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Nice BNR32, seemingly better value than the dealer cars asking similar dollars

Yeh look, it's firm, but there basically zero jarring and dislocation from my seat at the speed limit, which was a world of difference to the standard M-Spec suspension where i was consistently knocked around in my seat at road speeds with relief only when at spirited levels of driving. I believe the ride quality has to do with the relaxed valving in the rear dampers. From Josh@MCA So we'd be going with with a Red Series setup, valving wise I'm thinking a near circuit setup on the front to help with the support of the car, but a bit softer in the rear to help with the ride quality and bump handling.

Just updating this thread as I've now had the suspension in the car for a little while. My MCA Reds are valved for hard street orientated driving, hillclimb/tarmac rally etc., spring rates were 12kg front / 5kg rear. Car is stock in all other suspension areas (arms/bushes/swaybars) and is running 0.9° negative camber on the front (unsure of toe details) Height is very similar to stock and has been corner balanced (total weight is 1,600kg exactly) Car has been great on Sydney roads, more compliant and less jarring at the speed limit over the stock M-spec suspension that came with the car (common misconception is the M-spec ripple-control dampers are for comfort, but are just as aggressive as V-spec dampers but add to them in the respect of high-speed damping over a street surface), but at the same time doesn't bottom out in crests/dips and is noticeably more stable under braking and turn-in when moving quickly. I drive primarily on the old pacific highway with plenty of dips and uneven/changing surfaces, and have done a few sedate drives on the Comenarra parkway From all accounts (not my own experience) they are more comparable to the Bilstein Clubsport package which is $5K+which provides custom valving and spring rates, the PSS9 coilovers are a factory preset to suit the model of car (which is also no doubt research and a good balance for street/track) In addition to this there has been some dissapointing service out of DMS recently see below; Also below is an account from the evo forums in regards to weighing up the the differences between MCA X series and Red series on the street; MCA Red short talk long read limit review; on the street only and it has all of my praise. Foreword: Keep in mind I only got to drive it for two short spirited runs nothing over 110km/hr really but I got to test it with a few heavy weight shifts to see how the car handled while respecting it was not my own car. I have to reserve track review to someone else. Im also accustomed to driving a stiff set up on my own car with most bracing minus cage. To memory I've personally had stock suspension, RS-R lowered, BC golds, BC ER, Cusco Zero, Zero2R, HKS hipermax performer and DMS 50mm but probably driven every regular entry level coilover on the street, Tein SS, Tein monoflex, Pedders XA, MCA blue, MCA XR etc etc. So this review comes from a broad experience to help those deciding if its worth the extra coin in going further than settling for entry level suspension by investing in a more expensive system; particularly why the MCA Reds. Context: So the car was a 6 equipped with MCA reds 10/11 kg, whiteline rear sway bar and the dampers were set at 4 clicks from hard and only has one adjustment per corner. Rolling on 17x8.5+30? 235/45/17 hankook RS3s and had a track orientated alignment. Front and rear strut braces and I could see front camber was all dialed in from the camber washers on the knuckles(a feature for Reds and onward only) as the camber tops were symmetric in the middle. The droop when jacked up was more than your entry 'coilovers' but still a lot less than stock. Lowered but not slammed, raked but not retarded, this car was proper function. Firstly, driving normally it is very comfortable but it does have an odd small bounce and takes a while to settle on some occasions but I am very fussy to even notice - the dampers were set high but I did not feel the need to change them. I continued and purposely dip the wheels into minor potholes and sewer grates and it ate up all the impact like ass falling onto sofa. I took it a step further and jumped a few convex roundabouts at 50-60km/hr (the ones with 5cm step curved around that buses can go over) and the car didn't even think to 'hop' but glided over. I know for a fact cheap coilover dampers would suffer from the 'thud' going up and the typical rear 'plonk' dropping off even small discontinuities as such. The reds however don't see minor cracks or potholes and it is as if they're invisible to them. I ended up aiming for bumps because I was amused at how it damped them out. The body roll from the reds was very little - compared to the blues which I'd describe as boaty even with the 9/11 kg springs I drove on the street. Compared to a set of MCA XRs I drove the previous week, the reds were way flatter doing vigorous zig zags at 60km/hr locking arms on steering left to right. I took the opportunity to brake from just over 120km/hr on a downhill, again while respecting the owners car, and it stayed very flat to my surprise so I think the high speed dampers must be very good. On acceleration from slow speed I did get some understeer but it might be due to alignment rather than suspension. I would have liked if the Red series more if were bound/re-bound adjustable for better personalisation but you can see from my description prior that its pretty clear they have valving sorted right. Overall I have nothing but praise for the MCA reds and I hope it might help someone save for reds. I'd be confident to say reds would wow any driver entering the aftermarket suspension world with the way it transforms your evo.

