Bens handling the big issues.. N12 Coilovers (56k + drool)

[Ben Hewitson]

This is a free Plug for CMS Performance too...

Well i bit the bullet. i've recently installed my ET rear end (swaybar, disc etc..) and the car handles much better.. but i wanted more... much more... so i decided to go the whole hog so to speak...

i'm ordering uprated ET rear swaybar (25-27mm) and a new EXA front (22-25m).. plus i'll ditch my Koni rears and buy some new adjustable ones... leave the rear 2" lowered HD kings where they are and then that leaves the front....

well.. the front rocked up last night..... you can bet i was impressed.. they weigh in at about 5kg each... and are P...H... phat....!!! beautiful machining and i cant wait to install and tune them... hmm... they are so chunky and sexy.. ok enough... enjoy the candy... cause its the last time you'll see em clean before my tech article next week..



started pulling them down to acertain the way they work.. very nice billet aluminium..




hot darn..!! they are nice..


its not the size that matters.. its how you use it...


nice wrist action......


just to give you an idea of the adjustability.. almost 4 inches of height adjustment.. more than enough.. If you want more inches...? wind it..

[Ben Hewitson]

body roll: [adj] The changing of the chassis' angle in relation to the ground when going through turns or corners.

thats something i'm sure all exa owners know about (except LOWY i bet..!!)... so i thought i'd tell you about my experiences....

well... body roll on an exa is commonplace.. you turn a corner in your stock N12 EXA and the wing mirrors touch the ground as you wobble around the turn... not to mention the massive amounts of brake dive and acceleration lift you get..

well i put an end to that...

i started with an ET rear end with swaybar... mm... nice and flat... then i added larger wheels.. hmmm.. grippy adn flat... then i lowered it on HD kings.. hmmm... flat and sexy looking.... now i have adjustable coilovers..!!! FUCK ME THEY ARE GOOD...!!!!!!!

body roll...? whats that...? acceleration lift..? whats that...? brake dive...? whats that....? hitting a speed bump at 70km/h in a 2.0" lowered exa...? was that a cat..?

i am so impressed its not funny.. took me 3 hours all up to get it back on the road... its in for a wheel alighment today next door so the trip home will be an interesting one.....

its a nice soft ride that turns your kidney's to pate`.... car is so solid it pushes your ass over the drivers seat cause you have less grip that the car does... ever pulled a 4 wheel slide in an EXA...? i bet you haven't... lol..... tha lil exa looks like some drifter 180sx special bumping down the road.. and the bumps get soaked up so well... man i love it..

i licked my bonnet this morning too.... (ling story.. read nissanexa.com Dr Doityourself for more info)

piks are here..

out with the old.... (these are for sale by the way...)


how do you say "sexy as" in 15 different languages...?


in with the new... "oh baby your so fine, your so fine you blow my mind.."


not too low now....


i had a wild 15degrees of negative camer before.. hardly able to drive it.. had to make it better.. lol


play with this knob to make it really hot.... lol...


well see you all on the cruise...... in my rear view mirror....

[Ben Hewitson]

Ben i never would have thought even you can turn fitting shockers into a sexual experience lmao................. but seriously well done dude look the goods for sure...

[Ben Hewitson]

ok. this is my setup so far.. when i get my car back.. i'll wind another half turn into the preload and go to +5 of the top knob... cant wait...




Uptate: with the new custom 27mm front swaybar, i only need +3 to +4 on the coilovers.. the car is so stiff in the front its amazing.. Big up to CMS Performance, esp Shane for his help..

Now for rear coilovers and some pics of the new front end..

[The Renegade]

I am jealous..... I want a pair.

[raddavey]

Awesome. Can you tell me how much they cost including post?
Where are you getting the 27mm rear swaybar? I purchased the whiteline ones. The front is good at 22mm but the rear is the same as stock. Actually i noticed no difference after fitting them due to the rear. I did put both the stock and the whiteline one at one time and it was very oversteery. I liked it.

What do you think stopped the bodyroll? The front springs? I have super low kings and the rear feels too soft. Causing lots of bodyroll

[Ben Hewitson]

Awesome. Can you tell me how much they cost including post?
Where are you getting the 27mm rear swaybar? I purchased the whiteline ones. The front is good at 22mm but the rear is the same as stock. Actually i noticed no difference after fitting them due to the rear. I did put both the stock and the whiteline one at one time and it was very oversteery. I liked it.

What do you think stopped the bodyroll? The front springs? I have super low kings and the rear feels too soft. Causing lots of bodyroll

www.cmsperformance.net check it out.. Shane and Kev are both mods here.. and they sell the shocks.. they are great to deal with.. you gotta get some.. they rock.

