So,

 

(sit down, I'm going to moan :))

 

After nearly ten years with my Z, I'm finally starting to get annoyed with having to drive 1mph over speed bumps at cross camber, park at the back or the supermarket, watching all the new low side skirts.

 

Having no one available that I can trust to do simple work on my Z is very annoying, the last two garages I had an argument, one lost various bits trying to upgrade the shocks, scratched a door and fitted em wrong, also one of the adjusters is broken. (I will be trying Eurospec in Camberley next time I need a garage for minor work). That's all okay to a certain point, but as my friend pointed out when I was moaning about the road noise and hardness of the ride now, it used to be dead quite, you didn't really know you were going at XXXmph, not that I ever did that!

 

Maybe I've over modded! :o

 

Been reading Mr Turkey's thread, the only "next car" car that I could pull out of that list was the "Lexus soarer". I couldn't go for another performance car that was half my Z, it would just seam perthetic compared to all the mods I've thrown into the Z. (Not that I'd plan to mod again)

 

http://217.158.136.46/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15771&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

 

So what do I want? Dunno. Want a quiet fairly unique car with some poke, with enough seats (more than 2+2) so I can actaully take someone else out in the car without breaking their legs (to 15K). I wouldn't consider Mitz Evos, MX5s, BMW are too samey, Subarus are common... I'd want to get a car that doesn't have a forum tempting me to upgrade.... :o

 

In fact I'd almost put up my Z again if I could quieten it a bit... it's not like I've even got 18 inch wheels yet which was on the list... that's just gunna make it worse...

 

 

Next time someone stops me and asked how much do I want for me car, I'll give them a price!

 

Has anyone else gone to extreams on sound proofing... I could try this....

 

Jez. :(

Try lightweight dynamat stuff.

 

Or buy a 200SX !

i find it odd about the ride TBH, i find my zed is actually quite smooth & quiet for what it is! certainly a better ride than my Golf gti with lowered & uprated suspension!

 

are you sure the suspension is up to scratch? or have you gone ott with springs & shocks? howabout replacing with new stock items.

 

are all the bushes in good condition?

 

how/where is it noisey ? (turn the stereo up! :D :cool: )

Up to 15K,you could get a decent Skyline for that.

Cheers,

F.T.

Hi Jez. I have a lot of noise from the rear quarter panels. I can hear the grit hit the underside of the wheel arch as I'm driving.

I will be using Brown Bread (Same as dynomat but much cheaper) on the rear quarters to start with. Then I'll probably do the boot area as well. I think most of the internal sound comes from the rear or my car.

 

As for the smoothness of the ride. I know what you mean !!. I'm going to change my bushes to see if that's any improvement.

 

Did you say you have adjustable Shocks ? If so can you not set them to soft ?

Stuart

 

I hear the grit too. When there's salt on the road I get paranoid about rot geeting in.

 

Jez

 

I'm on 18"'s. Road noise transmission always was a problem on Z's.

 

Are there poly bushes available for the rear shocks top and bottom? When I replaced the rear shocks I re used the existing ones as they looked solid enough - maybe that's the problem!

 

Was there ever any real progress on that electronic noise cancellation stuff that Lotus and others were working on? I'd love to be able to flick a switch and kill the exhaust rumble and road noise sometimes. Not sure if soundproofing would help that much as there already is a fair amount in the rear and the last thing a Z wants is more weight.

Road noise can also be caused by tyres. I bought some cheap tyres for my Z about 6 months ago and not only was the road noise quite bad but the rears needed replacing after only 4 months (and I'm not lead footed). I spent a bit more on some decent tyres and the noise has been greatly reduced. When the weather is a bit better I will also be adding some soundproofing to the boot.

Jes- if you do sell your car what sort of price would you sell it for as i am looking to buy a 300zx in about 6 weeks time also i only live just down the road from you in stokenchurch

get an (cough)M3 man(cough).:D

 

i found that my zed was really quite smooth and comfortable, speed bumps were a bit of an issue, but mine wasnt lowered. as for noise, there was always road noise form the back arches, but never that bad. i always thought it was quite quiet.

cheers

steve

Audi RS2? If you can find one - they are around 15K. Friend of mine took me out in this S2 the other day, felt nearly as fast as my stock z, but with a lot more room inside. RS2 has another 100 BHP on top of that (315), does 0-60 in 4.8. 0-100 in 13.1 And it's an estate as well so labradors are an option.

Audi RS2. Sounds - interesting!!!

 

Mmm, Well - I know most of the sound does come form the rear. The original nissan stuff does make a big difference, not sure how much more I could quieten things up with some dynomat / Brown Bread replacement etc.... anyone actaully fitted it yet?

 

I think most the noise is due to my poly Utherane sub-frame mounts. To buy new nissan ones meant a new rear sub-frame (probably £1000). The shocks are KYB AGXs, on setting 2, being soft (out of 8), I'll try setting one although that's not going to make a lot of difference. (Yes it may sound too soft, but the new sub-frame bushes probably mean setting 1 on my car is like 4 or more on a stock car). The wheels and springs are stock. The only other setup changes were the anti-roll bars which aint gunna account for any noise really)

 

Tyres - Running on Bridgestone SO3s all round on stock wheels. (all the original bushes + adjustable tension bars and wheel alignment is setup about right, no major %ages to worry about)

 

As for selling my car - the price, I dunno. not under £10K, not more than 15K. I just spent 3K on Labour and probably a lot more on all the body and new paint. It's got all the mods you can probably get without going for bigger turbos (the ones that count anyhow!). What it needs is some nice wheels to set everything off and a custom badge on the headlamp panel.

 

http://rides.300zx.co.uk/rides/69/

 

Jez.

dam thats quite a bit out of my price range its a shame though because the seriously nice car

jez,

i like the photo of the car at santa pod (on ya rides section), looks coool man!

steve