I’m getting sick and tired of the ride quality in my car, so I want to change my set up. Currently on 17" with a Progress/AGX setup. I’m thinking of either going to 15" (would require getting rid of my BBK) or going back to stock SE springs with the AGX.

What would be the best thing to do to keep the way the car handles right but to improve the ride quality the most? Looks I really don’t care about but I want to keep this to a tight budget if can.

 

You're getting old... lol (Like me)...
Try dialing back the firmness on the rear AGXs. You'll hate the slushy ride of 15s and you'll also miss the BBK. Keep with 16s w/225/50s if you can still fit the BBK.

 

I changed to H&R springs and it helped some. I plan to do chassis foam to stiffen the chassis so the ride will be smoother.

 

Switch to Illuminas or Konis with H&Rs, or get TEIN Basic coilovers.

SFCs and/or chassis foaming would help a ton.

 

You might regret the look of 15's on the vehicle.

Run a spring that doesn't lower the car as much and dial back the agx's. Depending on how old the agx's are you can try getting them rebuild also

 

First of all: Handling, comfort, cost. Pick two. It's that simple.

Definitely get Konis if you can. That will make things a ton better.

How heavy are those 17s anyway? I was about to recommend switching to 15s if you could get good tires for them, but it'd really only be worth it if you could save more than a few pounds.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by JIC Magic

JIC introduces our new FLT-A2 VIP coilover suspension system. The FLT-A2 VIP has all the same features as the FLT-A2 but made for luxury vehicles. The FLT-A2 VIP is designed for a comfortable ride while still retaining the same handling performance and quality found in the FLT-A2. It also allows the vehicle to have a very low drop along with larger diameter wheels without affecting the compression and rebound travel of the dampers. Rigorous testing of the dampers insures that comfort and handling qualities are met while giving the driver that very important VIP stance, improve handling, and gain that agressive look.

$2,080 and its all urs sir!

 

Excuse me, can I hi-jack your thread? lol, j/k.

What is chassis foaming? I thought of doing SFC's, but never knew there were other options.

 

Nevermind... http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?p=5060367

 

geo1317, I have Sprint/AGX, 17s in the rear, and for now Z32 16s up front, so trust me, I KNOW what a crappy ride is like, lol.

Everybody has their tastes and opinions. Personally I wouldnt compromise the ubber handling from this setup for anything other than maybe Tein Basics. But no $ for that at the moment. Im going to a local shop with pictures of warpspeed SFCs installed on a max for them to make me a set. I've been hunting down chassis urethane in some local body shops for a while but nothing but dead ends. Anyways SFCs and chassis-foaming will take care of ALOT of the bad ride characteristics and make the drive on bad roads more livable.

 

Well unfortunately I gave up on the 17" and got the 15" saw blades with some 225/60/15. The ride quality got better and it’s much quieter now. The handling is still ok, but at the limits it gets interesting to say the least, but I haven’t pushed it.

But I did come to the realization that the Maxima is not a sports car and to make it drive anything remotely to one it would cost too much money. So I want to try and make it as comfortable and quiet as possible on a budget while keeping the handling somewhat competent.

 

. . .

 

If I were you I'd replace the struts only. AGX are the harshest out there. Illuminas are good, but konis are better. They never get stiffer compression wise so the ride stays the same no matter what the settings.

 

That's not entirely true... a full (or near full) hard setting on the rears makes for a bone jarring ride.

 

impossible for that to happen. Konis are single adjustable only. you can only adjust rebound.

 

I'm telling you from 1st hand experience...

There was also a specific article article on a project RX-7 (Turbo Magazine?) that tested compression/rebound on konis (along with other shocks) and you will see that both are affected on the extreme end of the adjustment....

 

my 95 maxima has a tien h and kyb gr2 setup... and i love it. if i had money id of course go for illuminas or konis, but im on a budget and this is a good setup on a budget... its pretty smooth and somewhat comfortable yet stiff enough for good handling. i dont kno, but thats just my opinion.

 

Different app = different valving, so that might not be true for Maxima Konis.

 

Like i said...

 

Sure, but the fact that full hard makes the ride jarring doesn't necessarily mean compression damping is affected.

 

But it wouldn't make sense to attribute increased rebound for a bone jarring ride.

 

Sorry fellas but I have konis and feel no difference in ride quality from soft to hard. I had AGX and I could feel a differnce, even from 1 to 2. I have been in a car with Illumanas and they get stiff to. Konis are single adjustable only for our cars so the ride will stay the same. Dual adjustables are available (not maxima specific) and at a significantly higher price. Dont belive me? Call Koni, call Gound Control, hell just google Koni single adjustable. They are rebound ONLY on a Maxima.

 

The ones for the FD were also listed as "single" adjustable by Koni but that wasn't it showed when they "dyno'd" it... Maybe there were some variations on the Koni's All I can tell you was for the back that full hard (or about 1/4 turn from it) on my rear Konis was a very stiff ride.