The Perfect Suspension For S2?

[bluesky4me]

Hi all, I have been thinking about a suspension upgrade for ages but not sure what to go for.I know there are lots of threads, and I have read most of them.I wanted to get some feedback before I make a choice....

The standard set up.. to my mind... is good and firm.. but has really bad dampening...I feel every tiny bump.I want to retain the firmness..but get more dampening..I dont want the car to be much lower..maybe just a tad.. (as it has a dolphin body kit) and I have heard some coil over systems sit the car low.

Will good coilovers give me the firmness with good dampening??...Would a set of really good shocks do the trick if I dont want the car lower?

I would like to get the thoughts of other S2 owners that have aftermarket set ups...and their opinions on what to go for.

cheers.

Scott.

[Tangles]

Bilstein shocks from sydneykid with the circlips for lowering

standard springs

Whiteline sway bars and bushes

works a treat

[Duncan]

thats what I use too, and I am very happy with the price and performance.

[coparts41]

thats what I use too, and I am very happy with the price and performance.

well i have tein in my series 2 and i must say it isn`t a bad ride, firm but not bone jaring.

You have to keep in mind that the springs do all the work and the shocks just dampen the springs so if you want to do it right you have to upgrade the lot, koni are mainly oil shocks and bilstein are gas, depends what you want to do.

Circuit work go koni,dirt work go bilstein as they dont froth the oil and fade.

[Xmetal]

Scott

Coilovers out of the question?

[STAGE1]

I have a s1 with Bilstein shocks with the circlips for lowering Whiteline sway bars springs and bushes

All tested at QLD raceway very happy with the price and performance.

[bluesky4me]

Coil overs are not out of the question ...but there was a chap recently that had coilovers with a dolphin kit that had a problems with the car being too low. Low cars look great but are a pain (with a low bodykit) so I dont want to lower mine very much..

I would like to know if puting a slightly softer spring would help...the standard springs are so hard that it feels like the shocks dont get a chance to do anything!!...weird thing is I seem to be the only S2 owner that thinks the standard setup is too hard..I would like to try a softer spring to see if it helps...I have seen after market springs with a rate of :

Front: 3.4 and rear 3.2. I would be intersted to know if anyone has any info or thoughts on this (spring rates)...what I am after is the euro type of suspension set up...plush but not boat like....maybe its not possible....I have been in a couple of standard commodors lately and I like the complinat ride..getting back into the S2 is like getting into a go cart after the commador...sure it feels nice and firm and has less body roll..but somewhere inbetween would be nice.

[Duncan]

mate if you think the stock setup is too hard, it is either stuffed (shocks seized), or you like a quite light ride. If its the latter none of the jap kits or sydneykids stuff will impress you.

Get standard shock replacements from pedders or similar with the standard springs.

[Sydneykid]

Coil overs are not out of the question ...but there was a chap recently that had coilovers with a dolphin kit that had a problems with the car being too low. Low cars look great but are a pain (with a low bodykit) so I dont want to lower mine very much..

I would like to know if puting a slightly softer spring would help...the standard springs are so hard that it feels like the shocks dont get a chance to do anything!!...weird thing is I seem to be the only S2 owner that thinks the standard setup is too hard..I would like to try a softer spring to see if it helps...I have seen after market springs with a rate of :

Front: 3.4 and rear 3.2. I would be intersted to know if anyone has any info or thoughts on this (spring rates)...what I am after is the euro type of suspension set up...plush but not boat like....maybe its not possible....I have been in a couple of standard commodors lately and I like the complinat ride..getting back into the S2 is like getting into a go cart after the commador...sure it feels nice and firm and has less body roll..but somewhere inbetween would be nice.

The standard springs are around 3.0 kg/mm.

I'm with Duncan, you won't find anything aftermarket more "limousine" than the standard springs and shocks. So the first thing I would do is to check that your car actually has the standard springs and shocks in it. Then make sure the shocks are working as they should. You may find the shocks are stuffed (particularly the fronts) and allowing them to contact the standard bump stops, which have an effective spring rate over 20 kg/mm.

