How's the Tanabes holding up? Are you still happy with them? I'm about to pull the trigger on a set of them, just curious if you are still content with them.

 

What size rims and tires are you running? 9 inch rims or wider?

 

19x8.5F / 19x9.5R

The Tanabe's have been great so far. Very happy. I take turns faster and more aggressively on my way to college and it just sticks to the road and goes exactly where I point it at. They just feel really good.

 

^^^^^^
glad they're doin a good work over there, lol

 

I just installed mine this last weekend.

these coils are awesome, ride just like stock maybe even smoother. I instantly felt the difference in handling.

 

How much did you drop it? I'm thinking about only dropping it 3/4" when I eventually buy the Tanabe C/O so I don't have to go with an aftermarket camber kit. Did you install an aftermarket camber kit?

 

I dropped it about 1.5 inches all around but I'm going to be dropping it more, way more.
I did have front and rear camber kits installed at the same time. Since I plan on going full flush once I get my wheels.

If you're just planning to do a mild drop, I'd say go with springs instead. For the cost to go so min is not worth the cost of coilovers.

That's just my input.

 

So when you did a write up on these, what were they adjusted to? Those are adjustable dampers right? ALSO do you know the spring specs on these???

I assure when you said those are very conforable on the normal driving vs stock, but at the same time stiffer when driving spirited. That made me wonder (and I always do) where exactly do you live and what kind of roads are there.
For example if I would drive these around my area where the roads arn't that great as yours there, im guessing those would be much harsh then you described.

When the roads are great in some states it's harder to judge the ride quality vs stock because your car pretty much glides on smooth surfases, but when you drive in beat up areas I bet it's a different story. You know what I mean? So when people describe ride quality vs stock in their area, it's a hard to judge situation for others where the road conditions differ.

 

Dampers are not adjustable on the tanabes

 

Shurik, you're correct. Most roads here are smooth, particularly highways. You rarely see a pot hole or any of that on a highway. However there are some areas where the roads aren't so nice and TBH compared to stock Sport suspension, these only feel a little stiffer when going over bumps. If you go slow you won't feel a difference. The Sport suspension wasn't that forgiving either.

 

So... I'm convinced my stock shocks are shot on my 07 G35 Sedan and I'm looking at this solution from Tanabe. Here's my question for you folks...

If 1" drop in ride height is roughly equivalent to -0.8 degree camber, and if one desires greater handling, why would they want the camber kit? Here's why I ask. Although my turbo'd Miata is a very different kind of car, I ride on a -2.5 degree camber (all around) for daily driving and for autocross/track. I love the handling with an aggressive setup like this, and I do not get abnormal tire wear. I know, we've all heard how stock tires on the G sedan only really last for about 7k miles and then they get very loud. At least that's my experience with 5 different G's over the years. I am wondering though... If I lower the ride by 2" and get -1.6 deg of camber with these coilovers, wouldn't that be desirable for spirited, safe driving? I have a preferred shop that can do performance alignments to my requests. Although I'm used to the autocross crowd, I am curious why there is a concern here with trying to maintain a stock range of alignment numbers (thus the desire for the camber kit) when people are desiring a lowered ride height?

I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on a set of these coilovers. I have JIC FLT-A2's on my Miata (damping is full-soft.. I don't ever touch the adjustment *****... 9kg/8kg are the spring rates, oversized front sway, rear sway removed), and they just got rebuilt a couple weeks ago after lots of problems (the front's were already replaced once). JIC Japan had some issues, and while I know JIC is now under American ownership, I still worry about their designs until I go at least a few oil changes to see if they fail prematurely again or not. I'm skeptical about using the JIC FLT-TAR on my sedan, although I did hear some good feedback from a user or two here. In the Miata forums, there is also a user or two that is in love with their product as well, but damn, it just cost me $600 total for me to have my FLT-A2's to be re-valved (including shipping both ways). I already paid about $1800 for them back in '07 and they had problems by the 2nd oil change. I would like to know if any users here have had any premature problems (fluid leaking, pressure gassing out, rattling, clunking, etc) with these Tanabe's after at least 8 months of driving on them daily. Also, has anyone had to have these re-valved/rebuilt yet?

