2003.5 G35 Sedan 5AT

Alright, I've actually had this suspension on for quite a few weeks but have yet to post a review until now. I was stopped because of busy a August/September schedule and because there was a problem that had to be and continues to be fixed on my car. (More on that later)

Ok, so I bought the Z suspension from a member on my350z.com and I finally got the items in within 10 days (UPS parcel post). Eventually, I had it installed it myself at first but I was just not accustomed to handling suspension (compressing springs) so I had to leave it overnight for my dad to finish it. this all took place at his autobody repair shop.

Ok so one of the first things that sucked was that after the install my dad went to go align the car and unfortunately found out that the front right suspension was "off" by however many mm or inches. I was shocked and knew this wasn't going to be good. So my dad had the car for a few more days and well he had to fix the car right. He had to BEND the frame back it was that bad.I sort of felt that the car could never drive the same as before since it's getting it's frame pulled. MAN. Before he did the work he was telling me I must've run a pothole hard or something but I told him no. Later in the day I remembered that I ran over an armadillo on the highway when i was going to Austin from Houston. That's the cause of the off spec suspension..yes the front right of course. I was driving at night and it was raining a bit and there were no gas stations or exits for milessssss. The friggin thing basically popped out of nowhere because well it's pretty mucht he same color as the highway and well I didn't want to swerve hard because of the wet road conditions. Well too bad I had to run over it and not just hit it with my front bumper and get a new Nismo front bmper!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright so my dad did some repairs but he was rushed for time. I'll have to give it to him for 2 days atleast so that he can reallllllllly inspect it and work on it some more. Right now it's somewhat to spec.

Impressions:
The first night I got the car back I immediately took to the roads and then the highway. Well, it did feel a bit different on the city roads. While driving you do a feel a bit lower of course. Driving over small bumps and road parting lines you felt a bit more at ease compared to stock sport. It's pretty much as they said, rebound control is better. It rides over bumps and surfaces better. GRANTED, I still have my FEATHERED Kuhmo 711's 235/45/17. I had these tires on long before (5000+miles) the new 05 susp went on. The only reasons for feathering were either toe msalignment or improper air pressure. My OE tires Goodyear GS-D wore perfeclty fine to about say ~25K+ miles. I just got an alignment done after the frame work and susp. install so hopefully i'm back at or close to spec. I'm now pretty sure that I just didn't have the right pressure in them. I ran 35-36psi on my OE tires and the same for the Kuhmo's. I did some research online and came to the conclusion that 1 participating factor to my feathering was that I did not have adequate tire pressure. I should've run them at 38-42psi. I have them now at 38-39 and they feel a bit better. The feel like they have less rolling resistance. A bit less noisy than when i had them at 35-36psi. I can't wait to trash these although it's a pitty to pay that much money and find it sucks and then have to pay similar price for new tires.

Anyway I was getting off track. As soon as I hit the highway I felt relieved. The OE sport felt uncontrolled and not serious enough for highway speeds. The new susp. felt great. Smooth and controlled feeling. I took it to 85+mph, I think ~90, with the windows down and it rocked. Super smooth. It was like gliding and it begged for more speed I'm serious. It was overall very stable. I also got chances to take long up then down sweepers like when you drive on the highway and come to a big junction and the highway turns 90 degrees. It cornered more flat and inspired more confidence than OE sport although the Z susp could feel flatter. I'll need sways in the future. Around town they can feel a bit bouncy at times, yes bouncy, yet comforting at other times. When i mean bounce I mean you'll feel some bounce in your seat or the up and down motion about two times then it will settle. It's a bit odd but I hope my tires contribute more to that than the susp does.

Squat on accel has been decreased and it feels better! coming off the line from a dead stop. Brake dive is greatly reduced and it feels really good. No joke. Around town is fairly nice. The more rebound control helps alot especially in houston. I seriously hate my tires. I got a chance to drive a loaner premium nonsport a few days ago and it had stock soft susp and 215/55/17 stock Turanza's on it. Not the best tires but that was actually a very smooth ride. It was Camry-ish i guess.My Z susp ride with smaller profile tires is still good IMO. I don't have the feeling like i'm driving a camry and I feel it is sporty indeed.

Only odd thing right now is that I get an odd "sounds-like-something-is-a-bit-loose" thump or clunk whatever on the FRONT RIGHT SUSP. when going over speed bumps/inclines straight on/road imperfections. It's the same area where I ran over the armadillo. It sounds like something is loose or the actual strut maybe bad. I reallllllllllly want to get this fixed but I'm having a hard time pinpointing the problem. Anybody out there wanna help me? Give me some hints/tips.

Back to impressions. I wish I could get new tires really soon so that it would give me a much better idea about the susp. Under normal driving it's hard to tell because the tires have really become to suck yet they're like 7,000-8,500miles old and I don't have any type of warranty/return capability on them. When driven harder and more aggressively the susp. wakes up and takes control though. One incident is when I was on the highway and I wanted to change lanes to the left and I had to speed up to pass the cruising car. So I sped up and did my normal left turn to get in front of the car (remember this is on a highway) and to my surprise I switched lanes quickly and smoothly, like it was butter. This is a testament to the valving and springs. On normal OE sport I'd feel some lean and it would change lanes just as normal as "camry" or "accord" would.

I really think that the factory sport option should come with this susp. I like it alot and the added subtle drop really looks nice.

I don't know what else to add at the moment but if you guys ask I will answer as much as I can. Thanks goes to tunarollz, gsedan35, townsley and everybody in fact.

I unfortunately don't have before pics right at the moment although I do have them at home from my camera phone. Heh. Pic quality sux i know.

 

I got a used 2005 Z suspension from tunarollz on my350z.com
A new Z suspension retail costs like ~$800+. I think ~$200 for 1 strut. I got mine for like 1/4 fraction of the cost.

I got a 3/8" because the difference with 1/2 is slightly marginal. 3/8 is slightly cheaper/most Z owners bought these compared to 1/2"/some Z members are selling them used for cheaper. Got mine $160 shipped including all hardware and new gasket.