Keep in mind that Japanese cars, as a whole, have a tendency for being too short in their suspension travel forour local conditions. Although a Stagea is a waggon, it still is 4wd and/or turbo charged, so the Nissan design brief would have been more "sporty" than "limo".

Cheers

Gary

[_Ryan_]

Standard: 2.9/3.1 165/175

Tein: 3.1/3.8

Nismo: 3.8/4.4

lbs/in->kg/mm x.0179

kg/mm->lbs/in /.0179

[Stagea_Neo]

Teins in my s2.

Height & Dampner adjustable.

Nice rock/firm ride with dampner set to 12 all round (go's to 16), also notice big handling improvement

going through corners when setting dampner up higher.

Set dampner to 0, soft but still sporty/hard ride, not quite as bone jarring, although the rear gets a little squirmy.

Not sure if i've got uprated sway bars or the stock ones, pretty sure stock, but i've got virtually no body roll.

Riding on the standard 16's.

side note: I noticed adding front sway bar to my old r31 made no real difference, but putting the rear one one, BIG difference to handleing.

[Sydneykid]

side note: I noticed adding front sway bar to my old r31 made no real difference, but putting the rear one one, BIG difference to handleing.

That's because the rear bar upgrade is substantial on R31's. Not all Skylines/Stagea models are the same, 4wd Stageas, for example, benefit from a front bar upgrade, but it's the rear bar upgrade that you really notice. On R33GTST's it's the reverse, the front bar upgrade is the big improver.

Cheers

Gary

[Stagea_Neo]

Thanks Gary for clarifying that point.

[Skyline_Chief]

Gents,

Quick question about Whiteline; I ordered the front and rear sways for my S1 via Whiteline's Webstore, got a order confirmation email but have herd nothing from them in three weeks. I've email the Sales department a couple of times but no answer. Is there some sort of trick to getting these ordered?

Cheers!

Mike

[KiwiRS4T]

Gents,

Quick question about Whiteline; I ordered the front and rear sways for my S1 via Whiteline's Webstore, got a order confirmation email but have herd nothing from them in three weeks. I've email the Sales department a couple of times but no answer. Is there some sort of trick to getting these ordered?

Cheers!

Mike

Its hard to keep track of Whiteline. They seem to have had many changes lately. A tip though - unless you have specifically ordered 24mm front sway bars you will get exactly what you have on your car now. You need to order using all of those words (not just a code) or else you will just get another 22mm bar like you already have:

24mm non adjustable front bar for a 1997 Nissan Stagea WGNC34 RS4T auto. (formerly BNF27X or XX)

The one I got from my local NZ Whiteline supplier came from Superior Suspension Ltd and was branded Selby. Use google to track them down and then find out who your nearest agent is (at the time I bought they would not sell direct). Good luck!

BTW after going to all this trouble to import the right bar it was destroyed a little while ago when I wrote off my car. I am buying another S1 and have the original bar out of the old car and plan to go around a few spring makers and say "can you replicate this for me in 24mm bar?"

[_Ryan_]

or take it around too import second hand parts wreckers and see if they match a GTR bar, if they do, get some 30mm adjustables!

that is what i wish i had done

[skidkid]

Does anybody know of any SK Bilstein shocks with circlips and extra grooves to suit S2 Stagea that need a home. I fitted Whiteline sway bars front and back whilst car was of the road and noticed rear left shock was leaking. We allready have HKS springs fitted aswell, so I don't want standard shocks!

[airbox]

I have got Tein superwagons on my s1. I phoned up Tein and they said that if the adjusters are wound all the way in clockwise that is the hardest setting. That is position 0. There are then about 26 clicks out anticlockwise, however only the first 16 do anything ( ie from 0 to 16 ), that is then the softest setting. I have got mine on 6 clicks out from fully wound in clockwise and it feels pretty good. Next on the list is for the whiteline antiroll bars, back first then front. Just finding it a bit hard to get hold of the right ones in the UK.