Gettin Sideways
 

Got over 2200 miles on the car and got it to pitch sideways for the first time. Not bad for a stock car but a little hairy for a dialed in sports car in my opinion. Maybe just need to get used to it but you can really feel the body roll when fishtails. Took 2 pitches to get it back into control after the initial one took it out about 45 degrees. Total looser response compared to my last 2 sports cars. Now I'm thinking I need bigger sway bars and a better limited slip rear end. Any thoughts/opinions from anyone?

BTW, the steering wheel response felt pretty good on the recovery so don't think that's the issue. Was wondering how it would feel when it was going to happen. Now I know.

A larger bar, especially out back, is going to make it easier to step the rear out. The car in stock form has quite a bit of understeer with the staggered setup, so you really have to work it a bit (IMO) to get it slideways.

buy better tires

:iagree: With really having to work hard to get it sideways. And when it does I never felt alot of body roll?

A stiffer rear sway is definitely going to be helpful. Going square is good as well.

Getting a real rear diff with consistent lockup will help as well.

I think the OP is trying not to go sideway. The car will only go sideways easier with bigger front tires and a more aggressive diff.

Swaybars
 

Thinking rear only right now. So which rear swaybars are the nicest. Which have the best fit and best bushings and keep them from making any funky noises. Didn't see anything on the stiffness on the Eibach website. Did I miss it? Also, for most neutral handling with stock everything else, which ones do you guys think would be the best.

Eibach
Hotchkis
Stillen

For a street car, Stillen.

:iagree: this is the first step but the car will roll more.

if you're doing swaybars best to do both front and back together. the car dynamics will not feel right if you do just the rear. on our setups the posture of the front end while turning hard will dramatically change how the front end grips.

imho the Z is very stable for street setup..very predictable handling. i dont foresee changing the sways or the springs for now. i'd like to tighten the dampers just a hair though.

Is that the same as changing the muffler bearings? WTF is "tightening the dampers"?

dampers are the gas charged pistons that slows down a shock or strut.

Oh... I guess you're talking about stiffer struts.

damper is another term for shocks in europe and asia.

a stiffer rear bar will get you more one wheel spin in tight corner, what a stupid idea. as soon as one wheel gets liftedr, the viscous diff becomes an open diff and it doesnt do anything

car felt nervous to me the day i picked it up, problem solved when i got new tires. the car became more netural when i stuffed bigger tires in the front too. none of that snap oversteer bs or the tendency to plow like stock

oh yeah, adjustable shocks are waste of money for non track car. shocks are used as a fine tuning device, they dont really have a huge effect like sway bars or springs, unless your shocks are blown. back when we used to set up race cars, we always do sway bar and springs first, shocks are always the last thing we touch.

:bowrofl::icon18::roflpuke2::bowrofl::icon18:

classic!

It's a shame Koni doesn't make anything for the 370 (yet).

not just struts. shocks as well. im a little surprised you didnt know wat dampers were.


yah... that wouldve been my first choice. im hoping hitachi/tokico releases something for us soon.

:icon17:

Yeah, same here. I have a set of Koni Yellows waiting to go on my car whenever I feel like doing the work. :icon17:

Tokico D-Specs for the Z would be a good substitute if Koni doesn't make anything.

that's awesome. :D i'd get them on right away. :tup:

yah the only problem with d-specs when using on stock springs is that they are simultaneous damp control vs rebound-only like on the koni's. d-specs work great on typical lowering springs where initial rates are progressive but not sure on stock springs where usually are more linear.

OK, got it, bad idea w. rear only. Just that my 71 240z had rear only and was fairly well behaved when the rear came out. I'll wait on the sways at least till I get my next set of rubber. Should be able to get a feel for what better tires would do next summer when my currrent set of treads get a little bald. The insta-sideways was a little disconcerting especially when I'm not used to over-correcting and feeling like an idiot. Having that it's the car not me thing going on. The other problem is that it's not that easy to just kick the rear end out and play with it. POS VLS, inside wheel just spins usually even with a good punch on the gas and yank on the streering wheel.

the 240z and 370z have completely different suspension geometries, no?

i know the throttle has latency and feels abrupt so getting use to that can probably help with not getting the rear to kick out. as someone already mentioned the 350z/G35C is MUCH MORE PRONE to kicking out the rear mid-turn so for me the 370Z is very stable. :)

Update - Solved
 

Installed the Eibach Sway bars last night and took it out for a spin. ;)

Nice left hander onto a 4 lane road with a nice hump in the middle.

Dropped it into second, punched it and yanked the steering wheel.:driving:

The car pitched out nicely, held the gas and road it to the top of second gear. Little wiggle at the end but no grab or snap as it came back.

Made a right turn and a u-turn to try it again, just to make sure I didn't just get lucky. Same thing, second gear and punched. Car feels awesome, can't tell a difference in ride quality either. Amazing!

Definitely not too much sway bar. Car should of come with one this stiff.

Still need to see how it hangs over rougher surface but I'm liking it!

BTW...

Front = Stiffest Hole
Rear = Middle Hole