KW Variant 3?

IMWEZL

If your are not going to track the car or compete in Autocross just get lowering springs if you want to drop the ride height.

A good quality set of coilovers will allow you to dial in camber, spring rates, ride height, and dampening.

Most cars don't come stock with coilovers.

tooohip

You need camber arms with the 370 to adjust camber. The coilovers won't do it for you, other than increase the negative camber as you lower it.

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Lance
KW Variant 3 Coilovers | Stillen Sways | Stillen Gen III Intake | AAM HFC | AAM True Dual CBE | AAM Comp Oil Cooler | Hawk HPS Pads | Volk TE-37 | Hoser Keg Tap

bmarcinczyk14

does the 350z come stock with a coilover suspension design like the 370z?

Mergnthwirker

The 370Z changed the front suspension to be more of a double wishbone suspension rather than a straight McPherson strut type. But it's really not all that different. The rear suspension is pretty much the same (I think -- I've never owned a 350Z-- someone please correct me if I'm wrong?).

If you define coilover as concentric shock/spring units, then the Z has a coilovers in the front, but separate mounting locations for the spring and the shock in the rear.

Aftermarket "coilover's" duplicate the stock layout for this car (not true for many other vehicles), but provide three big advantages:

1. different -- usually stiffer -- spring rates and shock valving than stock. Those with progressive springs can give you a softer initial rate that stiffen up as they are compressed. The shock valving of the "coilover" is supposedly matched to the spring rate to provide just the right amount of damping to keep the wheels planted as much as possible, and prevent oscillation of the suspension. The net effect is (maybe) a better ride, but certainly a car that is better glued to the road!

2. They also provide the ability to change the ride height by moving the spring perch up or down. For non-race use, this might be their primary benefit -- a lowered meaner "look"

3. They may provide shock valving adjustment. The best ones give you the ability to adjust the shocks control of the springs in both the compression stroke (when you hit a bump) and in the rebound stroke (when the spring pushes the suspension back). This level of shock control is particularly useful on race courses. Maybe less so on autocross, where an overall stiff, flat chassis is desirable.

As others have suggested, there's lots of information about suspension design on the web. Don't get hung up on the term "coilover." Think instead of "shocks/springs that allow me to tune my suspension" every time you hear the word coilover.

Hope this helps!

bmarcinczyk14

it somewhat does, but the real definition for coilover is coil spring over strut. the difference between coilovers and regular spring/strut designs is coilovers are all one unit, spring and shock are built together, where as regular ones are first seperate and then compressed onto the strut. a coilover itself, not talking about being adjustable or not, should perform far better than the conventinal spring/strut design, because they were built to be together and work more seamlessly. coilovers also look different than the convential type, the coil springs themselves are much more narrow than the typical fatter type springs. im wondering if the 350z has a coilover spring design like the 370z does, meaning the spring/strut were built together, and usually the coil spirng are much more narrow.

Mergnthwirker

I think I see where you are coming from. This is a lot more relevant for true McPherson struts than it is for a wishbone suspension like the 370Z has.


For the Z, actual performance has a lot more to do with spring rates and valving than with the configuration of the strut.

You have to flush the Sentra suspension from your brain and look at the way the Z suspension actually works. The aftermarket coilovers for the Sentra DO work better as you state, because of their configuration, whereas for the Z this is much less true. My old '91 Sentra SE-R got a huge benefit from coilovers because it improved the suspension. For the Z, it's all about height, spring rates and shock valving.

Any clearer? HTH!

bmarcinczyk14

ok, yes this cleared many things up for me. that was in fact my problem, i had the sentra suspension in my head lol. coilovers make a major improvement for the sentra because the stock setup isnt even a coilover setup, where as on the z it is. ive been asking this question many times and im going to ask it again, does the 350z have a coilover spring/strut design in the front like the 370 does? im not talking about the wishbone or mcpherson design, simply talking about the spring/strut, and whether or not the 350z's is a coilover like the 370.

JoeD

Anyone have pics of the KW setup installed on the Z?

KW is among the premier names in performance suspension...I would say the best this side of Penske or Moton quad adjustables (~$13K). You definitely can't go wrong.

tooohip

Lance's 370Z | Altered Atmosphere Motorsports

They list them as KW Variant II in the write-up but that's a mistake.

__________________
Lance
KW Variant 3 Coilovers | Stillen Sways | Stillen Gen III Intake | AAM HFC | AAM True Dual CBE | AAM Comp Oil Cooler | Hawk HPS Pads | Volk TE-37 | Hoser Keg Tap

LiquidZ

Man KW's look great.

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bmarcinczyk14

looks nice, but thats the variant 2 and not 3. whats the difference.

Valentino

V1, V2, and V3