My Zed Journey (Z3 3.0, Z4 3.0, Z4M)

[swamper]

what mods have you done Pete apart from the springs?

thought that pic had been lost :-o

 

[peteslag]

what mods have you done Pete apart from the springs?

thought that pic had been lost :-o

Mate, I wish I could tell you that I made suspension geometric calculations, applied a gravity vs friction hypothesis and then paid a team of highly specialist engineers to carry out the modifications. Truth be told..........I bought the springs, bunged 'em on and reeped the rewards. The only thing going in my car's favour is that it is very low mileage and has lived a very sheltered life. All of the suspension bushes are still in good order, that makes a big difference to a car's handling.

Other than the springs it has had Red stuff pads and grooved discs to help it stop and an engine re-map to make it go faster. The engine re-map was good because the torque comes in much lower, negating the need to rag the engine to get the best out of it. Now it feels like the little car that can, I'd have a go at pretty much anything now

 

[swamper]

what do you make of the red stuff pads?......it may be my next mod to do

 

[badman gee]

what do you make of the red stuff pads?......it may be my next mod to do

Wayne, i use red stuff pads, very good stopping power, with little or no dust (better than oem).

mark

 

[swamper]

what they like from cold?.....i know there good for the fast stuff

 

[badman gee]

what they like from cold?.....i know there good for the fast stuff

They are just as good from cold, probably the best all round pads available.

But the bonus is little or no dust.

Dont forget warm the engine up before you boot it. by then the pads will be at there best.

 

[peteslag]

what they like from cold?.....i know there good for the fast stuff

I did a bit of research on this a while back. For some reason, they don't always like standard discs when they are cold. It seems to vary for different makes of disc and from car to car, not sure why.

I have the performance EBC discs, absolutely no difference between "warmed up" and cold braking. When the brakes are hot, the braking power is fantastic and they just keep on working even when things get really hot. Also, I can thoroughly recommend RBF600, it is an extremely robust brake fluid (not too expensive either).

 

[swamper]

thanks lads...i'll look into them

 

[peteslag]

I've had Bilstein B8's put on the car, I haven't had much time to check out how the car handles with them fitted but with Oulton park round the corner there will be plenty of opportunity to find out

 

[swamper]

think how good its going to be now.....
good job that was spotted............. :-o

 

[peteslag]

Well, here is evidence of how good the Bilstein B8's are. Swamper found a video on youtube of our recent track day at Oulton park, it is shot from a blisteringly quick Civic type R. For the first part of the vid you can see me about 3 or 4 cars ahead until about 5 mins in when the Civic goes past me down the back straight like I'm going backwards (I was flat out believe it or not). In the vid the Zed looks quite planted but in reality the track was quite slippery at the time and it felt the back end of the car was all over the place!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzjadWqeo_0&feature=plcp

In the afternoon the track dried out and the Zed felt really good, it has to be said that the B8 shock absorbers coupled with the Eibach springs really work well. I think the Shocks came to about £480 including delivery which seemed a huge outlay considering my OEM rear shocks were perfectly OK. After a day at Oulton Park my investment feels very well justified. Bilsteins are the way forward, highly recommended

 

[billz]

They get my thumbs up as well Pete. They have proved how good they are to me around the Evo on a couple of occasions now.
bill

 

[peteslag]

Actually Bill, I think it was you that initialy got me thinking about B8's. I seem to remember you raving about how good they were then Wayne bit the bullet and got some, he also said good things about them. They are good and keeping the car stable without creating too harsh a ride. :-bd

 

[billz]

Will let you buy me a drink at our next meet then Pete I have got to admit as soon as they were fitted i noticed a vast difference in handling around corners over OEM shocks. I had to drive the car quite tentatively but then as soon as i fitted them i could be a lot more aggressive.
bill

 

[peteslag]

Will let you buy me a drink at our next meet then Pete

Deffo! We'll have to sort a cruise out some time soon.

 

[peteslag]

Well, my Z3 ownership has come to an end so thought it best to wrap this thread up for the benfit of any one that might stumble across it in the future.

Would I buy a Z3 again?

Yes, it is a marvellous car. It is reasonably comfortable and handles superbly with a few mods. I only sold it because I wanted something more track focused.


Best mod?

BY FAR, the Eibach springs. Out of all the modifications I made to the suspension it easily made the single biggest difference. The bilstein B8's did make things better but 90% of the improvement was made by the springs.


The best zroadster forum?

.ORG of course!!!!!!


I'll be keeping an eye on the forum, if any good cruises come up I'll be sure to come (if I'm allowed!!).

 

[Jamezee]

Hope to see you on some cruises this year Pete. You should have some fun on track with your new toy :-bd

 

[swamper]

good thread mate....just had a read through it again.....what a journey :ymapplause:
see you at the track mate and stay in touch

 

[Ravo]

Love the suspension mod.... Mine has the same wheels... Now you got me thinking.... Should I?

 

[peteslag]

Mate, the Eibach springs are worth every penny. Superb!