Before I bought my G, I owned a 2002 VW GTI. LOVED the way it handled. There were twisties here and there that I could easily take at 80, I could make dangerously quick freeway lane changes (in gaps barely big enough for the car, I know stupid) without losing it. And in the G, I am a little apprehensive. It feels alot more sluggish then my GTI, possibly because it's a FWD vs a RWD. How can I get my G to basically feel as close as I can to my GTI for a reasonable price of lets say a few grand? My GTI was also lowered about a half inch. Other than that, everything was stock.

 

coil overs, sway bars, end links, rear camber kit.

 

I'm sure you hear it all over the forums all the time, and there's a reason because this is pretty much the order of importance for handling... sway bars, struts, springs, chassis (tie bars, etc...).

End links, camber kit, etc... are just supporting mods for the main parts that actually do something for performance. I usually get the supporting mods whenever I upgrade something...


Just a few things to remember:

The tires are what connects your car to the ground, so they are the most important component for your car's performance.

The chassis can never be too stiff, but the suspension can, and the chassis can be off balanced too.

While you want to eliminate most sway, manufacturers let the cars have sway for a reason. So eliminating all body sway is not a good thing.

The spring rate is more important than how much of a drop the springs give you. Slamming your car to the ground may help eliminate sway for better handling, but you've just offset the balance of the car, actually doing more harm to the handling characteristics of your car than you are doing any good.
The struts need to be balanced with the springs.
If the ride is bumpy or bouncy, the springs and struts aren't matched and handling will be off too.

If you have adjustable ride height, you can off balance the front\rear weight ratio of the car to suit your driving needs or wants.

 

With all of that said, I'd suggest adjustable sway bars front and rear (about $300), Tokico D-Specs for 350Z for more adjustability (about $500), maybe Z S-Techs ($250), GT Spec front and rear tie bars (about $100 each).

If you can, get everything. If you're on a budget, I'd prefer the tie bars over springs, front tie bar over rear. But if you want better handling, IMO sway bars and struts are a must.

 

chassis stiffening should not be over endlinks, and especially not before camber kits...getting your car back into OE spec should be one of the main concerns, rear camber arms/toe bolts are a MUST if your dropping your car. If your slammed end-links are pretty much a required as well especially if running rear sways, otherwise it will be clunk-city

 

I don't wanna slam it, drop it an inch or less probably.

So with all of this being said, what is the first thing I should get? If you could put all these things in order from the most important first to the least important last, how would I go about tackling this? Because I'll only be able to buy the upgrades one mod at a time probably.

 

I agree that you want camber and toe kit if you drop your car, but I'd say toe bolts would be all you really need with a mild drop. Camber may give your tires uneven wear, but toe is what eats the tires away with excessive wear. With a mild drop under 1.5 in, you shouldn't need to worry about the camber yet. A little camber equals more fun anyways...

As for the endlinks... first off, I would not suggest anyone slamming their car like that for performance reasons. If you are slammed that much, I'm sure you've noticed a lag on drivetrain response as well as an imbalanced suspension and steering... Slam your car for looks, but don't use performance as an excuse because you're full of it if you do. Second, they aren't that big of a deal. The stock ones off of an 05+ are perfectly fine.

 

Exactly the order I gave you. But I see you're in Reno... If you have an AWD, you might want to do a little more research on the parts available first.

 

It's RWD. I have to deal with snow in the winter, sure. But I've always been good about getting through it. My GTI was a nightmare in the snow, but I had an old 89 Mazda 626 that could run down trucks in the snow without chains. But yeah, not an AWD

 

1. Sways first for sure
2. Drop, but I wouldn't go with the D-specs. I have heard some terrible things. Plus if you're spending $750 on that just buy tein Basic coilovers, they can be had used for $500-$700, new less than $1000

Dofu is spot on though.

 

I can't stand Tein's dampners... I'd rather get something that's actually adjustable like the D-Specs... for the G, D-Specs are 7 point adjustable, for the Z they're 9 point adjustable. Otherwise, they seem to be pretty much the same, the Z strut being just a bit shorter by about an inch.

 

i was getting severe clunking with my rear sway bar and stillen says until i switched over to powergrid end-links. My car is low, i wouldnt say its SLAMMED, but i do track it.

 

Don't know... I don't have Stillen sways... and even when I was slammed, the stock endlinks worked just fine without clunking. I think it's the Stillen sways - you might be able to do a little research on that here. But then again, I have a sedan...

 

i did to the research and i was told after market endlinks were what i needed. the stock ones are too weak for such an application with being lowered and on medium/high stiffness they stock endlinks cant take the agressive angle the endlink is at. If your guna do it do it right, my car is now lowered with zero preload on both my sway bars, where are yours and whoever doesnt have adjustable endlinks will...

 

With a full suspension, IMO, the suspension seems like it would be too stiff with that setting. Like I stated earlier, a little sway is a good thing, not sure how your car feels as is though.

With JIC coils and adjustable sway bars, I had the sways both set at med and that was perfectly fine like that. Handling was very neutral with just a bit of sway for just the right amount of energy transfer. Playing around with the height and other settings along with other mods, I was able to add oversteer or understeer for preference. And by the time I was done, no matter what the speed, point the wheel and the car follows.

I've since changed out the coils for D-Specs and everything works just as nice as before. The only difference is the suspension is a bit softer, but the car takes turns just as good as before, if not better. Point is, you might be pleasantly surprised with what you find if you loosen the settings up just a bit and retune from there.