What is the best suspension for improve handling and lap times?

cv129 · 02-10-2019, 12:23 PM

“Improve” is a very vague word. Exactly what is it that you want to improve? What part of the tracks and what situations you find the OEM lacking?

Also, there is a diminishing return for every dollar you spend on coilovers. A $10k setup isn’t going to yield 10x “better handling” than a $1k setup.

gomer_110 · 02-10-2019, 01:25 PM

Best suspension??? Your budget of $3k doesn't really allow for that. While I haven't checked prices recently, I'm guessing just going full SPL for suspension bits eats up your budget and that's just not even touching the dampers and springs. For dampers and springs, the "best" you'd be looking at a few grand minimum for just a single adjust damper with custom valving and springs. Obviously spending money on suspension can turn into a money pit.

Personal opinion on anything Amuse and Zeal is it's overpriced mediocre parts. You're paying for the name more than anything else.

With all that said, Rusty hit the nail on the head. Get behind the wheel and work on the driver mod. To start with just get a decent set of tires, track capable brake pads, an oil cooler, and maybe a front sway bar. Spend your money on consumables and then only once you've started approaching the limits of the car should you go down the rabbit hole of suspension upgrades.

ResIpsa · 02-11-2019, 03:03 PM

A good (experienced) driver in a stock 370Z will run laps around a new track driver with a $10,000.00 custom designed and tested coil over system.

AlWakRa · 02-15-2019, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ResIpsa

A good (experienced) driver in a stock 370Z will run laps around a new track driver with a $10,000.00 custom designed and tested coil over system.

Today I remembered your words, as I went to the track with stock shocks/springs, and did my personal best laptime. What I got now is more experience behind the wheel and better alignment setting.

MaysEffect · 03-10-2019, 10:33 PM

Back again... Optionzero pretty much stated it correctly as is with his first reply. Tires being the most important piece out of all. Track abuse will destroy normal road tires not meant for extended heat cycling. Same goes for normal road bushings that weren't designed for extended lateral g-force. Once your bushings die out, you will be chasing alignment problems and steering feedback troubles. So tires and bushings are numero uno. Safety is key, being fast is a goal. Don't have anything to add in terms of companies to choose from. But JIC magic has gone through an evolution in the past years and are offering bespoke kits. Their customer base isn't too deep, so you have an opportunity to get some good one on one info from the team. They can definitely meet your price point for a custom kit with good spring rate options.

You should talk to tuning experts that can give you the best spring rate option for the height you are trying to achieve. Companies like performance shock inc or vorshlag can help you with this far better than suspension companies who mass market kits for several cars. Most suspension companies won't even be able to properly tell you the spring rates for half the kits they make without reading a chart.

More important than just buying a suspension kit though is making sure the car is properly corner balanced before you even hit the road. You'll need to find you nearest suspension tuning shop to figure out if they can do this for you, or find a way of getting the car to a shop that can perform this service properly. None of the kits mentioned previously sets the spring alignment up perfectly for your car right out of the box. So you'd want to set aside about 250-500 dollars to chassis alignment after the suspension install. People end up chasing geometry related problems for years because of this oversight, don't fall into this camp.

Also note, after the installs, an alignment should be done before and after corner balance for the best results. Once to set the suspension linkages to a neutral position then again to insure the values are set as you want it for intended use. This isn't absolutely needed, but at the very least do the corner balance > alignment if the tuner doesn't have the proper tools to handle this all in a single instance.

cv129 · 03-11-2019, 09:25 AM

Whoa Mays is back!

02-10-2019, 12:23 PM	#1 (permalink)
cv129 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,272 Drives: 09 Nismo, 16 Nismo Rep Power: 163997	“Improve” is a very vague word. Exactly what is it that you want to improve? What part of the tracks and what situations you find the OEM lacking? Also, there is a diminishing return for every dollar you spend on coilovers. A $10k setup isn’t going to yield 10x “better handling” than a $1k setup. Rusty and Memphis370Z like this. __________________ Setrab \| RE-71 \| SPL \| JRZ \| Nismo \| ARK \| Whiteline \| RacingBrake \| CJM Oil Pan \| Ti shield Last edited by cv129; 02-10-2019 at 12:26 PM.

