Hey Forum,

 

As you may or may not know my car is on the ramps right now getting a full energy suspension master bushing kit fitted. I decided to diary this process to give honest feedback as to the kit itself and the results gained. Note my car is a JDM spec auto in light tune state:- (Mines 'light tune' ECU, Air filter, Stillen intercoolers, HKS ALC, Blitz Boost Controller running 13.5psi. Stock exhaust. No Dyno run as yet so maybe 330ish HP?)

I am deliberately not upgrading my dampers and coils with this work as I want to assess different mods one at a time. Note also that the stock bushes are all currently in good condition (despite being 13yrs old) and there is no adverse 'play' whatsoever. I am only replacing them as part of an overall project to improve the car by returning it to its stock state or better. Obviously if this job was done with the bushes shot anything will feel better. So perhaps the results I get will be a good for a true like-for-like comparison.

 

Ok lessons learned so far:-

 

There are various energy suspension kits ! I bought the 'master bushing kit' whilst in the U.S.

 

First thing to note is the U.S. Kit has just been re-designed with a new design of tension rod bushing. This may or may not be linked to some rare stories of the earlier kits and sheared tension rods but this is at the time of writing un-proven. The older kits are still being sold so I would check that if you buy. In my experience most re-designs are for a big reason as most companies hate doing re-designs.

 

Second the 'master bushing' kit itself is not as comprehensive as one would imagine. It consists of Front Lower arm bushes, tension rod bushes, rear subframe bushes, diff carrier bushes and front & rear anti-roll bar bushes. It is not by any stretch of the imagination a complete bushings kit. :confused: After discussing things with Luke from Zcentre - (thanks mate) it was clear that at least another rear upper & lower link kit was needed to 'complete things' and even then there are some bushes that we will not change because they are in neither kit. (see later notes)

 

Third The front And rear anti-roll bar bushes are not usable on the JDM spec as they are clearly skinnier (and hollow too!) than the US spec vehicles bushes, and the UK spec I hear. Anyway I am not sweating this right now as I intend to replace both bars and then evaluate that mod seperately in the future.

 

The US master kit came with excellent fitting instructions and brilliantly seperately bagged mini-kits each with stand alone instructions and the appropriate amount of silicone grease (nice touch). This is great especially if you were doing the changes bit-by-bit as other jobs need doing on your car. I wouldthink that 99% of owners would not do the whole thing at once. The bags themselves were not labelled but you could just figure it out through deduction and a basic knowledge of the car. The Z centre supplied Rear link bushing kit again came with excellent instructions but no grease.

 

Unfortunately we will not be replacing the Front upper control arm bushes at all as neither kit included them. This is a shame as they are the suspected cause of theoccasional horrible graunching noises on cold days after long journeys. There is, on inspection, no discernable play in these bushes so we have therefore elected to strip these and apply silicone grease to them anyway.

 

Replacing the font end bushes is quite easy and I would suggest doing it when doing brakes / discs etc. You will need a press though as some bushes require the use of some of the OEM metal sleeves.

 

The back end is quite a different story and involves removing quite a lot of stuff. If you get a chance take a look when the car is raised as the rear subframe is quite a piece of engineering. It would be 100% worthwhile fully checking the HICAS set-up and rear diff whilst doing this work as another chance to get that level of access will be rare. example: I noticed and replaced a weeping diff oil seal that probably would have got worse before it was seen and fixed. The car will be back on the road friday so heads up then for the verdict..........

Good post, great to see the technical stuff on the forum, very worthwhile IMO. Dave

Thanks Dave will let everyone know if the result lives up to the hype of the US advertising blurb. It was quite funny as my missus said "guess which was the US product and which came from the UK".............

Their they sat the US box looked like my kids power-rangers stuff and was covered in great techno speak to re-gurgitate at the pub. The UK box mean time was brown and wrapped in tape.........! LOL

lol, sounds about right! Just as long as they spent as much on research and design as they did on funky packaging.

Hi mines twinturbo. I need to replace my rear brake pipes and as you know I will need to drop the subframe. I will replace the diff and subframe bushes with Polyurethane ones while it is out, anything else I should check or replace while i'm at it? Also do you know of any write up on the net for droping subframe?

