Rank these upgrade options
#1
Rank these upgrade options
I have a stock 07 G35X (not an S) and I want to upgrade the suspension. I'm currently running stock 17" wheels with a decent Nokian all season. The car is currently stock with about 75,000 highway miles on it. This is a pleasure ride to be driven as a second car when the daily driver is already out and it's also an all season ride with some winter conditions.
I've searched this board for hours and have a pretty good sense of my options and the limitations related to the X AWD. And I've done suspension upgrades like this on a TSX so I have a pretty good idea of what it involved.
I have three upgrades I'm looking at and would like some feedback on which upgrades would yield the most improvement.
1) 19 inch wheels with good summer rubber.
2) Sway bars - probably the Hotchkis front and rears.
3) Moderate 1" Lowering - given the limited options for the X, I'll probably go with springs (eibach) and my stock shocks until they fail and then replace. I don't think CO's make sense but I'm open to that option.
So how should I rank these upgrades in order of priority given the amount of performance each returns for the G35X?
Bryan
I've searched this board for hours and have a pretty good sense of my options and the limitations related to the X AWD. And I've done suspension upgrades like this on a TSX so I have a pretty good idea of what it involved.
I have three upgrades I'm looking at and would like some feedback on which upgrades would yield the most improvement.
1) 19 inch wheels with good summer rubber.
2) Sway bars - probably the Hotchkis front and rears.
3) Moderate 1" Lowering - given the limited options for the X, I'll probably go with springs (eibach) and my stock shocks until they fail and then replace. I don't think CO's make sense but I'm open to that option.
So how should I rank these upgrades in order of priority given the amount of performance each returns for the G35X?
Bryan
#3
Sway bars should be 1st imo, big change in the handling of the car. The other two depend, if you go with a lightweight wheel and some max performance tires, then you should get a good change from the stock 17s with all season tires. If you're looking to get more performance out of a drop, you should really consider getting coilovers and not just springs. Looks only,springs are fine, but coilovers match the spring and strut combo, plus add adjustability to the stiffness.
#4
Sway bars should be 1st imo, big change in the handling of the car. The other two depend, if you go with a lightweight wheel and some max performance tires, then you should get a good change from the stock 17s with all season tires. If you're looking to get more performance out of a drop, you should really consider getting coilovers and not just springs. Looks only,springs are fine, but coilovers match the spring and strut combo, plus add adjustability to the stiffness.
#5
Its my understanding that the o.d. or circumference of the wheel/tires should remain the same regardless of which size wheel you use, so that would mean that a given drop would result in the same fender gap regardless of 17 or 19 inch wheels. Am I wrong?
#7
Try it and see.
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#8
Hotchkis makes both front and rear bars for the X, stillen, whiteline, and eibach only make front and rear for RWD.
#9
Can I rephrase my question? Good thing I didn't go for one of them goofy polling posts because I could really change it up.
If you had about $1500 which of the two of the three options would you go for first? Knowing you'd be looking at adding the third one later.
One combo that looks pretty good to me is the Hotchkis front and rear and the BC coilover. Do that first and a year later do the wheel and summer rubber upgrade.
Another combo would be $1400 on some reasonably light used 19" wheels with new summer rubbers and a Nissan Z rear sway bar from ebay for about $100 or some other appropriate rear bar. And a year later add in coilovers.
Those are two approaches that I came up with that make some sense and I suspect the first is what an experienced person would suggest but I'm not totally sure that's correct.
If you had about $1500 which of the two of the three options would you go for first? Knowing you'd be looking at adding the third one later.
One combo that looks pretty good to me is the Hotchkis front and rear and the BC coilover. Do that first and a year later do the wheel and summer rubber upgrade.
Another combo would be $1400 on some reasonably light used 19" wheels with new summer rubbers and a Nissan Z rear sway bar from ebay for about $100 or some other appropriate rear bar. And a year later add in coilovers.
Those are two approaches that I came up with that make some sense and I suspect the first is what an experienced person would suggest but I'm not totally sure that's correct.
#10
#11
Wheels do nothing for handling. Even if they are lightweight, larger wheels won't respond as well. If anything, the larger circumference will widen the turning radius, hindering performance just a little. And if you really want handling, find yourself a balanced suspension, not just some cheap coilovers.
#12
Wheels do nothing for handling. Even if they are lightweight, larger wheels won't respond as well. If anything, the larger circumference will widen the turning radius, hindering performance just a little. And if you really want handling, find yourself a balanced suspension, not just some cheap coilovers.
And won't the circumference of the wheel and tire remain the same even if the wheel is plus sized? So the turning radius should be the same, wouldn't it?
What does it mean to find yourself a balanced suspension instead of cheap coilovers? Are you referring to corner balancing a vehicle and making sure your CO's allow for the adjustments for doing that? Just curious.
#14
Appreciate the advice. Think I'm going to do the Hotchkis to start with as suggested. And I don't see myself spending the coilover and rim cost all in one shot so I'll do them one at a time but together as advised. Probably do the rims and tires first. Then do the CO/lowering. I think that's the order to do it in from a pragmatic point of view so I can set the height at the end with the new wheels on. I realize it will look a bit offroad for a while but I'm seriously leaning towards 18's instead of 19's so it won't look any worse than an S.
#15
Registered User
iTrader: (11)
Of those three, swaybars are the best bang for the buck.
I have done all three and highly recomend you do the same.
I have 19's on mine, but I kept the over all tire size the same as stock (thinner side wall) so my speedo would stay the same.
The last item would be a good set of after marked shocks.
I have done all three and highly recomend you do the same.
I have 19's on mine, but I kept the over all tire size the same as stock (thinner side wall) so my speedo would stay the same.
The last item would be a good set of after marked shocks.