, whack spacers on then decide on springs later. I think it's worth a try at least, easy to fit & remove if you don't like it, the ride height as stock isn't too bad at all.

 

My mother (who I also bought Eibach Pro springs for same time as my 370'z) has a mk3 MX-5 Niseko edition something-or-other. We'll be putting her springs on this weekend coming, the stock top of tire > bottom of arch gap is 6.5cm!

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Thanks for your thoughts. I've been dithering over spacers for months and to be honest I think springs and spacers looks great on your car, but with £1K for new tyres looming my budget for mods is limited for now. I will probably get the spacers put on just before the tyres and then get the alignment checked. I'll post some pics when I do.

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£120 for 20MM spacers is a bit of a no brainer IMO, if you're interested in them that is.

 

Due to the fact that you fit them and if you dont like them you can just take them off with no side effects what so ever.

 

They also command a decent used price too, so at the very worst, all you stand to loose is about £40 and a few hours work if that.

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I wouldn't say there would be no side effects. You get what you pay for and if you use cheap spaces you may end up damaging the disks causing problems later on down the line.

 

In most cases though it should be fine.

 

Im tempted to add spacers as it definitely does improve the look. I was initially worried as some people mentioned the car tends to tram line more and you are adding more stress, however others have said the opposite and handling is actually improved. May give it a whirl one day but only if the spacers are good quality

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Just been & got the alignment checked, besides having everyone in the workshop flock to my car all was good!

 

There was a tiny bit extra toe on the rear, -1.4 on passenger side and -1 on drivers. But as the rear has more rear camber since lowering so that's not all bad, he couldn't adjust it very much anyway.

 

One thing we did notice with all the tech on the wheels was that the car (on a flat level ground) was 2mm higher on passenger front left, but I think it's due to my fat arse being in it all the time...

 

Anyway, all done & checked for free - they didn't charge me which was nice. Just annoying all the roads are soaking wet at the moment, not ideal conditions.

Edited by PS13Silvia
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Also, get a good side on shot of the car ;) .

 

 

Huge delay here, sorry man. Spent all weekend working on my other car, but Sunday evening I gave the Zed a good wash & went out for a drive. As I got a new phone I wanted to test it's camera, answer is, it's not that great... But here's a side pic anyhow

 

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Now the springs have settled, alignment was set & I've put some miles on there's 1 thing they need doing. Raise the fronts up a little bit, just 5-10mm.

 

Reason? It's a little too low, it's lower than the rears so looks a little off for starters, and I am catching the bottom of the rubber lip a few times on speed humps in town. Nothing major or anything, I'll take the front shocks back off again & add a small spacer to fix the issue, no biggie. But other than that, no complaints at all, handling has definitely changed for the better, however the lower springs have changed the camber / toe settings from factory which would would also effect this, combined with stiffer springs & lower COG, it all adds up :thumbs:

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Looking good man.

 

I tend to like the nose dipped stance, makes it appear more track focused, but if you're not happy - adjust it.

 

I'm going to avoid, springs and coilies on this car, I think I'll want stiffer flatter cornering however, just I'm thinking of ARB's and maybe bushes to give me that, the ride height, srings and damping I'm going to try my absolute best to leave OEM :hypocrite: .

 

This colour is really starting to grow on me, I'd never really thought about this colour 370Z but seeing yours it looks really good.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Not really an update as such. Just been enjoying the car, done over 3,500 miles in it so far, not even had 2 months yet!

 

Weekend just gone me & a friend went into Birmingham, trying out a new photo location & got a few pics which I thought be nice to share

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Few weekends back I travelled down south to visit family & attended my aunties 60th birthday, car was fantastic on the motorway. It eats the miles so easily we didn't even bother stopping half way, just left cruise control on 100mph and got there in no time. Love the looks it gets just driving around as well, it's such a head turner. While I was there I met up with a good friend for lunch over in Blue Water, he has a 650bhp Evo IX!

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After messing about with both cars, driving each others & driving about on the back roads I'm so glad I bought the 370 & made my Evo 100% track. Put it this way, I clearly demonstrated the difference between usable power & 'pub figures' when on the road :thumbs:

 

Bit of a random one, but a friend of mine runs a small company who do custom made phone cases, clothes, stickers etc. He made me 2 personalised cases which are pretty cool!

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I'm getting a new bunch of hoodies & T-shirts made for us LR admins (Facebook group I run), custom embroidery & outlines of our cars sketched on back just for JAE 2013 in a couple weeks, should be good! A few of us went over to his place to design the hoodies in the week, Fast & Furious parking on his driveway!

(The Ford is their house mates, Jim has a black EG6 behind the garage door so the Datsun was well out-numbered by Hondas here!)

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You might have spotted my other thread but got something wrong with the car at the moment, tested fluids, all lights & tire pressures but ABS / TC / ESP still come on when driving. Got a friend bringing round his code reader tomorrow after work to help me identify exactly what's wrong, I'll get it sorted asap though.

 

And secondly the exhaust is staying stock for a good while yet. Yes it's boring I know... but I use the car every day, 10% of the time driving it properly & the other 90% cruising about, going places, commuting, doing the speed limit & behaving, an exhaust would ruin it in some respects for how I'm using it. Especially with winter coming up leaving it running in the morning, everyone in my street hates me enough as it is. Plus, I'm trying to enter my Evo into Time Attack next year so £1,250 gone on an exhaust could be much better spent elsewhere.

 

I have been investigating a remap of some sort, not bothered about getting much more power out of it but the throttle is a tad annoying at times. Lift off completely before a corner & there's a small surge of momentum from the engine as the TB doesn't snap shut. You'll probably know what I mean but since having the springs & attacking corners more aggressively it's becoming more noticeable, similar reasoning as to the slow upshifts into 2nd & 3rd I suspect.

 

Other than those couple niggles I'm loving Zed ownership, such a good car on so many levels, why didn't I buy one earlier in my life!? Yes I'm very bored at work today, hence this post lol

Edited by PS13Silvia
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