Cheerz.

I am doing the goodrich brake pipes at the same time.........fitted quite nice.

 

You may as well do a good reccy of the following:-

 

Rear anti-roll bar, bushes, and drop links - My JDM one looks so puny and it is hollow not solid, of all the OEM bushes on the car these look like they have been working the hardest. That skinny thing has to go (next months funds !) for our fast euro roads. Replace all of the rear subframe bushes as with the action of the Hicas, the puny rear anti-roll bar and the sheer engineered in dynamics of this item you have gotta think that unless the bushes are tip-top it is gonna handle less than ideal.

 

Check the Diff good all over and change the diff-oil and diff pinion oil seal while you are at it. The oil is a 60k miles item anyway. My seal was slightly leaking so for I think 12 quid (gen nissan oil seal) you may as well go ahead and do it anyway (mine has 66K miles on it). As the Diff is a fancy viscous (oil based) LSD any lack of good quality oil will affect its performance. You have to remove the exhaust anyhow so a good visual on that and yup my 13 year old back boxes will not see out the winter for sure. The Hicas system needs a good visual for leaks or damaged pipes along with the underbody brake line protectors one of mine had cracked and was dangling down ready to be snapped off. In researching other stuff I came upon alternatives to the urethane bushing route made by Nismo themselves. It seems Nismo have put quite a lot of effort into re-bushing the Z. see link

 

http://www.courtesyparts.com/nismo/z32/index.html

 

for details and great exploded diagrams showing bushes. (why oh why can't UK dealers have such an on-line presence?)

Interestingly nismo make the upper control arm bushes that don't seem to be part of anyones urethane upgrade kit. (Luke Z-Centre do you know anyone who has changed to these? I will get some next month in the US and bring em over for testing to see if they solve the notorious front end cold day noise)

 

Mines

See rest of thread for bushings you can change

I replaced all of the bushing on my my car earlier this year with the Energy suspension master kit and an asorsment of Nismo Jobbies.

 

The whole car felt so much tighter I'm running moderate power and the back end just squats down and goes now. No wheel hoping at all. Absolute pain to fit them all but well worth it if your serious about driving your Z.

 

Only downside is that you get some transmission and diff noises in the cabin due to the solid subframe bushing.

 

I replacesd all my shocks not long after and that made an impressive difference aswell. Worth checking all the links and hicas arms are in good order. ;)

 

Andy

I replaced all of the bushing on my my car earlier this year with the Energy suspension master kit and an asorsment of Nismo Jobbies.

 

The whole car felt so much tighter I'm running moderate power and the back end just squats down and goes now. No wheel hoping at all. Absolute pain to fit them all but well worth it if your serious about driving your Z.

 

Only downside is that you get some transmission and diff noises in the cabin due to the solid subframe bushing.

 

I replacesd all my shocks not long after and that made an impressive difference aswell. Worth checking all the links and hicas arms are in good order. ;)

 

Andy

 

 

Hey andy did you do the front upper control arms too - nismo? Did you have the cold morning horrible suspension noise before? I am hoping the bushings will get rid of that horrible intermittent graunching sound..........Did you go stock springs & dampers?

Sorry for the million questions but you may help me avoid things you learned

I am doing the goodrich brake pipes at the same time.........fitted quite nice.

 

You may as well do a good reccy of the following:-

 

Rear anti-roll bar, bushes, and drop links - My JDM one looks so puny and it is hollow not solid, of all the OEM bushes on the car these look like they have been working the hardest. That skinny thing has to go (next months funds !) for our fast euro roads. Replace all of the rear subframe bushes as with the action of the Hicas, the puny rear anti-roll bar and the sheer engineered in dynamics of this item you have gotta think that unless the bushes are tip-top it is gonna handle less than ideal.

