Project Nissan 370Z- Suspension Basics
By Mike Kojima
In the first segment of Project 370Z we worked with AEM to evaluate the awesome ETI cold air intake. Since our car is going to be focused on streetable track performance, we next turned our attention to the suspension. The first and most critical parts of any track worthy suspension build are the swaybars, dampers and springs.
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| The Whiteline front bar (part number BNF41Z) has precise bends, a durable powdercoated finish, billet aluminum bar locks and low compliance urethane bushings. |
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| The rear bar (part number BNR37Z) has clamp on urethane bar locks and hard urethane bushings. |
We decided to use Whiteline adjustable antisway bars for project 370Z. We are strong believers that swaybars for a street/track car have to be adjustable. Conditions change from street to track and from track to track. Your wheel tire stagger and combo are probably different from what your coilovers were developed on. Your driving style is most likely different than that of the drivers/engineers that developed your suspension calibration. Having adjustment in your roll stiffness via the bars can really help you dial in your car.
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| The front Whiteline bar is the same diameter as stock but solid instead of hollow like the stock bar. It is two way adjustable. The rear bar is 1mm larger than stock and is three way adjustable. |
The Whiteline bars are really high quality; with an excellent fit and a glossy rust resistant powdercoated finish. Unlike other aftermarket bars, we don’t have to worry about bind and interference with other chassis parts with the well-designed Whiteline parts. The Whiteline bars pivot on hard polyurethane bushings to reduce compliance over the stock soft rubber, making the bars more effective.
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| The rear bar uses Whiteline’s heavy duty adjustable end links. The adjustment allows you to remove all preload from the bars, important when corner weighting. It also allows you to adjust the length to minimize angularity when adjusting the bar in different holes. |
The Whiteline bars are two-way adjustable in the front and 3-way adjustable in the rear. The front bar is two-way adjustable due to the short length of the stock end links. Having more adjustment would risk bind due to the excessive angularity of the short link in the tight space. The rear bar uses Whiteline’s heavy duty adjustable end links. These end links are much stronger than stock and are adjustable to eliminate preload and to get the most favorable angularity when adjusting the bars.
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| We had to drop the exhaust to wiggle the rear bar in place. |
7 comments
Hi Mike and friends,
Great write up on the 370z. I have a 2013 G37s coupe, and am thinking that these KW V3’s are just what I have been looking for, as I don’t want to drop my car much more than an inch. Will I be needing that front A arm to dial in my camber to stock specs, as well as the rear arms? I’m most likely not going to track my car, but who knows,,a guy has to have some fun! I was giving the Bilstein B16 PSS10 kit consideration, but Bilstein said the minimum drop in front was about 2 inches, which might be too low for a street car. How did you access the upper adjusters on the V3’s?
Thanks,
Michael
For an adjustable front arm, I prefer the part made by SPL which was not available when we did this car. If you are not going to track the car, I don’t think its particularly needed. Its good to pick up some negative camber you will get from lowering the car unless maximum tire wear with less performance is important to you. I prefer the KW over the Bilstiens because of their adjustment flexibility.
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the reply. Those SPL upper arms are indeed beautiful, but I think they might be overkill for a mostly street driven car. What do you think about the SPC arms, or the Z1? I pretty much nixed the Bilsteins after going around with their tech dept. I really don’t want to drop the car all that much, and they were telling me minimum drop was about 2 inches! I’m pretty sure that I am going to go with KW. Hopefully it won’t be too much trouble dialing in the back, as the upper adjustments seem like they will be very hard to reach,, unless I drill an access hole, and buy an extender knob. I also work on the ground under stands most of the time, and as I age, it doesn’t get easier, but I still enjoy it. Cheers,, Michael
I think you probably don’t need arms for a street car and can just live with the additional negative camber which helps performance.
We drilled holes and used a long 3mm allen wrench but not KW makes optional extended adjusters so I would do that.
Hi Mike,
Did you ever install a set of SPL front upper arms or any other of their products on the 370Z? If so, how much noise and vibration transfers into the car? Do the PTFE lined rod ends last very long? I see on the SPL site that they are “For off road only”. Did you ever lower the Z more than an inch? Did the Kinetic parts with urethane bushings make alot of noise, and what about longevity? I am very much into handling, and ride quality, or I would not be looking at any of this stuff. Tire wear is a consideration, as good tires aren’t cheap. How do you compare the ride feel of the Z on the KW’s to the stock suspension? At a 1 inch drop, did alignment stay in or close to spec?
Thanks, Michael
We didn’t on the 370Z but we have on our Project 350Z and R35 GT-R. It does transfer more noise and vibration into the cabin and if you are concerned about this I don’t recommend it. The Kinetic stuff isn’t that noisy or harsh but for us, you could not get enough negative camber out of the adjustment. The KW’s ride very well, probably better than stock. Any time you do suspension work, you need to realign the car. A 1″ drop isnt very much so the alignment will come back.
Hello Mike and friends, thank you for these great write ups! Wondering if you were able to find the ideal height measurement on this car? (Hub – Fender)