Suspension Question R33 Gtr

[Nismo R33]

Hi all, reasonably new to the forum but have a question about my suspension. I purchased the GTR which already had Bilstien coilovers installed. The shock has a sticker with the following code F4-B46-2108-HO.

The car felt very firm even with standard wheels, now that I have put 18s and reduced the height a little (the shock has guiders so you adjust the height up and down), I think the ride seems too stiff.

Never owned a GTR before so not sure if the ride is just normal for a GTR or not (but me thinks it's not right).

Anyone got any advice on these coil overs or where I could get some good advice from? Thanks!

[Hadouken]

I presume with these ones that if you lower it you are compressing the spring, correct?

If so, the more you compress the spring the firmer/shitter your ride will become.

If you dont like them, and they are not damper adjustable then maybe its time to invest in some quality suspension, usually stay away from jap coilovers as they love to be stiff.

As for stiffness of ride of a R33 GTR, my car was as stiff as a gokart on standard suspension.

[Nismo R33]

Thanks, yes that's correct however it's is far from being low.

Happy to invest in coilovers and like you say will stay away from Japanese but given my existing ones aren't Japanese and not slammed to its lowest setting I guess I need to figure out if a change will actually help or am I better off maybe checking and changing springs with different spring rates..

[Hadouken]

You might find yourself going down a slippery slope. Whereas it might just be better to bite the bullet and get a new set.

How much are you willing to spend if it were to be the case to get a new set?

[Nismo R33]

About $2k I guess the car will be used mainly as a weekender with the occasional track day.

[djr81]

The stiffness of the ride is not a function of those shock absorbers - it is down to one of two things:
1. You are running a stiff spring - which begs the question what springs do you have.

2. The car is low and you have run out of travel on the shock absorber or springs.

Before you do anything else stick your head under the car and have a look what springs there are. Take some pictures if you cant figure it out.

[GTSBoy]

That model code is for a Bilstein B6, which is their mid-range (really nice) damper series.

The spring perches on those Bilsteins are not natively adjustable for height unless you're talking about dismantling them, relocating the circlip to a higher (or lower) groove, then putting them back together.

If there are adjustable height spring perches on them then they have been modified. One of the main guys who has been doing this over the years is a guy from here, SydneyKid. Do a search or two looking for posts from him and others about his gear.

These dampers may or may not have had decent adjustable perches put on them. The crudest sort just allows them to be screwed up and down, compressing the spring more or less. This alters the pre-load on the spring at the same time as adjusting the height, which can lead to nastiness, although it's not usually too big a problem as long as the height change is not too great.

If they do only have nasty-style height adjustment on them, you could conceivably get them further modified, by SydneyKid for example, to give proper adjustability for a LOT LESS than $2k.

Whether the above makes sense also depends on what springs are on there, as has already been mentioned. Photos, as mentioned, a good idea. Also get a pair of verniers onto them to measure the wire diameter, and try to count how many full coils they have. With that info an the colour (from the photos if nothing else) we might have a chance of working out whose springs they are and therefore what their specs may be. it's not possible to work out the specs completely without pulling the spring all the way out of the car.

If it turns out that the springs are stupidly stiff, then new ones are only going to set you back ~$500.

On the topic of spending $2k on new "suspension" or <$2k on modifying the existing Billies, I would far rather keep the Bilsteins that drive around on any coilovers that cost only ~$2k. You need to spend a LOT more than $2k on coilovers before the quality of the dampers in the coilovers starts to get anywhere near that of the Bilsteins.

Now to some specific advice. Wind the suspension height back to where it was. Drive it. Still too stiff? Welcome to the world of really low profile tyres. Note that it's not the suspensions fault (at that point).

[Nismo R33]

djr81 - a little dark for photos now but will try tomorrow. The springs are black in colour.

GTSboy - agree completely. My research to indicated that the damper is a good quality B6 damper and why I think it might be worth investigating spring rates. I adjusted the height by relocating the circlips as you mentioned. Even at its original position and on stock wheels the car (to me) felt very stiff and crashy which is why I think the spring rates maybe the issue.

I will take some photos of the springs tomorrow and post up. By the way how can I contact Sydneykid?

[niZmO_Man]

Dampers are probably not matched to the spring. Get them adjusted at some point.

[djr81]

Black springs way well be Eibach which are usually pretty sensible. When you are under there try and find some writing on the spring itself. Usually a part number.

Also, if possible try and see how much clearance there is between the top of the shock absorber and the underside of the bump stop (You may not be able to as you will probably have dust boots on them).

Lastly measure from the centre of the wheel to the wheel arch and let us know.

The spring perches if they are the usual type just jack the car up and down and dont adjust the spring compression.

My money is on too low a ride height.

[GTSBoy]

I will take some photos of the springs tomorrow and post up. By the way how can I contact Sydneykid?

PM