 

Check the Diff good all over and change the diff-oil and diff pinion oil seal while you are at it. The oil is a 60k miles item anyway. My seal was slightly leaking so for I think 12 quid (gen nissan oil seal) you may as well go ahead and do it anyway (mine has 66K miles on it). As the Diff is a fancy viscous (oil based) LSD any lack of good quality oil will affect its performance. You have to remove the exhaust anyhow so a good visual on that and yup my 13 year old back boxes will not see out the winter for sure. The Hicas system needs a good visual for leaks or damaged pipes along with the underbody brake line protectors one of mine had cracked and was dangling down ready to be snapped off. In researching other stuff I came upon alternatives to the urethane bushing route made by Nismo themselves. It seems Nismo have put quite a lot of effort into re-bushing the Z. see link

 

http://www.courtesyparts.com/nismo/z32/index.html

 

for details and great exploded diagrams showing bushes. (why oh why can't UK dealers have such an on-line presence?)

Interestingly nismo make the upper control arm bushes that don't seem to be part of anyones urethane upgrade kit. (Luke Z-Centre do you know anyone who has changed to these? I will get some next month in the US and bring em over for testing to see if they solve the notorious front end cold day noise)

 

Mines

See rest of thread for bushings you can change

 

Thanks for taking the time to write that Mines it's appreciated. I have got a big job ahead of me but I see it as a time to make the car better than it's standard setup, by using uprated components. Car comes off the road in a month or two for the winter so that shoud keep me occupied for a couple of months :)

I replaced all of the bushing on my my car earlier this year with the Energy suspension master kit and an asorsment of Nismo Jobbies.

 

The whole car felt so much tighter I'm running moderate power and the back end just squats down and goes now. No wheel hoping at all. Absolute pain to fit them all but well worth it if your serious about driving your Z.

 

Only downside is that you get some transmission and diff noises in the cabin due to the solid subframe bushing.

 

I replacesd all my shocks not long after and that made an impressive difference aswell. Worth checking all the links and hicas arms are in good order. ;)

 

Andy

 

Is the transmission and diff noise very bad using the solid subframe bushing, how noticable is it?

Hey andy did you do the front upper control arms too - nismo? Did you have the cold morning horrible suspension noise before? I am hoping the bushings will get rid of that horrible intermittent graunching sound..........Did you go stock springs & dampers?

Sorry for the million questions but you may help me avoid things you learned

 

I only had a couple bushes that looked perished but decided to just do the lot. Fitted the nismo type but didn't have a noise there before i'm afraid.

 

I fitted kYB shocks all round and i'm more than happy with them. Still running standard springs, thats my next job along with a hicas eliminator.

 

Is the transmission and diff noise very bad using the solid subframe bushing, how noticable is it?

 

 

Not loud but defo noticeable when pulling away in first and second. Once you start to pick up speed you cant hear it. My advice would be only to fit polly subframe bushes if you want big power to elliminate subframe movement. Otherwise just fit new nissan jobbies.

 

I'm a bit anal when it comes to noises. As soon as I get a rattle I have to find the source strait away. I was a bit gutted when first drove the car and heard the diff, but its a good trade off for a solid back end and you soon get used to it.

 

Andy

The front upper bushes are actually bearings, not just bushes. Probably best to just buy adjustable arms like the powertrix or SPL ones when they go, as it's not much more expensive than replacing the OEM bearings.

Sob, My Z is taking longer than I expected.......

 

Note: pressing out the rear subframe bushes is best done before you change any other rear sub bushes !!!!

 

I am a design engineer myself so I have taken the delay time to really study the rear end to see what its design intent was. Looking at the whole subframe as an assembly the bushes are very much more that just simple 'isolation' devices. It is actually a super sweet part of an elegant design solution. The rubber mounted rear end in conjunction with the HICAS is obviously designed to 'automatically' set the car up for fast corners. This setting up is clearly inititated by the HICAS rack rear wheel steering 1-2 degrees travel at max, and then 'set' using a certain amount of compliance inherent within the subframe bush design (silicone filled rubber mounts). I would guess this was done during development after initial testing to make the 4-wheel steer effect feel less 'mechanical'.

 

Anyone with racing experience out there will know what I mean by 'set' the car up which is to momentarily induce a nudge of opposite lock to pre-load the suspension so that that car turns in quick and sweetly aided by its own suspension unloading itself. You can see an exagerated form of this watching rally / drift drivers set up power slides.

 

I have also since studying it, decided that fitting a HICAS eliminator is probably a pointless exercise as the bushes will still be there 'half doing' the job they were designed for so essentially it may end up worse than you had.

