I am posting this thread because of an apparent lack of options for the max.
It seems like all coilover setups, even the expensive JICs are prone to breakdown and excessive noise, especially if you live in colder parts of the country. Now it seems like a lot of people on this board get CO so that they can "slam" their cars. To me I'm a simple guy and I like a sporty look but I am very conservative when it comes to the drop on my car. Instead I would rather have handling, reliability and comfort, even if I have to spend more money. It seems like no CO setup would be really suitable for a daily driver unless you live in CA and drive on perfect roads all day and dont see temperatures less than 45.

For the rest of us folks who arent lucky enough to live in such conditions I wanted to see if there were any other options to get handling close to CO with the reliability needed for a daily driver as well as propose an idea if it hasent already been brought up.

That idea is a progressive spring that just runs higher spring rates. Coilovers seem to get most of their handling edge from running sometimes as much as 500+ spring rates. If we had a progressive or even linear spring that run close to 350-400 we could get handling close to a coilover setup. If we could get an externally adjustable strut that could handle those spring rates (like a beefed up illumina) we would have a much simpler setup that would probably be much more reliable, cheaper, provide a modest drop, and be more comfortable than coilovers. I know this has been done for other cars (I believe the 240s and civics have this option) but the max doesnt. I know with a higher spring rate the ride would suffer so thats why I am going to be doing SFCs (possibly foamed subframe rails) and lightweight 17s.

Does anyone know if there is a company that provides this for the max or know of other alternatives.

Btw: I have heard a ton of conflicting info about the gound controlls, they seem to be what I am looking for as you can order springs with any spring rate you want but I dont believe they are progressive and I have heard that the ride is worse than a full coilover setup. While other cars swear by koni+GC setup.

Thanks,
Josh

 

I've got the GC setup. If you have your car mildly dropped, and not slammed, its a decent setup. Slamming with GC's makes the ride horrible (been there, done that) because it inhibits the amount of strut travel. The ride is rough even when the car isn't slammed because of the high spring rates (running 500 all around i think). Also, the GC's utilize linear springs only, so it doesn't help the ride situation at all. Its a good setup if you are looking for good handling and can take the extra bumpiness of the ride.

 

Damn... linear springs even at 350-400 would probably be too bumpy. I would have my car dropped less than an inch if it helped the ride
Are there any progressive springs that run as high as 350?

 

if ur looking for the best handeling w/o coilovers i beleive koni shoks deliver. their shoks are not direct fit on the maxima and need to have special strut mouts made or cut yr stock shoks and insert the koni. eibach will give the best handeling but will hurt ur **** on bad roads.

what u descride is exactly what im going through right now, going from jij to illuminas and most likely tein h. im sure the handeling will still be good but its no CO's. now the handeling is insane, it sometimes feels like there is no limit,l and thats on regular street tires, cant imagine it on falken azenis.

maybe if there was a nismo set up for out cars it would be better than illuminas, i know for the speck v the nismo set up feels just as good as eibach/koni, but with a softer ride.

 

well if H&R made the O.E sports springs for the max I think that would be a sweet set up. They drop most cars less then a inch and yet are only slightly stiffer than stock springs. I don't know why they don't make them for the max

 

How are these different than the springs that H&R already makes for the max??

 

this is the type of thing I would want for our car.

http://www.hrsprings.com/site/index.html

THe pcs coilover model

 

Josh, a solution would be Konis with Ground Control coilovers. Konis are very reliable and they are infinitely adjustable. With this setup you will be very close to the handling of coilovers.

Konis are not very popular because you have to do a little more work than with all other shocks. You'll have to take off your stock shock housing and install it on Konis. But it is a direct fit and they provide all the detailes. So I don't think there should be any installation problems.

I don't want to go this rout because GC are way too stiff for a daily driven car. That's is why I'm stock between Eibachs and H-techs lol


There's another way to dramatically improve our car's handling though. The general idea is to re-weld lower control arms and strut mounts. By doing that, you can decrease your car's roll center and make it more difficult for your car to roll/dive/squat. You will simply not need very stiff springs. Here's some reading on this topic: http://www.nissanclub.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=196222

 

Well GCs are a linear spring so they will probably be too rough on the roads even if I have SFCs and lightweight 17s. I am lookin for a progressive spring (as I see no clear advantage that a linear spring would have over a progressive spring) that starts at a pretty low spring rate but than steps it up big time in stiffness as you compress it. As for rewelding the lower control arms and strut mounts... man I have never heard of anything like this, this sounds like it would be a very custom job (like those people talkin about replacing the rear beam with independant rear suspension from another car, good in theory but is it worth it in the end) Has anyone done this on the board?

BTW I need ground clearence to negoiate snow in the winter and some pretty crappy roads around here, so I'm not lookin for a huge drop, no more than 1.5 - 2.0 inches. Also usually dropping the car reduces suspension travel and I'de like to keep as much travel as possible to keep the car livable.

 

I don't think anybody here has done that. In fact, i'm not planning to do anything like that. However, it can be done and since I know that you're not one of those who will limit himself with the simplest boltons I figured you might be interested...

 

I know there not coilovers but they seem like a good performance spring for a person who wants to stay conservative like me.

H&R OE Sport Springs lower your vehicle subtly, giving it a slightly more aggressive stance without radically changing its appearance. Designed to enhance front-to-rear balance and street handling performance, OE Sport Springs take the "wallow" out of the stock suspension, providing a more controlled feel and improved ride characteristics. All this while retaining the ride comfort you're accustomed to with added confidence.

the ones they make for the max


The most popular spring in H&R's line-up, Sport Springs will lower your vehicle an average of 1.5 - 2 inches (depending upon the make and model of your vehicle) for a lower center of gravity, improved handling and a more aggressive appearance. Sport springs feature more control than that of the OE Sport spring, but is still comfortable for daily use. Sport springs are an excellent choice for street and occasional track use

 

The OR sport springs sound like they have spring rates that are lower than the sport springs already available the max and I am lookin for something like the H&R sport spring only with a little higher spring rates, and the same drop as H&R has a ride equivelent to stock. If I could take an H&R spring and increase spring rate by 50-150 I think it would be exactly what I'm lookin for. It would make for a ride stiffer than stock (which I hope to avoid with SFCs and lightweight 17s) but also come closer to the handling of coilovers