The Coilover Upgrade Instructions for the Infiniti G35. The Infiniti G35, powered by the VQ35 engine, produces between 220-250whp on the street. However, at nearly 3,500 pounds, this isn’t the lightest car on the market. Considering its weight, coilovers are one of the best performance upgrades you can make to the G35. While coilovers will not necessarily make the car faster, they will make it appear faster by improving handling and cornering. They can also provide a more comfortable ride and lower the G35 by up to 4 inches to give it a more aggressive look and stance.
This guide will cover everything you need to know about coilovers and lay out some of the best G35 coilovers for each goal, whether you want stance, a lower ride height, street performance, or track capable coilovers.
Considerations for Infiniti G35 Coilovers
When it comes to coilovers, there are a few things to keep in mind. There are three of them: tube design, dampening, and spring rates. Another factor to consider is ride height, but since most G35 coilovers have similar adjustability, we’ll leave that for the bottom section. Finally, we’ll go over the distinctions between G35 lowering springs and coilovers.
Which coilovers are the “best” is a matter of opinion. What is best depends on what you intend to do with your car (for example, stance or track use) as well as your budget and ride comfort preferences. Remember that the “highest performance” coilovers may not be the best coilovers for you.
Monotube vs. Twin-Tube Tube Design
The terms mono and twin-tube refer to the internal engineering of coilovers and the design of the shocks. Rather than getting into the specific engineering differences, we’ll provide the key differences between the two to help you decide which one you need.
- Because they are more sensitive to movement and provide more precise dampening, monotubes provide a stiffer ride experience.
- As a result, they provide better handling and cornering.
- Monotube is the best choice for the track.
- Twin-tube is less precise and sensitive, making it more comfortable for daily driving.
- Twin tube is preferable for daily drivers.
- Twin-tube is less expensive than monotube because it is less expensive to produce.
- Twin-tube offers the best value for money for people looking for stance, lowering, daily driving, and so on.
Overall, tube design is only important for those seeking high performance. Monotubes are slightly more expensive than twin-tubes, but they are better designed for the track because they are more precise. Twin-tube will be more comfortable for daily driving and will provide better value for money for those who do not require track-quality handling.
Unless you track or autocross your G35, we recommend saving money and going with twin tubes.
Adjustability of Dampening
The compression and rebound of the coil springs are controlled by shocks. They essentially regulate how far the springs compress and how much “rebound” they have after compression. Consider rebound as the height at which a basketball bounces after hitting the ground. Damping that is stiffer will have less compression and rebound. Softer dampening allows for more compression and rebound, resulting in a smoother ride.
There are two types of G35 coilovers: pre-set dampening and adjustable dampening. Coilovers with pre-set dampening will match the spring rates and provide a good balance of performance and comfort. Adjustable dampening gives you some control over the ride quality of your G35 by providing anywhere from 8 to 32 dampening levels that you can adjust for a stiffer or more comfortable ride.
As you might expect, adjustable dampening coilovers are more expensive. If it’s in your budget, we’d recommend getting adjustable dampening for your G35, but it’s not critical unless you track your car and drive it on a daily basis. G35 coilovers without adjustable dampening are set for optimal levels of performance and comfort, so you don’t need them unless you can see yourself needing to adjust the stiffness from time to time.
Spring G35 Rates
While shocks control the springs’ rebound and compression, the springs actually support the weight of the vehicle. Because they support all 3,500 pounds of the G35, they are also in charge of the softness or stiffness of your suspension. If your springs are extremely stiff, even the softest dampening setting will not provide a comfortable ride. Height adjustability is also affected by spring rates. The lower you go, the stiffer your springs must be to keep your car from bottoming out.
Spring rates are expressed in pounds per inch. A spring rate of 500lbs/in means that it takes 500lbs of force to compress the spring 1 inch. As a result, the higher the spring rate, the stiffer the ride experience.
For daily use, you’ll want a good balance of comfort and stiffness. For slammed/stance, spring rates on the higher end will provide more stiffness. Dedicated track cars with top-of-the-line setups use softer spring rates but provide independent rebound, compression, and power adjustments for ultimate tunability.
Related : The Guide to Mazda RX-8 Coilover Upgrades
Lowering Springs vs. Coilovers for the Infiniti G35
In general, the worst set of coilovers will outperform the best set of lowering springs on your G35. While lowering springs provide a fixed drop and slightly improved performance, they do not always provide the most comfortable ride experience because the stock shocks are not fine tuned for the stiffer lowering spring spring rates.
Lowering springs are a cheap way to get a small drop, but they don’t allow for ride height adjustment. This can be a problem if you want to put bigger wheels or tires on your car.