 

Talking to the Stillen guys the HICAS eliminator was originated for racers who simply could not get out of the habit of doing their own 'setting-up' of the car and so occasionally forgot and overcooked the turn-in leading to spins on a race track. So unless your in that category of hardened racer I would leave what nissan have designed in for you as a 'driver aid'. File the HICAS eliminator mentally as and unneccessary device. Of course if your HICAS is shot then you may decide just to lock it out but I would not. I would repair it.

 

I would also 100% stay away from the Aluminium solid rear subframe bushes I have seen unless your Z is 100% for drag racing or you learned to drift over 10 years in a non-HICAS car.

 

The Nismo Front upper control arm bearings / bushes are a good move as the only way to buy the stock ones is to replace the whole control arm (arm and bush all one part number - nismo bushes seperate part number). I will do this next time it is in the air.

 

So back to the garage peeps

Sob, My Z is taking longer than I expected.......

 

Note: pressing out the rear subframe bushes is best done before you change any other rear sub bushes !!!!

 

I am a design engineer myself so I have taken the delay time to really study the rear end to see what its design intent was. Looking at the whole subframe as an assembly the bushes are very much more that just simple 'isolation' devices. It is actually a super sweet part of an elegant design solution. The rubber mounted rear end in conjunction with the HICAS is obviously designed to 'automatically' set the car up for fast corners. This setting up is clearly inititated by the HICAS rack rear wheel steering 1-2 degrees travel at max, and then 'set' using a certain amount of compliance inherent within the subframe bush design (silicone filled rubber mounts). I would guess this was done during development after initial testing to make the 4-wheel steer effect feel less 'mechanical'.

 

Anyone with racing experience out there will know what I mean by 'set' the car up which is to momentarily induce a nudge of opposite lock to pre-load the suspension so that that car turns in quick and sweetly aided by its own suspension unloading itself. You can see an exagerated form of this watching rally / drift drivers set up power slides.

 

I have also since studying it, decided that fitting a HICAS eliminator is probably a pointless exercise as the bushes will still be there 'half doing' the job they were designed for so essentially it may end up worse than you had.

 

Talking to the Stillen guys the HICAS eliminator was originated for racers who simply could not get out of the habit of doing their own 'setting-up' of the car and so occasionally forgot and overcooked the turn-in leading to spins on a race track. So unless your in that category of hardened racer I would leave what nissan have designed in for you as a 'driver aid'. File the HICAS eliminator mentally as and unneccessary device. Of course if your HICAS is shot then you may decide just to lock it out but I would not. I would repair it.

 

I would also 100% stay away from the Aluminium solid rear subframe bushes I have seen unless your Z is 100% for drag racing or you learned to drift over 10 years in a non-HICAS car.

 

The Nismo Front upper control arm bearings / bushes are a good move as the only way to buy the stock ones is to replace the whole control arm (arm and bush all one part number - nismo bushes seperate part number). I will do this next time it is in the air.

 

So back to the garage peeps

 

Thats very interesting, i'm planing to use Energy Suspension Polyurethane subframe bushes would these adversly affect the way the HICAS is designes to work, being as they are solid? Are tha Nismo subframe bushes any better?

I plan to keep the HICAS.

Cheerz

Coming from the RX-7 Forum it is quite a joy to see you guys talking about suspension and not just Power Power Power .. in fact a car can be a real joy if you get the suspension set up well, then maybe we can use some of that power and keep the Z on the road / track with a well sorted chassis.

 

Nothing improves the NEW feel of a car more than tight suspension.

 

One problem I have found is that there does not seem to be a huge wealth of knowledge about suspension setups...maybe we can all help one another here.

Does anyone know the stock spring rates ??

 

BTW Interesting point about the HICAS ....romove or leave debate... Im an older guy and I really cant get used to the idea of rear steer. Surely if the Hicas is removed the remaining links represent what you have on a conventional car ...if you need a suspension bush make sure its Urethane if you dont need it make it solid. ???

