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      01-04-2008, 02:16 PM   #1
vachss
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Optimum Street suspension for 3.0si Coupe

In my previous sports cars I've gone over 25 years from a pure track car driven on the street (fun at first, but abusive in the long run) to a new Z4 coupe that will be just a fun daily driver. What I've found is that, while the lowered ride height and stiffer spring rates of a racing suspension significantly impact the driveability of a car on anything but a perfectly smooth road surface, stiffer sway bars and proper alignment can produce a significant handling improvement without severely reducing "streetability".

To that end, my last car (an MR2 that lasted 250+K miles) had stock springs, mildly stiffer shocks, but full autox sway bars front and rear (and max negative camber dialed in). Similarly, with this in mind I've purposely avoided getting the Sport Package on my new 3.0si coupe and intend to stay with the stock ride height, but am considering what would be the best choice of sway bars. The simplest choice would be to simply wait until some of the other SI owners with the Sport Pack upgrade to aftermarket suspensions and use their cast off sway bars. Alternatively I could go with aftermarket bars.

I was hoping the suspension gurus here might have an opinion on optimum choice of sway bars for a car that will likely never be tracked or autox'd, but will be driven every day up and down twisty canyon roads, and over road surfaces of variable quality. In addition, any tips on optimal alignment tricks in the Z4 would be appreciated.

Thanks a bunch.

PS. For those in the LA/Ventura area - I'm lucky enough to work at the intersection of Woolsey Canyon and Black Canyon roads in the Santa Susana hills. If you've done this drive you know exactly why I "need" a sports car and what my handling constraints are.

Last edited by vachss; 01-04-2008 at 02:40 PM..
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      01-04-2008, 02:50 PM   #2
sketchmunky
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Well said. These cars already have a low center of gravity, and I would imagine sway bars would give you the most bang for the buck in suspension upgrades without reducing ride quality. Dinan prefers not to lower their cars for the street for just the same reasons. I don't have experience with aftermarket suspension parts, but I would like to know what's a good setup as well.
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