Here is my plan
 

:merrychristmas:Hello folks, I am planning on purchasing the following:

Hotchkis Competition Sway Bars

KW Variant 3 Coilover System unless HKS Hipermax III Coilover is recommended.

Stillen CBE exhaust.

I plan to drive on a twisty mountain road.

I would rather hear other members advice and commentary before I buy them rather than after.

Thank you in advance.

You cannot go wrong with the KW V3, that coilover is one of the few products that seem to get unanimous praise. I went with Stillen sway bars because I saw people mentioning that the Hotchkis bars are a bit much for the street.

The Stillen exhaust sounds gorgeous, you will definitely be happy once that really lets the car sing!

Look into Eibach sway bars too. Also if your going to drive on a canyon or w.e be sure to change your brake pads and fluid, I didnt do this which caused a big problem for me:/

Thank you very much. Re: I saw people mentioning that the Hotchkis bars are a bit much for the street. Too much how? Will I feel something?

I heard great think about eibach sways. KW V3 is good.

For what its worth? Do each mod after you have gotten used to each mod, You don't want to find out, and have it bite you on a Canyon Run? Save yourself the headache, and never mind the crap your going to get from others. Have Fun but Be Safe. :tiphat:

:iagree:

Eibach sways bars, KW V3 hard combo to beat!

Hotchkis bars are just fine for the street. Definitely not too much bad, not even sure why anyone would say that...

+1 for the Eibach sways and KW V3s. The very combo I'm going to use (one day).

I just placed order. Items are in stock too. Thanks Josh@STILLEN for the good price and 15+% more in Stillen bucks. In February I will have $575 free to spend at Stillen. HFC's or Intake perhaps? Sort of a bonus. I am having them shipped a few doors down from my office. The mechanics will pick up my car and return it to me parts installed,while I am at work. Sways and exhaust one day, coil overs a little while later just to follow Triples advice.

my advise is do the coilovers first, get the car cornerbalanced and aligned, play with the damp settings and decide later if you need the sways.

as for exhaust you can do it in parallel.

I just ordered a set of the KW V1's today. You may want to consider those rather than the V3's considering your usage. The V3 is a fantastic suspension, but all my friends who use it are hard core autocrossers who buy it as basically a step down from an uber-expensive Ohlins setup. These guys are driving their cars at the absolute limit.

Don't simply buy the V3 because that's what everyone on the internet says to do. The V1 is sprung and valved more for a street car and is better equipped to handle less than perfect roads. The loss of damping adjustability is really not that big of a deal, especially since compression and rebound are not separately adjustable. People will tell you that if the car rides too rough, just turn down the damping. That isn't really the best solution, since you end up with an oversprung and underdamped car. You'll notice that the car seems overly bouncy. The factory setting (which is what you get on the V1), is typically best suited to the spring and the assumed unsprung weight of the car.

All my friends who have owned KW V3 coilovers recommended against it for a street car.

I used the V3's for daily and track prep for over a year and over 25,000 miles in my old s2000... If you know suspension dynamics than it is very easy to adjust the V3's for daily driving... I personally loved the fact that I could adjust the rebound and compression separately!!! It allowed me to custom tailor the car's riding characteristics for the roads I drive on!

In fact I got off the phone with a g37 owner this morning helping him find a better rebound and compression setup that would keep him from scraping on big dips because his compression was way too soft... I bought HKS on some bad advice and I have hated it! The compression/rebound pairing is not well suited for this car and its weight. I had to buy hotchkis sways to stiffen up the whole car and to help reduce the suspension bounce... I cant get rid of the bounce because the rebound force is too high and the compression force is too low in the suspension's pairing... I am also slammed...

Be happy with the V3's they are the best bang for the buck right now:tup:

I did not realize that compression and rebound damping were separately adjustable on the V3's. That's a really nice feature.

Update: everything has arrived the, Hotchkis Competition Sway Bars, KW Variant 3 Coilover System, Stillen CBE exhaust. I'll put on the sways and exhaust today, or tomorrow if time runs short. Stillen was polite and helpful. I will order again from them.

ask thedreamer if he still likes stillen. ;)

Update
 

UPDATE:

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I got the sways and exhaust on today. It's been raining so these pics are the best I've got.

I like the sound already. The sways won't be tested in the wet and rain. Coil overs in a week or two.

The only downside to the Hotchkis is that it makes it difficult to compression load the front corner at lower speeds (< 40 mph) which generates some turn-in understeer. You can compensate for this to a certain degree by adding some front negative camber. At higher speeds it feels fantastic, very flat and planted, especially if combined with coilovers. The understeer is the only reason I don't recommend them for a stock car setup, but if you are lowering, adding coilovers etc. then it works out well as a package.

Congratulations, :tiphat:

You got some really great stuff for your car; I’m very interested in seeing how you set up those new K&W V3 coilovers.

IMO the Stillen CBE are some of the best sounding exhaust on the market for the 370Z!

Enjoy! :tup:

Alex

Final UPDATE:

I just got those coil overs installed today. Tomorrow I'll get it aligned. Currently using the factory settings and down about half an inch. They don't feel uncomfortable in the limited driving I've done with them.

It took a little while maybe 3-4 days to get used to the sways and my oversteering. I really blew it coming home from Christmas after a rain. Alone on a climbing 180* turn and in the dark, I unintentionally put the car into an 80 degree slide, facing towards a 10' drop. The Z easily recovered and I kept going. It might have looked cool, but it sure didn't feel it. I knew the turn, I just turned the wheel too much coupled with too much throttle.

Overall. I am pleased as punch. I love listening to every shift. The Z has a much faster response time, and much less body roll. This translates into a side to side shaking feeling from time to time but no more roll.