Guest z1 performance Posted April 29, 2003 Share Posted April 29, 2003 Hey all - pretty new to the board, but its great so far....lots of really neat cars out there! Anyway, here is my question - my ZX is about wrapped up now, after 3 years in the making. I am now after a big brake kit for her. I am running 18x8 front wheels (Simmons 3 piece). Am I correct in assuming there are no "kits" offered? I am in the performance parts biz, but have never come across any. What I am after is something that uses a Brembo, Alcon or AP caliber quality - really not interested in doing a Baer or Wilwood setup if I can avoid it, as it simply does not fit the character of the car IMHO (not that there is anything wrong with those firms!). So, has anyone dne something like this before? Fabrication is not an issue at all - we can make the brackets, brake lines, etc pretty easily. One issue I see is getting hold of a 12.5 plus inch rotor with similar bolt pattern and hub as the stockers. Also, for those interested, I have some coilover news. We are an authorized Tein dealer here in the states, and the Managing Director recently paid a visit to our shop, as they do every year. He admired our 2 in house Z's (my '79 and one of our employees 280's, both turbo'd, both highly modded), and we talked about doing a coilover kit. I have been seriously considering a set of Ohlins for about 2 months now, and know what is involved in a proper set of coilovers (read, not the sleeve types). How many would be interested in a setup like this? We are looking at a RE or RS level unit most likely, with independant compression/rebound, pillowball mounts front and rear, and possinly remote resevoirs (not sure about it yet). Prices are expensive, no doubt about it - roughly in the $4k range, so its definately a specialty part, and not for everyone. However, we are talking a motorsports quality unit, as Tein is far and away the most widely used coilover in Japan. Look forward to hearing from everyone on both points! Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aaron Posted April 29, 2003 Share Posted April 29, 2003 Here is the latest thread about ZX brakes http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19226&highlight=. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted April 29, 2003 Share Posted April 29, 2003 A set of double adjustable Penskes are about $5,000 complete. I think you guys might want to drop your price a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest z1 performance Posted April 30, 2003 Share Posted April 30, 2003 Ok - not sure what your point is? The Penske is NOT a shock regularly offered, and certainly not one that anyone would stock. Plus, these are double adjustable as well (16x16), with pillowball mounts front and rear, and are estimate (key word) to be $1000.00 less. I too considered the Penske as well as Ohlins, but why spend the extra cash for a setup that does not offer more features? The Tein's are fully rebuildable here in the US, offer a ton of custom spring rates, custom valving, etc. It is a true motorsports unit. Like I said, pricing is very much TDA, just using that figure as a guide for now. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JAMIE T Posted April 30, 2003 Share Posted April 30, 2003 I may be mistaken, but, I think Ross C. at Modern Motorsports offers big brakes for 280ZX's. I beleive he uses PBR calipers. I am not 100% on that, BUT... You guys that pay $1000+ for struts are WAY out of my league. We OBVIOUSLY got us some HIGH ROLLA'S here on HybridZ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted April 30, 2003 Share Posted April 30, 2003 Just a pricing suggestion. Penske and Ohlins are the best racing shocks available to us mortals. Their technology is usually a couple years ahead of everyone else because of their involvement with F1, F3, WRC, NASCAR, CART, IRL, Score, ALMS, WC, GrandAm, etc. Penske shock parts are readily available in racing catalogs (Pegasus, Racer Parts Wholesale, Speedway Engineering, BSR, Behrents, and many others) and they have hundreds of specific applications through their various distributors (including struts for 240/260/280Zs). I've got a set of Penske 8760 triples on my 240. I think that Penske's are perceived to be unavailble because they don't advertise in SCC or some of the other "Street Scene" import magazines. That's funny because a great many of the latest 1/4 mile import records are being set with cars running Penske shocks. Penske only focuses on racing. I'm absolutely not saying that Tein's are bad shocks or anything. I'm just suggesting that pricing comparable to a set of Penske's might be a marketing mistake if you're trying to sell to racers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest z1 performance Posted May 2, 2003 Share Posted May 2, 2003 I hear what you are saying, and agree that Ohlins and Penske are among the best out there. As stated, Tein