Get coilovers if you can afford them. Lowering springs will suffice if you are content with a fixed drop of 1.25-1.5′′, don’t care about ride quality, and simply want to save money. Just keep in mind that they will not be as comfortable as coilovers and will not perform as well.
Advantages of G35 Coilover Upgrade
- Adjustable ride height down to about a 4′′ drop
- Better cornering and handling performance, with less body roll
- Ride quality that is more comfortable than stock suspension and lowering springs
- Adjustability of dampening (with more expensive setups)
- The most suitable replacement for worn factory suspension
Aside from the performance and lowering benefits, coilovers are one of the best upgrades over the old G35 factory suspension. With these vehicles being 15+ years old, you will notice a significant improvement over the factory suspension if you have never changed it out before. Furthermore, if you need to replace your factory suspension, coilovers are about the same price as all of the OEM components, making them an excellent choice.
Coilovers are the best way to improve ride quality and handling for stance, daily driving, track days, suspension refreshes, and so on.
Best Coilovers for the Infiniti G35
As previously stated, the term “best” is subjective. The two most important factors in selecting the right setup are what you use your car for and your budget. The first configuration we mention is our recommendation for the vast majority of readers of this post. If you don’t intend to use the track, there’s no need to look any further unless you want a more expensive setup for higher performance street handling.
We will provide three distinct setups: the best bang-for-buck setup for stance, lowering, or daily driving. Second, a setup for high-end street performance or weekend warriors who use their G35 on a daily basis and track it on weekends. Finally, there’s the no-expense-spared setup for dedicated track cars and maximum performance.
Also, keep in mind that coilover fitment varies between AWD/RWD vehicles and G35 Sport models. Before purchasing, ensure proper fitment.
1) Raceland G35 Coilovers
Tiers: Stance, Entry-Level Street, Daily Driving, Budget/Bang-for-Your-Money
Lowering: 1-3′′ Classic, 2-4′′ Ultimo and Primo
Price: $519, $549, and $619
Dampness: 15-Way Primo is adjustable, but Classic and Ultimo are not.
If you plan on dropping 2′′ or more, we recommend Ultimo or Primo because the stiffer springs will prevent scraping, rubbing, or bottoming out. Because of the stiffness, they also provide slightly better performance, albeit at a slight sacrifice in ride quality. The Classics will be closest to the OEM suspension while still allowing for lowering.
The Ultimos are the most popular option, but if you can afford the extra $70 for the Primo, we recommend them because the dampening adjustability is a nice feature to have for adjusting stiffness to best suit your preferences. The Primos have external adjustable knobs, so fine-tuning the stiffness or softness is as easy as turning a knob in the engine bay.
2) Coilovers Stance XR1 G35
High Performance Street, Daily Driver, and Track Star Hybrid
Price: $1,345
Lowering: ???
16-way adjustable dampening
The Stance XR1s feature an inverted monotube design with 16-way adjustability, making them an excellent choice for the daily driver with occasional track time or the street enthusiast looking for a higher performance setup. Stance doesn’t provide information on how low their ride goes but from reading comments on the forums they “go about as low as you would ever want them”.
They do have slightly softer spring rates than Raceland options, making them less suitable for extremely low or stanced G35s. However, the dampening adjustability can help in this situation. Because of the softer spring rates and adjustable dampening, these are also our favorite for occasional track use because they are comfortable on the street while remaining aggressive enough for track time.
3) Coilovers G35 KW V3
Top Performance, Dedicated Track, and No Budget
Price: $2,400+
Lowering range: 0.8-1.5′′
Dampening features include unlimited rebound adjustment, 14-way compression adjustment, and damping power adjustment.
KW is one of the most well-known brands in high-performance suspension components. With a monotube design and three independent dampening adjustments, their V3 kit for the G35 is one of the best track setups. Compression, rebound, and damping power can all be adjusted independently, allowing for extremely fine tuning for track applications.
Because these are designed for the track, they do not provide as aggressive ride height drops, making them unsuitable for stance. Finally, these are top-tier coilovers for people who don’t want to cut corners and require the highest performance setups with the most adjustability.
Summary of Infiniti G35 Coilovers
At the end of the day, the best coilovers for your G35 are determined by your goals. If you only want stance or a slight performance boost over OEM suspension, we recommend saving your money and going with the Raceland coilovers. This is my recommendation for the vast majority of people reading this article. Unless you really need the extra performance, the Raceland coilover is the best bang-for-your-buck option.
If you want a high-performance street suspension that you can use on a daily basis as well as track, we recommend Stance XR1s. There are, however, dozens of other options that fall into this category. Anything over $1000 that is monotube and has dampening adjustability will suffice for occasional track use.
If you intend to ball out or track your car frequently, a KW V3 or similarly priced brand with independent rebound and compression damping control is the way to go. In our opinion, it’s overkill for a street car, but to each their own.