 

PS. How long are we supposed to keep the silly name thing going..I mean Mines, I guess it would be quite nice to have a chat one day even buy you a pint.... "Mines a pint whats yours" (old fart having a moan) ;)

Coming from the RX-7 Forum it is quite a joy to see you guys talking about suspension and not just Power Power Power .. in fact a car can be a real joy if you get the suspension set up well, then maybe we can use some of that power and keep the Z on the road / track with a well sorted chassis.

 

Nothing improves the NEW feel of a car more than tight suspension.

 

One problem I have found is that there does not seem to be a huge wealth of knowledge about suspension setups...maybe we can all help one another here.

Does anyone know the stock spring rates ??

 

BTW Interesting point about the HICAS ....romove or leave debate... Im an older guy and I really cant get used to the idea of rear steer. Surely if the Hicas is removed the remaining links represent what you have on a conventional car ...if you need a suspension bush make sure its Urethane if you dont need it make it solid. ???

 

PS. How long are we supposed to keep the silly name thing going..I mean Mines, I guess it would be quite nice to have a chat one day even buy you a pint.... "Mines a pint whats yours" (old fart having a moan)

 

 

Hey no problem its chris for that pint. The HICAS thing is real interesting I think the urethane subframe bushes will be OK for the HICAS as they are still compliant almost in a similar way to the stock ones. My human durometer puts them as about 10% harder than the stock ones we've removed. These are big ass bushes. About coke can diameter and about 2/3rds the height.

 

I would also say that dicking around with the weight of the rear subframe, assembly as a whole i.e. (diff, axle, wheels suspension units etc) will probably throw the HICAS system into a less than ideal state given that the Nissan engineers will have factored its mass into the calculations for its dynamics.

 

Try not to think of HICAS as rear wheel steering! The HICAS system is not that. Think of it as a 'speed-sensitive-electo-hydraulic-professional driver-technique-reproducer. It is that momentary quick flick of opposite lock to help you turn in quicker! The system has a smidgen of 4 wheel steering but it is also obviously engineered to work with the bushings in the 'floating' rear subframe. I would as a design engineer describe HICAS as more of an 'active' suspension system than 4 wheel steering. It would by its nature also help you loads in a high speed swerve manoeuver, such as diving out of a slipstream and back in.......

 

So if you remove the HICAS you don't simply get left with an 'ordinary car' you get half the system left, (the 'floating' subframe and no HICAS activation to make it work). So IMHO If you wanted to remove the HICAS to make it like a normal car then you would have to weld up or fit solid bushes to the sub frame then you would be left with a normal car !!! And all those nissan engineering hours would be for nothing

 

As an ex-racer when I drove the Z for the first time on the test drive I was like "Wow what was that? as the car stepped itself into my first fast turn with very fast turn-in. In my mind it was almost like the handling of a mid-engined car. The seller was like "What?" I could feel the HICAS work, he had never noticed it. He thought HICAS was 4WS to aid parking!!!!

 

My car is making moderate power and an auto so my interest, no my fetish handling. I love sweet handling cars that can 'giant kill' the Dyno day wonders on real world roads / track days.

 

I will be Looking closely soon for a spring and damper set up that can help me in my quest. My basic starting philosophy is those Nissan boys really knew what they were doing so its going to take a lot of science to better it. Bear in mind the Z on lauch lapped the nurburing 11secs faster than the then current 911 (in racing terms that is annililation!)

 

Chris

The Pint is yours Chris

 

I read what you say, fair comment...I am wondering what the Japanese scene thinks about HICAS Removal....Excuse my ignorance but I guess there would be "NISMO" team in Japan..does anyone have any website links...

 

I noticed the HICAS alluminium replacement plate on the Nismo parts listed, I would have thought that meant it was available in Japan.....

 

 

Hey no problem its chris for that pint. The HICAS thing is real interesting I think the urethane subframe bushes will be OK for the HICAS as they are still compliant almost in a similar way to the stock ones. My human durometer puts them as about 10% harder than the stock ones we've removed. These are big ass bushes. About coke can diameter and about 2/3rds the height.

 

I would also say that dicking around with the weight of the rear subframe, assembly as a whole i.e. (diff, axle, wheels suspension units etc) will probably throw the HICAS system into a less than ideal state given that the Nissan engineers will have factored its mass into the calculations for its dynamics.