is the most widely used units in Japan, and has won many JGTC competitions, as well as countless rounds in WRC level competition (Asia Pacific series for example). Are they all on the same playing field? Probably not. But again, we are talking about units that would be instock, not build to order (Unless customization of vavling is required). Parts are not an issue either, as Tein USA carries a full line of all replacement parts in house. Again, as for pricing, I have no idea yet what it will be - I am estimating in the $4k range is what it will take to get these, though that will be honed in once the first two sets (for my ZX and an employees 280Z) are done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zline Posted May 5, 2003 Share Posted May 5, 2003 As stated' date=' Tein is the most widely used units in Japan, and has won many JGTC competitions, as well as countless rounds in WRC level competition (Asia Pacific series for example) Hey man, I dont know where you get your info from, but TEIN is the lowest rung of Japanese coilover mfg. I've seen exactly 1 set in person and hated them. They're not anodized, the shock bodies are painted - therefore are prone to rust esp if you're running disc rears which require cutting for bracket clearance etc., Most JGTC cars run either their own specialty coilovers or OHLINS. Good luck with whatever you pick. just dont pick TEIN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest z1 performance Posted May 6, 2003 Share Posted May 6, 2003 First off, you are dead wrong, and its not just becuase we happen to be a Tein dealer. We happen to be dealers of many of the top Japanese suspension brands, including Cusco, Toda, JIC, and others. Tein accounts for 70% of all aftermarket Japanese suspension systems sold in Japan. As for the coilovers, what brackets need to be cut? All Tein coilovers include integrated brackets to allow for the rear brake lines, so no cutting is required. We have installed these on a wide variety of cars, from Evo 5-8's, Skyline R33, countless WRX's, and RX7's and have never had to cut anything, nor have had anything less than stellar results. As for their motorsport participation, click here and run it through a translator: http://www.tein.co.jp/motors.html. They have participated in the following: JGTC, All Japan Rally Championship, Asia Pacific Rally Championship (which also shares rounds with the WRC in some locations), as well as the Japanese Super Enduro Championships. Read my psot more carefully next time - I did not say, nor suggest that most JGTC cars run Tein, only that Tein does have setups competing in the JGTC. Not to mention the fact that Tein is actually the manufacturer of many other Japanese brands. Here are a few pics of some of the cars from various series that run the Tein setups. First is their Enduro cars, next is their JGTC car..I have more pics if needed. As for the rusting issue, while we have run into an issue with their older units (mainly HA's), and the lock rings rusting, we ahve never had an incident of the main casings rusting ever, so not sure what you are talking about there. Again, not my intention to get into pissing contests with people on this - I am merely stating what may be available in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zline Posted May 7, 2003 Share Posted May 7, 2003 I meant you have to cut the dust boot cover for caliper mounting bracket when converting to disc brakes, not making clearance for TEIN brackets. I still dont like their suspensions, I think its a waste of money and do not recommend them to anyone. All the people I know who have run TEIN HE/RS have hated them and eventually switched to DMS or Cusco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest z1 performance Posted May 7, 2003 Share Posted May 7, 2003 Agreed Cusco makes an excellent unit, but we have yet to use them in a competion environment, due to the simple fact that their setups are not nbearly as flexible as the Tein's in terms of valving, spring rates, or adjustments (all Cusco units for example adjust compression and rebound in one adjsutment...far from ideal for a race setup, but perfectly fine for a street car). We happily are a Cusco vendor, and love their products (I have the brace on my ZX). Not to mention their lack of prescence in the US makes rebuilds a very costly and time consuming affair. As for DMS, we had horrible experiences with them a few years back, with a very high failure rate after minimal usage on street cars (DMS40's). Though the company recently changed hands and it sounds like good things are on the way for them, we are going to sit back and see how things transpire beforing commiting resources towards becoming a dealer again. Again, parts were always a huge hassle for them as well, as nothing was ever in the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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