Best Handling Nissan And Why Out Of R32,33,34, S13,14,15

[PM-R33]

Yeah Superstreets are good for Jap coilovers, not to stiff but stiff enough.

[Rolls]

Is there a thread on here explaining spring rates, and how to apply the knowledge to different driving conditions?

There are books hundreds of pages long on the topic, do some searching, check out google, wiki etc, it is a very complicated topic.

But generally for an average skyline, 4kg is a good ballpark figure to limit it to.

[pistol-pete]

Dont go kingsprings, get whiteline and bilstein shocks or something else decent like that. Or tein super streets are about the only coilovers that have reasonable spring rates for our roads.

not true. the BC ER coilovers ive got in my 33 gtr are great, the valving is pretty spot on and the 8/6kg springs work well on the street.

also i love the handling of my car. its solid, almost heavy but the steering is very direct. and ive driven my my mates s15 and i wouldnt say it was a noticeable improvment. not sure how a gtst/gtt would stack up though

[Rolls]

I'm sorry but 8/6 is not suitable for the street, maybe a perfectly flat street and you are running semi-slick tyres able to take advantage of it.

You are MUCH better off sticking to 4kg and getting some appropriate sway bars, I do not doubt it handles well, but that doesn't make it an appropriate or the best choice.

V8 supercars although a different car only run 8kg springs with full slicks.

Edited June 12, 2011 by Rolls

[mad082]

yeah most of the jap coilovers are designed for either drifting (so as stiff as hell) or for their nice smooth roads, so too stiff for our roads, but this doesn't stop plenty of people being fully hecktic and putting them in their road cars thinking that they now have some super handling car and they are probably right, if they are only racing around a carpark. get out on your average road and the stock suspension would probably do a better job.

[pistol-pete]

obviously most coilovers arent going to be the best choice for a street car but i was disagreeing with you rolls when you said super streets are the only reasonable coilover for the streets. heaps of people going with bc's these days and loving it. also you can order different springs rates if you like anyway.

[Rolls]

Yeah sorry that was a bit of a blanket statement, any brand could be good really if they have appropriately matched springs/shocks and the springs are not much stiffer than 4kg for a street car. 8kg however would not be good for anything other than drift, the wheels will be skipping on high power cars causing a loss of traction whether you can feel it or not, same with any bumps or pot holes they are going to cause a loss of traction there as well compared to a softer spring.

Edited June 12, 2011 by Rolls

[Rolls]

just remember the valving in most of these coilovers is pretty simple and basic compared to a proper bilstein performance shock, big difference in how comfortable it will be.

[kawasakirider]

Thanks for the info

[toffy]

Why not? They both are double wishbone front and fully independent rear ends and weigh similar amounts (1400 vs 1437kg). If you are setting the springs, shocks, sway bars, caster etc all up correctly, they would have the capability to be very fast on the track (provided they have the power).

What else does the R34 have that magically makes it a better platform?

Vaguely - chassis dynamics and engineering

[Rolls]

Yeah I'm sure it has a much stiffer chassis and a few other things up its sleeve, I guess I just wanted to hear if there was anything else.

[stig mick]

Who voted R33? Seriously???

[ARTZ]

Who voted R33? Seriously???

Popeye!!!

I'll vote 33 cause I havent driven anything else

[stig mick]

I suppose that's acceptable if you have nothing to compare it too then your not lying saying it's the best handling car you've driven,

That's why I voted S14 I'm sure the s15 is better but I've only driven one for 3 minutes so I can really give an opinion on it

[ARTZ]

also, while the S14/15 may be light and corner really well, the R33/34 is probably the most comfortable while still being sporty ,it will also hold the road better at top speed, so in effect it is the best handling in some ways.

The thing is it really depends what you want the car for, if you want a sprint track car then the lightweight and more nimble handling of the S car would be your choice. But if you want a more comfortable and quiet yet still very fast car for the street or maybe long distance road races then the R car is a better handling choice..

[stig mick]

Yeah I'll pay that, my r33 was quite a comfortable ride and It did feel safer at high speed in a straight line

But that could also be down to the setup and the fact that my s14 badly needs new coilovers (which I'm putting in on Sunday)

[mad082]

as i said in an earlier post, and sort of linking it with the posts above, the condition of the road will play a big part in it. my s13 felt plenty stable at speed limiter (on the track), as did my 33. on a rough road though, at speed, the softer suspension of the 33 made feel more stable. on a smoother road there wasn't much in it.

[stig mick]

The new coilovers I bought are tanabe sustec with 6 and 8 kg springs will handle great if I take it to the track

But I'm going to be avoiding parramatta rd like the plague

[Marlin]

I've driven them all and in Stock form the S15 is an easy winner.

Handling is not all about suspension design, but of weight balance, diff setup, and braking balance, even the way an engine responds to throttle effects handling balance.

The S15 is a big step forward over the S14 in stock form. The 14 was a bit of a jellyfish.

Keep in mind that even the "best handling" car in the world will be a dog if the wheel alignment is bad or the tyres are rubbish.

[simpletool]

Bringing it back from the dead !

I voted S15.

I've driven many S14 and owned one. I've driven S15 (three), R34 (one stock) and my own R33 (from stock to Bilstein now).

IMHO:

The S15 is a bit better than the R34 mainly because it is lighter (especially front end) and has the helical diff. But the R34 in stock form is pretty good, if only it had a helical diff and slightly stiffer springs it would be great. The R34 GTR had a 100% increase in torsional stiffness (think I read that in wheels when released) so the R34 GTT is probably also a LOT stiffer than the R33 GTST. This meant Nissan could put in stiffer suspension from factory and it will handle stiffer springs aftermarket. But an R33 with strut brace (std on R34), helical diff and decent springs (4kg/mm) and shocks would go a long way to a similar spec R34 and S15 (bar weight). The R-series has the advantage of wishbone front end which is going to help when the corner speed increase.