 

Try not to think of HICAS as rear wheel steering! The HICAS system is not that. Think of it as a 'speed-sensitive-electo-hydraulic-professional driver-technique-reproducer. It is that momentary quick flick of opposite lock to help you turn in quicker! The system has a smidgen of 4 wheel steering but it is also obviously engineered to work with the bushings in the 'floating' rear subframe. I would as a design engineer describe HICAS as more of an 'active' suspension system than 4 wheel steering. It would by its nature also help you loads in a high speed swerve manoeuver, such as diving out of a slipstream and back in.......

 

So if you remove the HICAS you don't simply get left with an 'ordinary car' you get half the system left, (the 'floating' subframe and no HICAS activation to make it work). So IMHO If you wanted to remove the HICAS to make it like a normal car then you would have to weld up or fit solid bushes to the sub frame then you would be left with a normal car !!! And all those nissan engineering hours would be for nothing

 

As an ex-racer when I drove the Z for the first time on the test drive I was like "Wow what was that? as the car stepped itself into my first fast turn with very fast turn-in. In my mind it was almost like the handling of a mid-engined car. The seller was like "What?" I could feel the HICAS work, he had never noticed it. He thought HICAS was 4WS to aid parking!!!!

 

My car is making moderate power and an auto so my interest, no my fetish handling. I love sweet handling cars that can 'giant kill' the Dyno day wonders on real world roads / track days.

 

I will be Looking closely soon for a spring and damper set up that can help me in my quest. My basic starting philosophy is those Nissan boys really knew what they were doing so its going to take a lot of science to better it. Bear in mind the Z on lauch lapped the nurburing 11secs faster than the then current 911 (in racing terms that is annililation!)

 

Chris

The Pint is yours Chris

 

I read what you say, fair comment...I am wondering what the Japanese scene thinks about HICAS Removal....Excuse my ignorance but I guess there would be "NISMO" team in Japan..does anyone have any website links...

 

I noticed the HICAS alluminium replacement plate on the Nismo parts listed, I would have thought that meant it was available in Japan.....

 

Would be real interesting, I can imagine removal of HICAS for : drifting, drag racing, and weight reduction for a purist racer but otherwise for most mere mortals it is probably better and safer to leave it on for if you ever need the high speed swerve.

Dont want to drag on forever about this but Japanese Tomei do Hicas Elimination stuff her tis

 

http://www.tomei-p.co.jp/_2003web-catalogue/efr_index.html

 

Oh sorry domain only

 

Click on OTHERS and then from the top of the screen Hicas Lock

 

 

Would be real interesting, I can imagine removal of HICAS for : drifting, drag racing, and weight reduction for a purist racer but otherwise for most mere mortals it is probably better and safer to leave it on for if you ever need the high speed swerve.

So if you remove the HICAS you don't simply get left with an 'ordinary car' you get half the system left, (the 'floating' subframe and no HICAS activation to make it work). So IMHO If you wanted to remove the HICAS to make it like a normal car then you would have to weld up or fit solid bushes to the sub frame then you would be left with a normal car !!! And all those nissan engineering hours would be for nothing

 

Good points. An Alternative is to also fit these :

 

http://www.specialtyz.com/suspension.htm

 

GD Subframe spacers. THey remove the float, while retaining stock bushes.

Good points. An Alternative is to also fit these :

 

http://www.specialtyz.com/suspension.htm

 

GD Subframe spacers. THey remove the float, while retaining stock bushes.

 

Very interesting items here as it seems there are lots of ways to change the rear suspension:-

 

IHMO From the facts generated so far we seemed to have learned the following about re-bushing / HICAS:-

 

1. The HICAS system, works in conjunction with the rubber mounted rear subframe they are each part one system.

2. Worn subframe bushes can be mostly felt as 'wheel hop' under power and general sloppiness with handling.

3. Those that have fitted urethane bushes seemed to have cured this.

4. Would probably be cured with stock bushes too but no seperate part number exists for these (the are only available as part of the arms themselves) However, Nismo upgraded ones are available as seperate items though through people such as:- http://www.courtesynissan.com

4. Various 'tuning' options exist for the Z rear before you even get into the usual uprated anti-roll (sway) bars, springs and dampers.

