I figure it would be best to ask for help from fellow local people...

First of all thanks to sen jen and jdbinspired for your help in the other forum!

I have a 05 sedan, rwd. I want to basically reduce the gap with either springs or coilovers. I don't want to go so low that I'll be scraping all over, and kind of have to make it moderate so my wife can't tell the difference. Hehe. I don't mind spending enough to buy the TEIN Basics, but don't want to spend more than that to get the CSs or Flexs.

I've been reading so many different opinions on this topic that it's just getting more confusing. People are saying if I get the Basics I need to change control arms, bushings, etc. Then people are saying if I get the S-Techs, the understeer will get worse, it's too low, etc. H-Techs are good but they won't get rid of the gap, etc. Finally, people are recommending the 350Z H-Techs for a perfect drop. But then they say if I get just springs my stock suspension will get ruined. I dunno what to do!

Ideally I'd like to just get springs for the cost factor. So far, sounds like the 350Z H-Techs would be the best option. Can anyone give me some advise? Thanks so much for your help. I know I'm just a newbie, but I appreciate any comments you can offer.

 

I had an 03 sedan with Eibach springs. It was perfect for me. Not to low, yet had about a finger gap between tire and fender. Although, I was running 20x8.5 with 235/40 Nittos. Ride was smooth and actually felt better than the stock setup. No trouble with alignment or rubbing.

 

In terms of ease of installation and adjustments, the coilovers would be the easiest solution...though it would cost a bit as well. Certain coilovers will allow you to adjust the ride height AND dampening as well. Thus you can get the lowered look and keep the ride from being to harsh on bumps. If you use springs only...you will lower your car and have a slightly harder ride due to the increased compression of your shocks. That in itself leads to other problems such as blown shocks eventually. A set of good shocks (Tokiko and Bilsteins, about 900) and springs (about 300) adds up to close to the cost of a decent set of coilovers. The cost is roughly about 1400 for coilovers.

Most springs will drop the car maybe about an inch or so. Maybe the H-Techs will be okay...about 1 inch drop. Understeer more?? Hmmm probably due to increased spring compression rates, the car will not be able to compress and absorb the diving of the car in a hard turn....therefore that leads to the car having a tendency to push on the front wheels. I guess you can balance that out with a softer front sway bar and a slightly stiffer rear sway bar. The spings and shocks to me help more in lateral movements and up and down forces versus the sway bars will greatly assist you in horizontal and left to right movements. So the understeer thing can be addressed by other suspension components that work in conjunction with the over all handling characteristics.

The camber issues and all does not really come into play unless you drop it really low. Inherently we have a lot of negative camber built in to the current suspension, so dropping the car lower only pronounces the issue. Also, from what I understand, the choices on rim and tire sizes, and widths has an affect as well. Anyhow, dropping 1 inch might make it where you just need to get a realignment....that can be done with the current adjustment parameters. Lower the drop, the greater the negative camber will be. Also, I think that there is a little bit of positive toeing that appears as well.

The new suspension will use the parts from the OEM setup. The "mounts. and rubber pieces" can be reused.

Does this help a little???

 

Thanks for the replies...still trying to take all this info in...

 

Welcome to alot of ppls world. I personally have all the same issues as you. Except I want to drop as much as possible without having to buy a camber kit. But I have all the same " issues" as you, so I can feel your pain. I have done search after search alot of them with personal opinions and not facts. Good luck with your choice.

 

People are recomending the use of 350Z springs because the the lesser load the 350Z springs have to use. Kind of like how back when I was into G-body cars (Turbo Regals, Monte Carlos, Cutlas') The G-Bodied V8 cars would use V6 springs due to the lesser weight. The heavier V8 would make the V6 springs sag more, giving less fender clearance. Same rules apply because the 350Z is lighter than the G35. The weight of the G35 will make the 350Z springs sag more. if it's progressive rate springs, you could say the springs will want to resist more making for a more bouncy ride.

I'd say go with coil over setups. TEIN, Silk, Tanabe, HKS..they're all respectable brands. You can tailor your ride to ride like a caddy on the freeway or stiffen it up to handle the track. yah, the added bonus is you can set the ride height. and any time you adjust the height, you need to adjust the inbound and rebound damping rates. some will let you adjust preload. too much preload will give you harsh ride so you need to lessen the inbound a little and all that blah blah blah.

anyways, it's your money. do a little search between the eibach and teins. eibach lowers the car all the while giving a firmer ride vs tein plusher ride. but if you prefer comfort over performance, go with tein. tein's will perform...but a sloppy suspension gets sloppy handling.

"Can you dig it?" -Leroy Williams