I was in a similar boat 6 months ago, i had narrowed it down to Bilstein PSS9s and MCA Reds as they were able to be serviced in Aus. Other options were KW V3 and Ohlins DFV/R&T which have limited support in Aus. I went with MCA Reds, valved for hillclimb/tarmac rally (ie. street surface), spring rates were 12kg front / 5kg rear, they have been great on sydney roads, more compliant at the speed limit than the stock M-spec suspension that came with the car, but at the same time doesn't bottom out in crests and is noticeably more stable under braking and turn-in when moving quickly. From all accounts they are more comparable to the Bilstein Clubsport package which is $5K+which provides custom valving and spring rates, the PSS9 coilovers are a factory preset to suit the model of car (which is also no doubt research and a good balance for street/track) Below is some feedback i got from talking to Heasmans and MCA during my search;

BNR34s were this price once upon a time;

Hey mate, did Josh at MCA ask you for your choice of tyre when selecting your series/spring rate for coilovers? You went with Purple X-Rs right?

You guys have to scan those brochures! Would love to see the contents of some of them, esp the Z-Tune

Would you consider go-kart/supercart? Supercart's are tricky as they can only race in their own one-make events, but they are near on WTAC fast.

False alarm on this one, the owner had reposted the listing by mistake, it sold in 2013.

This should get you started, Racepace and V-Spec are probably the most well known in that area. http://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/466108-se-melbourne-workshops/ http://motivedvd.com/motive/2011/09/07/melbourne-workshop-visits-tmr-revzone-chasers-and-racepace/

I'll start, this reasonably priced BNR34 came up on saturday;

Cars For Sale (3rd Party Sites) Ebay, Carsales etc.. Stole this thread idea from the Aus Z Car forums, I thought it'd be a good way to track sell prices and values for current and prospective owners of Skylines. Some house keeping; • If possible, post a few photo's/screenshots in addition to the link from the auction and post them here. This is useful because it gives everyone an indication of current values and what you get for your money if you are looking to buy or sell.This will help us all, for insurance reasons we have some proof of current values. For selling it helps us gauge our cars true worth and for curiosity sake we can compare year on year the values of our cars etc..If anyone has further suggestions to this, please feel free to share them here.

Few good threads, info is subjective though. Best when you find a car, let us know what area it's in, and we can recommend a shop near there. http://www.nissansilvia.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=194777&st=60 http://www.evolutionoz.net/forums/index.php?/topic/54945-good-places-to-get-evos-servicedmodified/

aha, fair enough

Another nice choice I thought would be a Cayman Std/S which would be down on power but would sure be a nice drive. http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Porsche-Cayman-2008/SSE-AD-4342750/?Cr=0 http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Porsche-Cayman-2010/OAG-AD-13682220/?Cr=1 Also good value in the low $30K mark are the Z4Ms hardtops http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/BMW-Z4-2006/SSE-AD-3904836/?Cr=12

Some info from another thread, might be helpful to develop an opinion on what to use. The main options out there for the Getrag 6pd transmission fluid; - Castrol Transmax Z - Royal Purple MTF Syncromax - this is used by Award Diff & Gearboxes Some good reading for the Getrag 6spd http://www.supraforums.com.au/forum/topic/63240-the-answer-for-transmission-fluid-in-the-getrag-6-speed/ http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?764074-The-Great-V160-Fluid-Challenge....&p=10021338#post10021338 General fluid guide for R34 GT-R http://ayu452.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/r34-gtr-v-spec-oils-where-to-being-part.html Oil analysis study on different oils on the Getrag 6pd https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B95WfozUALCkeGpOWm03cVgxOVU/edit

Would you consider something like the new Mustang GTs? Competent, comfortable, manual with warranty. Plenty of aftermarket support given how new the car is.