I got a custom Whitleine 27mm from swaybar (dont forget EXA has larger than ET as standard anyway..) And i got a sweet rear from whiteline.. it only turned out to be 18mm though.. and i think the ET is 18mm.. so i fucked up there.. but... this is the best thing.. i can run the standard ET swaybar on the back AND the whiteline.. twin 18's.. MWAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH... yeah... over steer is weired stuff on a FWD.. my Girlfriends new celica oversteers and its great.. her Subaru Liberty B4 on the otherhand.. understears.. (yes my girlfriend has more kw's and turbo's than i do.. i'm so lame.)

Always improve the rear stiffness in an FWD.. if you turn a corner for instance the car will roll onto the back outside wheel and then load up the front outside as well.. if you stiffen the back up heaps the car will load the back wheel and not allow the front inside wheel to lift..

Dont forget also that an EXA doesn't have that bid hole in the back you guys call a hatch.. we have a rear steel parcel shelf that is like a rear strut brace.. so by stifening up the exa more i noticed it thrashes an ET for roll now.

[Callumgw]

Hi Ben,
Just having a read of you post and thought I should mention some things. The diameter of a sway bar is only part of the equation when considering it's influence on roll stiffness of a car. The other major factor is the length of the 'lever' that twists the torsion element. If this lever length changes then so does the roll stiffness achieved for the car.

With the Whiteline sway bars there is two different designs, the one that replaces the original ET version and one that they made for the EXA (which didn't have one). A few years back when I put the Whiteline bar on my EXA they assured me that the difference in diameters is counteracted by the different lever lengths to produce 'roughly' the same effective roll stiffness.

Now your two bars, thats definately heavier than one . . . .

[shanec86]

Ben i never would have thought even you can turn fitting shockers into a sexual experience lmao................. but seriously well done dude look the goods for sure...

yes i am a little worried about you ben, so far you have turned installing suspension and a turbo into a sexual experience

[Ben Hewitson]

Its just so people will notice my threads....

As for the swaybar issue, the whiteline gear has 2 sections marked on it to give hard, medium or soft settings. This allows the lever to be lengthened and will thus change the 'torque lever' efect on the bar itself. So yeah, your absolutely correct about size not mattering much, but the larger the cross sectional area the harder it is to twist the torsion section of the bar.

Also whiteline wouldn't offer me the direct replacement of the ET bar.. i wanted this one cause there is no mounting hardware, just replacement. They said they wouldn't do it cause it wouldn't change a thing.. so they said run both of them, and use theirs on the softest setting for starters and then take the car on the track..

Mallalaa here i come.. track day... EXA versus B4 twin turbo.. MWahahaha

[raddavey]

That's the problem with the whiteline one i got (kit one made for the exa aswell as the ET). Its the same diameter as the stock bar but the leverage is nearly twice that of stock. So really its not as stiff (a downgrade).
The only advantages it has is it bolts to the chassis rather than being 'free'.

I contacted kmac they do custom springs and swaybars to whatever size you want. I do recall they weren't that expensive either.

Really the whiteline one needs to be about 24mm at the rear. OR with a much shorter lever.

[Callumgw]

I had dealings with KMac a few years back over camber plates for a Starion I owned. In short I wouldn't recommend dealing with them.

[shanec86]

interesting... i have the whiteline rear sway bar that is a lot longer than the standard et one. On my skyline i run twin rear sway bars, i think i might try this on the pulsar as well!

et:




You can see here its 2x standard bars. + my cool exhaust i made

Skyline:

[raddavey]

i have a pic of the whiteline compared to the stock layed out. I'll put it up this weekend when i'm not at work.

[Ben Hewitson]

Yeah the standard ET rear bar is 18mm and has very short levers. So it should be stiffer. The whiteline is 18mm and has long levers.. so it should apply more leverage onto the swaybar and this make it easier to twist.. so i would have thought that was a downgrade as well. But teh whiteline i have is the same as the one mentioned in Shanes image in the above post, except mine are all metalic silver... mmm.. .silver...

so it looks as if i'll have to use both the whiteline AND the stock ET bar because i'm not happy with the ET one i have.. and thats saying something because the EXA is stiffer in the rear than the ET. and i'm not happy with it at the moment.. i'll also have to get some koni adjustable rear coilovers. someone mentioned them for $480.. if thats the case i'll take some now.. lol..

As for K-Mac.. they make good stuff, and they also custom make the swaybars to your order, so you can definately get better sway-bars and more tunability than Whiteline.. BUT.... dealing with them was a pain in the ass. thats why i went to Whiteline. I asked them if they could make some N12 pulsar ET/EXA front coilovers for me, they said; "we are in the process of making them".. i hassled them for a year and then they stopped returning my emails.. so fk em.. shane gets my money instead...

you know what would be nice in the rear or an ET/EXA..? Whiteline Group4 coilovers..