Good over all suspension set-ups to buy?

[AenjukuCar]

What is a good suspension set-up for race/street. I'm looking into this b/c i'm going to be replacing the tie rods up front and was looking for either a good place to buy tein or tanabe? But what else to buy? etc. camber kits(front/rear), better sway bars...what else?

So far I have:
-Tein Basic Damper Coilovers

Planning on:
-Tein T/C Rods/ends with new boots

Like to have:
-cusco front and rear stb's
-Some kind of sway bars front rear
-front and rear adjustable camber
-energy suspension kit front and rear

So does this sound like a good set-up so far?? anything else you guys/gals could suggest?

[Hawd]

for a daily driven street setup something like tein flex with 6f/5r springs would be ideal. Don't do the same stupid fucking mistake that I did and purchase tein HE's 8f/6r and valving more for track use when I drove about 40 miles aday on los angeles freeways. LA's freeways fucking suck but the 22 felt great witht he coilovers because it was a nice smooth freeway. It's bearable but it got old quick and I got annoyed so right now the HE's are chillin until I post them on ebay :)

[thx247]

how can you possibly have race and street at the same time- does not compute

[AenjukuCar]

how can you possibly have race and street at the same time- does not compute


I'm sorry, I should have been a little more precise with what I was looking for. I'm looking for a car that i can drive everyday and then take it to an autox event once and a while and the drags.

[AKADriver]

He's already got the Basics and he seems happy with them. Fixed damping, limited height adjustability, but a nice inexpensive matched setup. IIRC the Tein Basic for the S14 is 6/6.

So, yeah. hm. RACE and street don't meet. But autocross and street, or track days and street do. But both will be compromised.

My advice is, before you do anything else, actually do some driving. Find your medium and get good enough that you can feel what the car's really doing and what needs to be fixed. Then you won't be asking this question... haha. But, some general advice I can impart:

My 240SX used for track days and autocrosses on STOCK springs and dampers never had enough front negative camber. Unless you plan on making the adjustments yourself often, though, I wouldn't spend $500 on front camber plates and pillowball RUCAs. Front eccentric bolts and eccentric RUCA bushings will allow limited camber adjustment (about +/- 1.5 degrees) for much less money... but they are "set it and forget it", you can't make accurate adjustments trackside.

I didn't like pillowball T/C rods on my last 240SX. The steering feel was awesome, but they sometimes felt like they were binding. These were the OG Battle Version rods... newer designs or different companies' stuff might be better. But, I prefer them to poly T/C bushings, which DEFINITELY felt like they were binding. Personally, I'd look into the Nismo T/C bushings. They're gel-filled like stock, but the rubber is thicker. They'll be more durable and stiffer.

Replacing old or soft n' squishy bushings with poly ROCKS. I don't know how many miles on your car... driving my 140k S13 with original stock bushings back to back with my friend's 140k S13 with a full whiteline setup was night and day. Now that Energy Suspension makes a dirt cheap master kit, I say go for it. Only snag is the install. That's something I'd just pay a shop to do, because I sure as hell don't own a press... even if they charged a couple hundred bucks labor, with the Energy Suspension kit so cheap, it's worth it.

Sway bars, uhh, I dunno. Up to you. I'd wait until after you get good bushings and a nice alignment setup... with your 6k springs you shouldn't have a lot of roll. Whiteline bars give you adjustability, and if you want more oversteer you can just put a bigger bar on the back.

I wouldn't bother with the rear STB on an S13 coupe or S14. On my S13 fastback, even, all it did was make my hatch stop squeaking. Front, eh, ok, but Cusco seems crazy overpriced for a bar.

Oh yeah. I'd look into subframe spacers. $60 and the rear end feels much more stable.

[dct223]

i found this odd.... SE's come with 5lug... and the pics on your car domain it has 4lug... =/

Anyways if like hawd said, tein HE's are really stiff coilovers, what you have now are good for a typical suspension for a daily driver and occasional track events. If you want to have a better feel for your car, go ahead and install sway bars, and other rods and arms.. but each suspension upgrade will make your ride more rough since its stiffer.

[aznpoopy]

Replacing old or soft n' squishy bushings with poly ROCKS. I don't know how many miles on your car... driving my 140k S13 with original stock bushings back to back with my friend's 140k S13 with a full whiteline setup was night and day. Now that Energy Suspension makes a dirt cheap master kit, I say go for it. Only snag is the install. That's something I'd just pay a shop to do, because I sure as hell don't own a press... even if they charged a couple hundred bucks labor, with the Energy Suspension kit so cheap, it's worth it.


i recall someone on here had the energy suspension bushings and they basically ruined their LCAs because they were too stiff. enjuku, look it up before u put them on your car.

[AKADriver]

You're thinking of the energy suspension T/C rod bushings. I mentioned in my long, rambling, tired-ass post that poly T/C bushings bind the suspension and suck azz.

Poly control arm bushings are all good. Just don't put them in a spot where the bushing is designed to move in more than one axis (like the T/C rods of a 240SX, or the rear trailing arms of a Civic).

[AenjukuCar]

i found this odd.... SE's come with 5lug... and the pics on your car domain it has 4lug... =/

Anyways if like hawd said, tein HE's are really stiff coilovers, what you have now are good for a typical suspension for a daily driver and occasional track events. If you want to have a better feel for your car, go ahead and install sway bars, and other rods and arms.. but each suspension upgrade will make your ride more rough since its stiffer.

he said that there is 300zx tt conversion the whole way around, but how do you tell, the brakes are awesome in this thing cant believe them.

[aznpoopy]

You're thinking of the energy suspension T/C rod bushings. I mentioned in my long, rambling, tired-ass post that poly T/C bushings bind the suspension and suck azz.


i stand corrected ;)

[aznpoopy]

he said that there is 300zx tt conversion the whole way around, but how do you tell, the brakes are awesome in this thing cant believe them.

? 300zx rotors are bigger then the stock 240 rotors. just compare size of the rotors. also if you have 4 lug ( i think someone below mentioned that ) the 300zx rotors would have to have been drilled to fit.

bigger brakes isn't about stopping power, it's about reducing brake fade. it may feel good b/c there's more contact surface between pad and rotor but ultimately its the tire that determines how fast you can stop.

[wanganwonder]

you mentioned tie rods

http://www.store.yahoo.com/phase2motorsports/kapitiens1.html

largus swaybars
www.tougefactory.com

but they're expensive. price you pay for the ultimate :D
i'll do a writeup when i buy them

[dct223]

he said that there is 300zx tt conversion the whole way around, but how do you tell, the brakes are awesome in this thing cant believe them.

Well previous owner might have done a z32 brake upgrade, he had to have drilled his rotors to fit a 4lug pattern. Im just saying SE model 240's came with 5lug standard, so your car isnt a SE unless he swaped his 5lug hubs, sold them then bought cheaper 4lug lug hubs and bolted them on.