Thanks for sharing mate, i had the same decision to make not long ago, i was deciding between DMS streets and MCA reds. DMS had more features ie. 2 way bump and damper adj. and made all their components in house. Where as MCA uses BC housings but does the valving in house and assigns custom spring rates per application. The biggest thing people i asked (forums, fb etc) said was that MCAs service stood out much more than DMS', unless you are spending 10s of thousands with DMS, they really don't want anything to do with you. Josh and Murray at MCA are focused on the customer and their needs hence the custome valving and spring rates to how you use the car. When i asked DMS about their take on MCA, they simply said theirs is 2 way adj. And their shocks are made all in house. Nothing about the development in ride quality or performance on track. DMS are also renowned for not honoring warranty claims and exhorbitant service charges for maintenance. IMO for anyone looking to getting into suspension that can be locally serviced, look into MCA in QLD, Bilstein by Heasmans in NSW, Shockworks in VIC and Supashock in SA All are currently competing on the world stage of motorsport and offer great after sales service.

these guys are in kings park, blacktown area and mobile, had the family car speedo cable fixed there before, maybe call and see if they can help? http://www.truelocal.com.au/business/mobile-instrument-service/kings-park

There are a few good points to start, there have been many great -7 builds over the years. Just on the note of R33 N1 turbos and -7s, they are similar in they share a steel compressor wheel with similar efficiency and output, however the actual -7 is a more reliable turbo as it uses ball bearings, where the N1s use roller or thrust bearings i believe. Real nice -7 builds https://www.facebook.com/Tarmac-Solutions-Pty-Ltd-189006661230825/photos/?tab=album&album_id=418233531641469 http://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/429930-1994-r32-gtr-stock-to-~320kw/ http://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/414162-bnr32-once-in-a-lifetime-build-all-gt-r-owners-must-see/#comment-6634595 Also a good way to see dyno results with different turbos/setups http://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/93880-rb26-turbo-upgrade-all-dyno-results/

Ring and have a chat to Mark at MRC in Castle Hill, he is a wealth of knowledge in regards to building and tuning RB26s, with all the right contacts for machining, so you are paying one bill, dealing with one person. Most importantly he is willing to warrant an engine he is responsible for building from the block up. Even if you choose to take your build elsewhere, his opinion is worth getting as a reference. If it helps as an ice-breaker, tell him Daniel with the black R34 GTR referred you. https://www.google.com.au/search?q=MRC+dyno&oq=MRC+dyno&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l4j69i64.5157j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I'm so glad you decided to re-do it in that green, that's an awesome colour. I had a R34 in that green with gold BBS on Gran Turismo 5.

Tomei shows the difference in ports here - https://www.tomeiusa.com/_2003web-catalogue/000_expreme/each-product/rb26_exhaust-manifold_en.htm The N1 manifolds are reportedly a 'higher quality' cast with slightly larger ports as standard designed for N1 turbos (old version of Garrett 2860-7s) Standard RB26 manifolds ported to match the turbine outlets will level out any advantages to be had with N1s or Tomeis. The one drawback to note with the Tomei manifolds is quite a few owners have had them develop cracks due to being made from a thinner 2.5mm stainless steel rather than cast iron. This is particularly exasperated when heat wrap is used to dissipate the heat, using exhaust wrap crystallizes the metal ( especially stainless ) and halves its life causing cracks. Given the difficulty to get to the manifold should they fail, porting N1 or standard manifolds is a much more proven/cost effective method to improve flow. The money would be better spent on a set of BNR34 dump pipes or Tomei dump pipes if you have the cash. Some good threads to look at;