I don't think I've been very successful in talking him into coming down for it. :) I expect to be there Sat-Sun 10/27-10/28 with 3Balls Racing. I'll be coming from Detroit.

It's a 2-day weekend event at the end of the Oct (27, 28).

I'm going to decide after this weekend. The only thing stopping me is that it is 720 miles and 12-13 hours from Boston which is a long way to tow a trailer. At a certain point I start to question my sanity when I spend more time in the truck than I do in the car :)

I hope I am not misunderstanding this...Are you saying a bushing change dropped ride height 2.5 inches? If this is the case what happens to those running on Swift springs and Koni Yellows? Just curious cause I may want to do this.

from my understanding, this phenomena is normal when upgrading from rubber bushings and coilovers are usually the solution to this. if that's not an option, im not sure what else can be done.

For all intense purposes yes.
There was that much bind in the OEM bushings that it was helping support the car.

Not sure how that's possible, as all bushings are supposed to be installed/tightened at ride height, and come like that from the factory.
If they're installed with the suspension at full droop then they'll be raising the car a little, but that would put the bushings under twisiting stress at all times and wear them out prematurely.

Just telling it how it is or was on our car.
On paper no bind with rubber bushings installed at factory ride height sounds great.
But in the reality.... It's not how it is or was when we removed all the oem bushings...especially on the rear on the car.

If this is the case what happens to those running on Swift springs and Koni Yellows? Would the car then be "Slammed"? I would hate for this to happen. I assume I would need to contact Swift to have a special spring made to accomodate this?

If you are at near factory ride height I don't think there is significant bind, the issue is when you attempt to lower the car significantly then the bushings start to bind up since the angle of the arms is longer as originally designed. I don't think the swifts drop the car enough to create significant bind.

you will probably need coilovers.

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But he stated that changing the bushings alone at stock ride height caused a 2.5 inch drop. Now introduce Swift springs with Koni's into that equation I'm going to have to agree with Zman8...Coilovers :icon14:

Yes but the car was already lowered significantly before they started, on a street car I don't think this would happen. Plus not sure that I would put solid and delrin bushings on a street car, that would be pretty weird. For a track focused car, hell yeah - and yes add good coilovers.

If your asking me : if you replaced all the oem rubber bushings with a proper delrin and or spherical kit.... And then installed a standard "lowering" spring ...In my opinion ...would it lower the car more than the typical drop ... when only the "lowering springs were installed"....
Then my answer is YES.
How much lower..... No idea.

where did you go spherical and where did you go delrin, if you dont mind me asking :)

No idea what stock ride height is but they are allowed to be 3" or maybe 3.5" at the lowest point on the car in GS if my memory is correct. I am sure they run at the absolute limit of being "legal". I have no idea what stock ride height is but I don't think this is that significant of a lowering but maybe I am wrong.

OK...I was confuscious but not anymore thanks! At any rate I will need to get coilovers eventually. I may just forget about getting shocks and save up for the KW3's or maybe something better.

The Z will eventually be an occasional street car and not a daily like it is now.

We aren't allowed sphericals.
:(
I believe min ride height is 3"
One of the things we played with at Barber this past weekend was front ride height.... Running some quick in and outs after baselining the car/setup.
I can say this... For our particular setup there is a "sweet spot" on ride height. When we even went 1 complete turn up on the front springs ... It brought on an understeer.
Barber is a tough track... but a great one to try stuff on... even on old tires.
;)

It is really a function of varying roll centre I'd have thought ... as changing ride-height will vary the roll-centre - do you agree ??.

Interesting that it is so sensitive though - I would have thought that chassis stiffness as not high enough (unless your cage feeds the front suspension pick-up loads back into the rest of the bodyshell/cage). Maybe Mr Nissan's claims about chassis stiffness are being borne out here.

Let me know what you think...

Agreed on the roll centre.
But also I think it is a combination of a lot of things that make everything work.

Front to back rake will make a big difference in aerodynamics both above and below the car. But that's not what this thread is about.

I saw Heitkotter's photos of your arms. So pretty. Sell them. Sell them NOW.

Rake is good to have some...but aero on our car with Hoosier/Conti Competition DOTs doesn't make a huuuuuge difference... It I what it is.
Changes to rear ride height effect the rear from center of the corner out.

I checked google translator and it doesn't understand you all either :rofl2:

Translations: Car Suspension Tuning: geometry setting guide

the arms are amazing looking and feather light. saw them at z nat's. cant wait to get a set!

Front Ride height is going to adjust a number of things. Roll center being one of them as well as Camber, Caster, Toe and weight distribution. 1 turn on an AST coilover is 2mm but you also have to account for were they mount into the lower control arm so likely about 4-6mm in actual ride height change. The weight transfer from that could be as great as 100lbs front to rear but I have not that experienced with the 370z in particular. I do know this much though I am sure the car is stiff because I know how Kevin Doran designs his cars. They are usually some of the best designed cars in the paddock for a number of reasons. I mean after all this is why teams try to steal his designs (cough, Insight Racing) I also know that B.J. isn't just one of the best drivers on this forum but also in the paddock (if not the best). He has an ability to feel changes in the car that would go unnoticed by us mortals but also to other drivers in the paddock. I got a chance to look at these arms in person and they are extremely impressive. I thought the design was on par if not better then the arms that are on the Doran Ford GT-R a car that finished 3rd at LeMans with a Husband and Wife team! As always extremely impressive stuff from the Doran Stable!

-Your Pal
Fishey

QFT! Those things are gorgeous. So are the rear camber/toe arms I saw on the table.

I told them they had better not turn their back or stuff might start magically "migrating" onto my car...

I'm hoping that once they dicide to sell them. We can get them. Going through Nissan Motorsports sucks at times. :(

Updates?

:eekdance::eekdance::eekdance:

Well kind of.
We have driven down to Canton , Mississippi and displaying the 370z RC at the Nissan facility tomorrow .
On the way down we had lots of time to discuss the sale of arms and our sway bars.
The only issue right now is the hardware we use on our race front control arms is very high spec and quality .... And limited quantity.
Looking for some options to offer more of a club sport using different hardware from another source.
The arms are finished ... Just trying to make them available for a little less.

Curious, if you guys make the arms to the same spec as the ones on your race car, how much will you have to sell it for to break even? $2k maybe?

Yes... They are the exact same arms that we race with.... But looking at options on less expensive hardware.
The hardware we use adds to the cost very quickly.

Like the nuts and bolts and stuff? I assume you're using ARP stuff?

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Standing by with check book!

me too

Monoballs / spherical that are used instead of rubber bushings.

Got it. Will both versions be available?

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I rather spend $2k on these race spec control arms than many other items that really don't seem to do much or arms that cost 1/5 of the price but constantly having to worry about slipping out of alignment.

I don't know about $2K but I agree with your sentiment, I am more than willing to pay a premium for a high quality product.

They are under $2k btw in full race spec.
Just trying to see if there is another option that could be offered.