Z Club of NZ Forum

Hi Z community,

Having some free time at the moment I'm enjoying my 370Z and did lots of spirited tours around Auckland what I normally have done only on my Yamaha R1.
Neither north like Riverhead/Helensville/Dairy Flat up to Warkworth or south/east around Hunua Ranges etc..

I'm quite impressed about the handling around turns and how well the weight distribution of 54%/46% (F/R) makes the car stable and solid around even the tightest corners. No need to mention that the AP Racing brakes are overkill for road driving for sure but it's good to have permanent 100% non-fading brakes present. Engine in 3rd to 4th gear around to 3-4k is so much fun and I seldom seeing the VDC kicking in - luckily because there are no run-offs at all

After so much good things there is one major issue I noticed - I was aware of this like ages and still don't spent any $ on it to stop this behaviour. Even during driving around the city I noticed that the suspension is comfortable but quite bumpy and the car bounces around over bumps or any sort of not flat surfaces like a rubber ball!
Can you imagine how this suspension characteristics feels if you drive over some long straight which are going up and down and having few bumps in between as well? The car becomes very light, nervous, unstable and the whole car and the steering feels like driving on ice. Also the suspension is much too much compressed if you drive down a valley and I heard some scrapping noise from the front spoiler which is nearly 11cm over the ground. I felt uncomfortable and I miss the solid feeling I got from my bikes Öhlins suspension where I can take these streets even faster

I have had back in Germany an 2005 VW Golf R32 with have had a much stiffer suspension as a hatchback - I consider the 370Z as a sports car so it should do better. I agree on a very smooth and even surface the suspension is ok but each bump is like a kick against the stability of the vehicle and it starts bouncing around. There is a nice long left turn coming from Northshore going to exit Wellesley St East and there is such expansion joint on the street - oh my oh if I pass this the cars jumps to the right and upset the stability of the car a lot - just for comparison if I do that on my bike it just makes "bump-bump" and it continues driving around the arch nicely. Yes speed limit is 80 but that doesn't change the fact the bouncing feeling and most drivers are taking this corner with 70

So I'm not convinced if just throwing in some e.g. Eibach springs would cure that problem - the car needs a solid and more stiffer feeling without reducing the suspension travel to a minimum or even to be to harsh around country roads. For a racetrack with only a few bumps even springs would be ok I guess but it's not my track beast. The Stillen front/rear sway bars are great for body roll but not with such chewy suspension

Here are lots of passionate car racers/drivers/experts so I'm appreciating each advise I can get !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm thinking at some stage to put in a Tein Mono FLEX with perhaps the EDFC (GPS and speed depended automatic damping adjustment) if it's worth to spend around $4000 ?!?!?!

What do you think guys/girls ???????????????

AndyR1 wrote:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!What do you think guys/girls ???????????????

I think i see speeding tickets in your future

tein launched new Mono Sports line up, apparently its got better valving than mono flex, which was already quite good.. but they do not come with solid upper mounts this time. but the price is considerably cheaper too!

Thanks for the info but I will go with the Bilstein in the future which is pretty cheap in the country of origin

AndyR1 wrote: There is a nice long left turn coming from Northshore going to exit Wellesley St East and there is such expansion joint on the street - oh my oh if I pass this the cars jumps to the right and upset the stability of the car a lot - just for comparison if I do that on my bike it just makes "bump-bump" and it continues driving around the arch nicely. Yes speed limit is 80 but that doesn't change the fact the bouncing feeling and most drivers are taking this corner with 70

Not familiar with the model Andreas but that sounds like bumpsteer to me and I would be checking if its either a setup fault or an inbuilt characteristic of the car. If its a design flaw, someone will be selling a mod to fix it, if its setup take it to a suspension specialist.

The stock suspension is not adjustable. They have revised shocks in the 2013 model now after European standards - I drove one of these during my car was at service and I noticed the solid feeling after 50m of driving already. Rebound is just too soft for me - feels like a Cadillac to me coming from an MkIV R32 hehe.

just ordered tein mono sport kit, hopefully they will perform!

netizen wrote:just ordered tein mono sport kit, hopefully they will perform!

Great - let me have a look at it once you put it in...you are driving a 370Z still??

yea i and have another one for sale too haha

Ah - ok - you like ZZ's...