Arizona Z Car Track Pack or Techno Toy Tuning Full Suspension and Brake Build?

[JFord35]

I am in the research phase of my 280z build and have been going back and forth between the Arizona Z Car Track Pack and Techno Toy Tunings Packages that match ACZs offerings. 
 

The overall plan is the build my suspension and brakes to be strong and able to do anything I throw at it, whether it’s auto cross, track days or daily driving. I will be going with a LY6/T56/R200 drivetrain. 
 

I know there are threads that talk about both techno toy and AZC but I haven’t seen any definitive pros or cons to either kit and I would love to know if anyone else has gone through this and where you landed. 
 

 

[Twisted46]

Have you looked at APEX? That is where my money would go if I was going to drop that kind of money on a complete package. 

[primaz]

16 hours ago, Twisted46 said:

Have you looked at APEX? That is where my money would go if I was going to drop that kind of money on a complete package. 

 

I think their new "Track Attack" front and rear suspension is the way to go if money is not an issue.  I am planning getting that for my extreme 240Z build.

 

https://www.apexengineered.com/store/p26/TRACK_ATTACK_-_Complete_Front_And_Rear_Kit.html

 

 

[Ben280]

T3 uses a significantly better strut (Koni's) vs the AZC mystery strut, so I'd let that drive my decision. I also have reservations about the AZC rear control arm, design, where if that crossbar slips, it can adjust all sorts of alignment specs. 

 

I haven't seen anyone do testing with the Apex Track Attack stuff, and I'm not sure if it's a dramatic improvement over a well sorted strut system. There are certainly theoretical improvements with a double A arm setup over the Z front end, but I'm not sure the percentage improvement. I'd be more excited about the track attack kit if it came with a modern front knuckle, rather than re-used the OEM spindle. 

[JMortensen]

Agreed on AZC's probably Chinese struts, and their control arm setup. Their AL rear strut is also not the strongest design, cobramatt broke his and mentioned it here, along with the need to upgrade the struts because they weren't up to snuff. Also not a fan of their AL bumpsteer spacer/short steer knuckle. Ben broke his and replaced with the Apex Engineered steel ones.

I really don't like T3s rear arm design, but outside of that, at least you know that the struts are good. You didn't say longnose or short nose R200, but I'm also not impressed with T3's power cradle thing they're selling for a shortnose mount.

Apex makes a rear arm based on my own design, so I'm partial to that, but they've had a lot of complaints about not being able to provide axles for their full track package setup. Also the short arm in the front setup looks ridiculously short. I haven't seen any kinematics, but I'd like to see what the camber curve on that one is. 

[260DET]

Techno Toy have a pretty good reputation in my corner of the world, there is nothing wrong with the basic strut type suspension, it just needs some tweaks which JM is fully familiar with. Just remember that strut suspension is still used on some high end sports cars.

[Invincibleextremes]

I've seen aluminum parts fail.  There are two aspects about apex that I personally like, their steel tie rods, and bumpsteer spacer thing.  

 

I personally prefer moving the mounting points of the control arms instead of adjusting the toe with control arms that adjust, but if adjustable control arms are your thing, the Apex one with the floating link is the way to go.  

 

There's the issue of a short diff in a long space if using the shortnose r200, but that's been discussed.

 

I come from a muscle car background, and those cars have serious camber curve and bumpsteer issues that aren't solved with big brakes and 18 inch wheels.  They all exclusively have double control arm suspension.

 

Almost every modern version of those cars handles exponentially better and uses regular McPherson strut suspension.  I can't honestly say one is better than the other in that regard, it comes down to each individual design and how it interacts with every aspect of the car.

[Ben280]

On 9/16/2020 at 1:36 PM, JMortensen said:

Also not a fan of their AL bumpsteer spacer/short steer knuckle. Ben broke his and replaced with the Apex Engineered steel ones.

 

Just for clarity, and because Dave did me a solid, I broke the old style bumpsteer spacer/short knuckle. There's a machined pocket that I think was the failure point on mine, but that pocket isn't present in the new style parts. Dave did take these back and shipped me a new set of the updated style. 

 

I'm still not a fan, since I'd rather not have a failure at all, so I've moved on to the Apex Engineered pieces, which are all steel. I'd love to see someone do a double sheer style mount, since more and more companies are moving to heim style outer tie rods, and with short knuckles and people using bigger wheels, it shouldn't be too much of an issue.