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I am rebuilding a 1978 280Z and was planning all along to pretty much buy all of the suspension items available from T3, minus perhaps the coilovers since I wanted to go with BG Racing. I want to do a 2JZ swap with maybe a Z32 transmission and want it to be a fun street car. I will not be doing any drag racing or drifting as I do not want to beat the crap out of the car after all the work I will be doing restoring it. Recently I met a gentleman who had the S13 subframe installed and who claimed I couldn't go wrong with either set up but that the S13 subframe would give me way more options for upgrades as well as flexibility and adjustability. He also claimed it would be cheaper, unless I had to pay a shop to do the labor, which I would since I do not know how to weld. I contacted 2 companies that sell suspension items for the S30 and asked them their opinion on the pros/cons of the S13 subframe vs T3 stuff. This was their response: 1st company: "As far as I know, there is no mount kit for putting a complete S13 subframe under the car.....for good reason. The S13 subframe is fairly complex, yet poor handling design. The multi-link rear suspension is an inherently loose system. This is why they are such good drift cars, but rarely ever seen in road race. The Z car's original suspension geometry is a far better road race setup and linear handling design. It is proper sports car handling. The S13 subframe is a huge bulky setup as well. I think with a LOT of fab work you could put it under the Z car, but you'd be sitting at truck height because it would hang so low. In the end with all the fab work, I doubt you'd save much money, and you'd end up with a poor handling, ugly monstrosity of a mess under the car." And the 2nd company: "the s13 is a much better new technology it has similar to a double wish bone suspension which is far superior to the 240z rear suspension and differential. it will handle better. But it looks like a really long project with much welding cutting grinding fabricating. I would not do it unless i had all the tools already, and the skill to pull of such a project, and the amount of time for it. So do you have those resources is the questions? If you decide to keep s30 parts everything will kinda bolt on. any upgrade you buy will bolt on. All the parts are the same price. brake kits, suspension parts. so i'm not sure which one would be cheaper to do. It's a hard questions." Their opinions seems to vary, one saying it would handle well while the other saying it would handle better. Now I have not had the opportunity to drive a car that has either set up, but would like to know the opinion of the people who have done these upgrades. From the people with the T3 setup, how do you like it and would you go this route again? From the S13 setup, how difficult was the swap and do you wish you had gone with something easier and bolt on? Any and all information, advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I did some searching around and found a few threads talking about the swap but not comparing the two in regards to handling and also cost.
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From the album: suspension pics
s13 coilovers with s14 flcas and tension rods with z32 brakes