Any help would be appreciated. I feel the stock suspension on the G sedans are actually dangerous considering delayed handling/feedback, so I want to remedy this problem ASAP. Also, we get sick feeling just driving a few miles in the car. It's very wobbly and loose from what we're used to. Our 2006 M35 was completely different, even with more miles than are on this 07 G sedan. The M was really solidly feeling. There's too much roll in the G right now and I don't feel safe driving it much, especially with a 2 yr old in his carseat in the back.

Have any of you installed this coilover set on a family car where you had little kids/babies? Do they sleep well if they need to? Hehe....

 

It had been 2 months since the last post before I had chimed in a couple days ago, so I'm wondering if these coilovers are still a pretty hot item for daily driving.

I am concerned about this statement made a few posts back:

"....these only feel a little stiffer when going over bumps. If you go slow you won't feel a difference."

I feel the most sick when I'm driving slowly with the stock suspension setup because it's like a boat. So I'm taking it that the Tanabe's might not have a high enough damping?

 

Did you buy your car used? I don't recall the stock suspension being THAT bad. It was nice for a Sport sedan and some even complained it was a little too stiff. Anyhow, keep in mind I also have a set of Hotchkis sway bars and 19" wheels/tires. The boat feeling is non existent. The car is stiff but not too stiff that it's uncomfortable. I never really had any boat feeling when going over bumps when I was stock (Not too many potholes here, mostly speed bumps), but when I do encounter some potholes in back roads the car is noticeably tighter than stock.

It's been over a year since I installed these (about 12~13K miles) and they're still going strong, no issues here.

 

Although i don't have the Tanabe's (I have BC's, came out to roughly the same price as the Tanabe's), i'll chime in on your points above.

- Judging from your comments, seems like your shocks are indeed shot. If budget is a concern, just replace the dampers and you'll be set. The stock suspension is nowhere near as bad as you describe it. With the BC's at full soft, i thought the OEM's were rather stiff by comparison. Most would say the OEM's are under-dampened even.

- Most people here drop their car for aesthetics. The car already comes with a bit of camber and toe from the factory, minimally adjustable. When the G goes down, toe tends to go out of whack. For most of us who daily drive, that's not very good for tire wear. I am dropped roughly the same as Eibach's, no camber/toe kits, just slightly out of OEM specs, about 8k miles on the CO's, tire wear is normal so far. I killed my previous set of tires faster on 3 track days, than i have with the CO's in daily driving... it's all relative.

- I have two kiddos still in car seats. No complaints from anyone and they still sleep just fine on long trips H-town roads are, let's say, odd.

 

Yeah I got it from an Infiniti dealership around 28k miles. Out of all the Infiniti's I've owned or leased, I have to say that the biggest problem I have experienced is the shocks aging too quickly. I may be pretty particular though. I do feel like if I ever approached the dealer about it, they'll do what they always do, which is act like, "Oh this feels normal." Some people (even techs) never remember how good a brand new shock feels until they replace all four and take that first drive right afterwards. I would think that the techs should know what the aged shocks vs new feel like. I am always faced with opposition every time I go to the service department. It's mostly because of this one guy, so the last few times I had to deal directly with the service manager. I hate gatekeepers... ugh.

Anyway, I appreciate the help soundmike. I do think I will want something with a higher spring rate and damping than stock just because I don't recall ever feeling as spirited in any brand new G (coupe or sedan) as I felt I should. I like medium-high stiffness, but I've never liked the way 9/8kg JIC FLT-A2's felt on the Miata when the damping ***** were anything other than full soft. If I could get just about that stiffness, maybe a little bit less, I'd be happy. I'm not sure I want a track/autox set of coilovers for the family car, but more like a sporty street set. Quality though... I guess I'm not too interested in dialing in damping as long as they're balanced good enough for the stock setup (i.e., no larger front sway), but if it's really worth upgrading other suspension components for the street, I'm ok with that. These Tanabes seem to be within my budget, and I'd expect them to be some high quality street (not track) coilovers. I know that's asking a lot though... from what I'm understanding, daily driving puts more stress on shocks than autox/track events.

However, the tire wear thing never was an issue at least with a 2400lb car on -2.5 deg camber all-around, not even for 30k miles. Autox'ing it for a few events did much more wear on the rubber than the street. Now, this really bad road near my home has been messed up severely for several years - I am sure it's been the culprit for having to get the JIC's replaced and rebuilt. Since I got the JIC's rebuilt, we vowed to never take the Miata down that road (gotta go the back way), so when we replace the G's shocks/springs, I'm promising the same.