 

a) Total HICAS elimination - HICAS Eliminator bars (various available), would also require stock or urethane rear subframe bushes to be changed to solid aluminium to achieve a fully rigid rear subframe. - Suitable for

race / drag applications - Monster power applications

 

b) Slight firming up of rear subframe with urethane bushes e.g. Energy suspension kit - Fast road work plus occasional track day - Moderate power

 

c) Medium firming up of rear subframe with supplementary aluminium bushes (see link above) - Fast road plus regular track days - Higher power applications.

 

d) Replacement of stock linkages with ones with integral bearings instead of urethane / rubber bushes - Adds adjustability too. Track / drift use.

 

My conclusion is that HICAS Eliminator bars should be sold with solid bushes and the suppliers are missing a trick here..........

 

Energy Suspensions 'Master-bushing kit' needs supplementing with additional rear linkage bushings and Nismo front upper control arm bearings if you want to totally re-bush the suspension of your Z

 

 

Chris C

Yahoo,

 

I got my Z back and its now time to file the report after a 400 mile blast with the new kit on: Conditions dry, good weather.

Location: Anyone who knows the journey up to Kinloss will know the part of the journey that is the 'top gear' dream road.

 

The best way to describe the effect of the urethane bushing kit is an all round 'crispness' in handling that wasn't there before. Whilst not returning a totally 'new car feel' it at least makes it seem half its age! The car feels more planted on the road and more secure on fast bumpy bends. But heres the but it definitely feels slightly more skittish on turn-in than it was before. I have so far put that down to probably the age of dampers and springs being revealed by new bushes. Perhaps the HICAS has been affected a little as the discernable HICAS twitch is much diminished. Having said that the car behaves really well on the edge and the turn-in is razor sharp. Overall effect is a discernable enhancement over the already superb handling. Note bushes were changed as an upgrade not replacement of shot bushes. Will see how they perform when run-in some more and report further.

 

In fitting ignore what the instructions say about pressing some of the bearings out we had to burn the main subframe bearings out there was no way they would press out. It is a long job to do all the bushes and no doubt faster if you have done it many times. Without access to a car lift, press and torch facilities leave this job to a specialist.

 

Overall Value for money upgrade 9 /10

 

EBC sport disc set (front & rears) c/w red stuff pads

Early days yet but I am quietly pleased with these. They are really just drilled & grooved stock replacement discs but do what they should and the redstuff pads are more fade resistent than stock. I have had some comments about longer term reliability so lets see how they do. Fitting was an easy sunday job.

Value for money is good so if they are reliable 8/10 if not 0/10 no place for poor quality on a high performance car...........watch this space

 

Goodridge Hoses

 

Discernable increase in pedal firmness but rear hoses did not fit my jap spec car. We had to make up new hard lines as well as the fitting on the hoses was not deep enough. You also have to make up a grommet arrangement to fit the hoses. The manufacturer is missing a trick here as for pennys the value would be much increased. The connections thing was maybe a jap spec / Uk spec as I have heard people also have problems with US kits too.

Value for money 8/10

 

Chris

Hi Mines, glad to hear your new bushing has been completed, sounds like its quite an improvement.

I won't be doing mine for a few weeks and will only be doing the rear of the car as I need to replace the rear brake pipes as well.

My only real concern is the additional noise from the transmission as I don't like any irritating noises in the cockpit, what do you think is the noise quite bad?

Hi Mines, glad to hear your new bushing has been completed, sounds like its quite an improvement.

I won't be doing mine for a few weeks and will only be doing the rear of the car as I need to replace the rear brake pipes as well.

My only real concern is the additional noise from the transmission as I don't like any irritating noises in the cockpit, what do you think is the noise quite bad?

 

Me too i am super anal about little noises and yes the bushing kit has marginally raised the Db's in the ,of the transmission. But this is only very slightly and it is actually a cool noise. Under full load it is more of a power whistle / whine from the rear and curiously road rumble from the wheels has actually diminished with the urethane bushes. I think if your trans / diff is on they way out then the bushings would reveal that but IMHO it is nothing to stop you from doing it as the benefits are good

 

Chris