Okay, so it looks like I’ve now sold off the rest of my mods from my EP3 Civic, which means I have the cashflow to get the suspension on my Z taken care of!
I’m trying to figure out between JDM bling and cheap(er) but effective. In the less expensive, but still quality category, I’m looking at the Nismo S-tune springs and struts, and either the Nismo sways or the Hotchkis sways. Benefit of the Nismo parts is that they were built by Nismo and so have the engineering backup. I’ve heard that not only do they firm up the handling (with a minor .75 inch drop) but also actually get rid of some the stock porpoising the Z is known for on bumpy roads. And of course, for the buck, nothing beats those Hotchkis sways. They look fantastic, and fully adjustable (front AND rear), too.
Downside is that the Nismo S-tune isn’t adjustable for height or damping, so that’s that. Of course, I don’t want too much of a drop, and since I don’t drive it in the winter, no need to keep adjusting it.
Now, in the JDM, bling, and awesomeness category, we have the Cusco parts. Zero-2 coilovers for about 300 more than Nismo; 5 way fully adjustable damping, and height adjustable as well. For sways, I would naturally go with the Cusco bars (about 200 more than Hotchkis), where the front is adjustable, and the rear is fixed (but pretty damn stiff, from what I’ve seen). The upside is that these parts all together should work like they should, and provide a fantastic, and fully adjustable ride. The downside… the total cost is obviously more, and I don’t know if I can get the ride to where I want it. I just remember having Tein Basics on my EP, and although they did the job, the ride quality def. deteriorated a tad. Of course, since these would be ADJUSTABLE (unlike the Basics I had on the other car), I guess I could take care of that.
Anyone have anything to offer to this dilemma is greatly appreciated. I’m also willing to consider other coilover and sway packages if people want to chime in on some. I like the idea though of Cusco coilovers with Cusco sways. The coilovers are considered “soft” because they don’t stiffen the rear nearly as much as other setups, but that seems to be baked into the design because of the erection-like stiffness of their rear bar.