02-10-2019, 01:25 PM	#2 (permalink)
gomer_110 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Perrysburg, OH Posts: 17,992 Drives: '11 Nismo #528 GM Rep Power: 36942	Best suspension??? Your budget of $3k doesn't really allow for that. While I haven't checked prices recently, I'm guessing just going full SPL for suspension bits eats up your budget and that's just not even touching the dampers and springs. For dampers and springs, the "best" you'd be looking at a few grand minimum for just a single adjust damper with custom valving and springs. Obviously spending money on suspension can turn into a money pit. Personal opinion on anything Amuse and Zeal is it's overpriced mediocre parts. You're paying for the name more than anything else. With all that said, Rusty hit the nail on the head. Get behind the wheel and work on the driver mod. To start with just get a decent set of tires, track capable brake pads, an oil cooler, and maybe a front sway bar. Spend your money on consumables and then only once you've started approaching the limits of the car should you go down the rabbit hole of suspension upgrades. BGTV8, Rusty and Hotrodz like this. __________________ '11 370Z Nismo #528 Fast Intentions \| Stillen \| Motordyne \| Uprev \| CSF \| Zspeed \| Z1 Motorsports \| AST \| Swift \| SPC \| SPL \| Whiteline \| Hotchkis \| Bride \| Schroth \| Robispec \| Cusco \| Nismo \| Volk \| Forgestar \| Hoosier \| RJM '17 Titan Bone Stock

02-11-2019, 03:03 PM	#3 (permalink)
ResIpsa Track Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Virginia Posts: 564 Drives: 09 RACING HEN Rep Power: 340	A good (experienced) driver in a stock 370Z will run laps around a new track driver with a $10,000.00 custom designed and tested coil over system. AlWakRa, 2011 Nismo#91, Rusty and 1 others like this. __________________ The Reed Law Firm; Michael Fasano VA Attorney and Counselor at Law: A Virginia Traffic, Criminal, and Family Lawyer.https://reedlawva.com/

03-11-2019, 09:25 AM	#6 (permalink)
cv129 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,272 Drives: 09 Nismo, 16 Nismo Rep Power: 163997	Whoa Mays is back! __________________ Setrab \| RE-71 \| SPL \| JRZ \| Nismo \| ARK \| Whiteline \| RacingBrake \| CJM Oil Pan \| Ti shield

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03-10-2019, 10:33 PM	#5 (permalink)
MaysEffect Enthusiast Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: SoCal Age: 34 Posts: 383 Drives: Infiniti FX35 Rep Power: 37	Back again... Optionzero pretty much stated it correctly as is with his first reply. Tires being the most important piece out of all. Track abuse will destroy normal road tires not meant for extended heat cycling. Same goes for normal road bushings that weren't designed for extended lateral g-force. Once your bushings die out, you will be chasing alignment problems and steering feedback troubles. So tires and bushings are numero uno. Safety is key, being fast is a goal. Don't have anything to add in terms of companies to choose from. But JIC magic has gone through an evolution in the past years and are offering bespoke kits. Their customer base isn't too deep, so you have an opportunity to get some good one on one info from the team. They can definitely meet your price point for a custom kit with good spring rate options. You should talk to tuning experts that can give you the best spring rate option for the height you are trying to achieve. Companies like performance shock inc or vorshlag can help you with this far better than suspension companies who mass market kits for several cars. Most suspension companies won't even be able to properly tell you the spring rates for half the kits they make without reading a chart. More important than just buying a suspension kit though is making sure the car is properly corner balanced before you even hit the road. You'll need to find you nearest suspension tuning shop to figure out if they can do this for you, or find a way of getting the car to a shop that can perform this service properly. None of the kits mentioned previously sets the spring alignment up perfectly for your car right out of the box. So you'd want to set aside about 250-500 dollars to chassis alignment after the suspension install. People end up chasing geometry related problems for years because of this oversight, don't fall into this camp. Also note, after the installs, an alignment should be done before and after corner balance for the best results. Once to set the suspension linkages to a neutral position then again to insure the values are set as you want it for intended use. This isn't absolutely needed, but at the very least do the corner balance > alignment if the tuner doesn't have the proper tools to handle this all in a single instance.