Tanabe Sustec Z40 Coilover- Review
 

Sup Fellas,
Finished installing these bad boys today. Will start the review with the initial thoughts on packaging and workmanship. Driveability thoughts to come later once I have some time to really push them on the twisties. More info can be found at tanabe's website: Tanabe Sustec Z40 Coilover
Packaging: As you can see the coilovers were very well packaged. Every individual part was wrapped tight and secure.
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps879bc869.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...2F85318D5F.jpg

Finish: Love the red and black contrast as this is much to my cars theme. The bottom locking collar is polished which is very easy on the eyes and great for showing off at events.
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...2F80F2BE38.jpg


Fit: Coilovers bolted on with no issues whatsoever. I appreciated that the fronts had the brake line clips welded onto the bottom of the strut. This is very convenient when making adjustments. My old BC BR setup had a removable collar that I had to loosen in order to make the front adjustment either up or down.
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...5AA3C83E-1.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...y555/image.jpg
Driving impressions: Wow is the word. I was expecting a small difference from my BC setup but boy was I surprised. My car feels like a different animal now from a suspension aspect. Here are my side by side comparisons.

Tanabe vs Nismo stock: Definitely a step up. The adjustability for both height and dampening is enough reason to switch to coilovers in general.

Tanabe vs BC Racing BR series: I felt an immediate difference with the Tanabes. Driving on the freeway and local streets the car felt more "solid" like a well tuned race setup but without the hard bumpy ride. My dampening settings are very similar for both setups. Fronts are at max setting 40 (Bc's max front at 30) and the rears are set in the middle at 20 clicks hard ( BC's max rear at 30). The twisties on the Tanabes feel more tight and planted vs the BC's which felt more loose around the corners.

Final thoughts: I am very pleased with my decision to go with these Z40 coils. Fit and finish are top notch and ride quality at the right settings are exactly the way my Nismo should have came from the factory.

Legit, is that your car ON the box lol

Naw thats Phelan's car:p

any pictures of just the coilovers themselves?

I'm actually installing them this weekend. I will have pics up soon.

Can't wait to see em up installed :tup:

Me too!

Another thread titled review with no review. Several of these going on. Even weeks after still no review. Come on guys. Still interested though.

Lol @ Spohn, he has a point. I understand the excitement, but instead of you suffering with anticipation, you just did it to everyone here. I'm definitely interested though. I have a soft spot for Tanabe stuff and looking at these as an option.

:iagree:

Install is going down tomorrow fellas. Sorry for the wait :)

Coilovers installed. Driving impressions coming soon ;)

Still waiting....

Super busy. Hope to get the Niz on the twisties next week.

Review is up! Sorry for the delays fellas

You've officially been cleared off my hit list... Can you take pics and measurements of the wheel spacing? Thanks for the review

Question. I'm doing research on coilovers, more specifically these. What catches my eye is the twin tube design, which is chosen for improved comfort over a traditional coilover. So my question is, how is, how much stiffer over stock are these? I don't mind the car being stiffer, I really don't want to change how the car behaves, just improve. This is very much a street car first and track toy second. These seem to be exactly what I'm looking for. There any dubious clunks, rattles or creaks showing up with the change?

Also just a useful fyi, you can adjust the dampness of shock to help with the "stiff" effect of the setup. The ideal way you want to do this is front or rear for 500 miles or so at a time then work on the rear. Otherwise you may end up being "lost" in the setup as to where the car is and what you are wanting. Also stiffness can be adjusted by raising or lowering the car. If you ever got to the point where you wanted the car at a set height but hated that it was too tall you can always drop a shim ring in. My 2 cents. Nice setup though!

It's all about the dampness settings with this and most setups. With this setup so far I have not heard any rattles or weird noises. If you have the front and rear settings at 20 (which is in the middle) you will have the desired feel that you are describing:tup:

Since this kit is full case length threaded, I don't the height adjustment is separate from the spring preload is it not?

It isn't seperate, but if you liked the handling of the suspension with it being as low as it is and you wanted it higher you would just throw a spacer inbetween the plate and the spring. Obiviously not too large of a spacer but none the less you could do that. It isn't seperate because the spring tension changes as the spring is compressed.

the tanabe website and the op's first post has a pictures showing you can adjust the height independently from the spring compression/preload.

Tanabe Sustec Z40 Coilover
http://www.tanabe-usa.com/images/ext...0specinfo1.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...2F80F2BE38.jpg

Oh thanx! My bad!

Well, I definitely see these in my future. Need to somehow get these, new rims/rubber, clutch/flywheel, diff, sway bars, and brake ducts.

Side note, did you need to buy anything to keep camber in check?

I'm running spc rear arms and bolts

I wonder how these compare to KWV3s and Hypermaxs

same question..... the ride height looks perrrrfect!

I wondered the same thing...I forgot about the Tanabe coils now I have to include the Tanabe Z40 Coil-Overs as one of my options

My BCs are noisy as hell. Were yours as well? Was that part of the reason you switched?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

My BC's werent noisy at all. Just wanted to change it up suspension wise.

Hey Guys, I cant really tell you because I never had the Kw's but I can tell you this for sure. The Z40 coils are night and day difference when compared against the BC's in all aspects.

Too bad these wouldn't work with TEAS. Imagine having control of your dampening stiffness as you drive. Drop looks good though, glad you enjoy them.

Bump for Tanabe. Anybody else pick these up? Great coilovers

Here's a shot of my drop at a recent WekFest.
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps8f139950.jpg

How much more adjustability do you have with ride height? It looks like your running 20in wheels, I may be wrong? If so the drop is spot on! I was just concerned with us 19in guys of bridging the gap haha.

You will have no issues whatsoever bridging the gap with 19's. I am running 20's but my fronts can go down at least another 3.5 inches and the rear you are seeing it at the highest setting there is about at least another 3 inches to go lower.