Let's start with my prior set up. Installed H&R sport springs last Sept. 2012 using the stock shocks. The springs gave an aggressive ride height and drove better than stock. My goal then was purely for the stance. The stock shocks was not built to match the aggressive stance/ride height offered by H&R springs and noticed the shocks progressively become less responsive. This happened about 4 months after the install. Compression was noticeably worse compared to when the new springs were originally installed. I noticed a big difference during a cruise on May 25 with a bunch of guy at Mt. Palomar just outside of San Diego. Here was a San Diego pic. I lost count on how many times I scraped my front lip. The stock shock was not stiff enough to take on Mt. Palomar.
This is when I noticed the limits of my set up. Mt. Palomar was perfect to test your skill and the limits of your car. Thank goodness for the PSS tires otherwise, I'd be all over the place. It was there where I met Charles Park owner of Powertrix (he brought his Powertrix Z) and a couple of guys from San Diego using his c/o system in their Z's. One of them (a forum member) who had Powertrix in three generations of Z's that he owned throughout the years. They spoke highly of his product and gave positive feedback during the cruise and during exchanges of e-mail. I was not interested in his product then as I had my sights set on either the Sustec Z40 or the KW v3. As I said, the car's shocks progressively became worse and knew it was time to make a change last July/August.
Charles' Z --- w/ Randy Rodriguez taking pix of his creation.
Why not KWv3 or the Sustec Z40? These are great coilovers but I thought that these far exceeded what want to do with the car. All I wanted was a coilover that offered adjust-ability, a quality ride, and enough change in my pocket for future mods. This car will not see the track but may occasionally take on Mt. Palomar or the twisties on Highway 1 in Big Sur. In my profession, I also expected quality service so that element was important to me. In most purchases that I made for the Z, I bought the item and that was it. There was no relationship built with the company or it's representative during the transaction. I enjoy the relationship I have with AeroJacket and AG/Get Your Wheels. I looked at a wide spectrum of choices such as Stance, BC, Sustec, KW, H&R, and Powertrix. I read reviews, read pages and pages of posts in the forum, and I called everyone and spoke with anyone I could talk to. Rode in a few cars with various C/O set ups. In the end, I ended up with Powertrix Sport Street coilovers.
What I liked:
It came with upper mounting hardware and is a simple bolt on. No need to disassemble the stock shock upper mounts and bushings. If I did the install myself, this would come in handy. The upper mounts are fitted with a synthetic butyl bushing in place of a pillow ball. These c/o offers adjustment of independent ride height adjustability through the threaded bottom mounting brackets. This set up properly separates spring preload and ride height. Charles explains that these C/O are geared for the aggressive everyday street driver with the occasional autocross and road course event. It has 15 way adjustable strut dampening that is valved softer than their full (RT) Road/Track and (UL) Ultra-Lite Road/Track Coilovers. Not sure if I will eventually need it but it is rebuildable/replaceable strut body. Finally, Charles offered an upgrade option by replacing the springs with Swifts with 12k spring rate.
So what was it like to work with Charles. He is very responsive and explained his offerings based on your objectives. He offered his Sport Street option and provided me with the features given the goals I described. He responded to my e-mails and inquiries in a timely fashion.
Here's what I arranged with Powertrix:
Sport Street Coilovers
Swift Springs option
Hotchkis sways
Labor/Installation
The install:
I arrived at his shop in Miramar, CA at 8:30 AM and Charles was already there waiting and set up. It was a straight forward install. Took measurements at first and recorded on his board. He did the front sways first before installing the front coilovers. He used some old school tricks to take out the noise and squeal of the Hotchkis sways. Coilovers were measured to match before the install so height adjustment was minimal.
Car up on the lift with Charles on the front:
The original Powertrix springs were taken out and swapped with Swift springs with a spring rate of 12k.
Hotchkis Sways installed:
Coilover installed:
I like how there are clips to hold your brakelines:
Coilover and Sway pic:
It was followed by the rears and that took longer. Had to take out the mufflers off, pull the old sways out, and replace with the after market Hotchkis sways. This added install time. The rear Swifts were not yet available. It is under order and will not be ready until late October/early November. Spring rate is expected to be either at 10.5k or 11k.
Rear coilovers installed but CF mufflers need to be taken out to get the rear sway bars installed:
CF mufflers are back on along with the rear C/O and sway bar set up:
After the rears were installed, Charles went ahead and drilled a 1/2" hole to access the damping adjustment of the rear coilovers. He had a template from prior installs to mark the hole in the right spot. The height adjustment took another 30 minutes to complete and it was very straight forward. All along, Charles would explain and educate me about every aspect of the installation and adjustment. He showed me how everything was installed and how to adjust the height. I truly appreciated the information:
I purchased metal plugs from Home Depot and painted it matte black to match:
Bought a set of T-handle hex drivers and used the 4 mm key for my dampers:
Here's the hatch with the plugs and T-handle stored in the open spot:
The drive:
We left the coilovers set at 1 click during initial installation. Clearly a huge, noticeable difference with the new suspension. The 2.5 hour drive from San Diego to Valencia was more than enough to determine and judge the difference. I've driven the Valencia to San Diego and back on the old set up numerous times. I'm very familiar with the nuances and the varying pavement of the roads and freeways from San Diego to home. At one click, ride quality improved over H&H's and stock shocks. I could best describe it as very smooth. No noise. Driver feedback is more pronounced with the new coilovers vs springs. The drive back did not tell me much about the new sways -- more on that later. Hands down I get better confidence and feel at high speed. There was a stretch on the 5 fwy where I know there would not be any CHP lurking and floored it. The car responded well to the challenge and stayed put at high speed keeping itself composed. It was a comfortable ride home. I noticed how the car responded well to the various dips and transitions on the pavement in the freeway.
I bumped to 3 clicks and then to four. I can tell there is a difference between 3 and 4 clicks. Clearly stiffer with my current setting of 5 on the front and 4 in the rears. Steering is very sharp and composed. I have yet to discover the limits of the car with the new set up -- coils, sways, and tires. I've pushed the cars on corners and high bank turns and can tell, the car can do more. I just don't have the balls to discover the limits on private roads and certainly will not try to find out on public roads. Best place to do this is on a wide open lot or a track. At 5 front and 4 back and sways set to medium, the car is much more firmer. Driver feedback is much more pronounced and you feel the road at the steering wheel. The rears are very responsive and less susceptible to getting loose. I know spots or sections in my area where the car can get loose but not anymore with Powertrix. I can tell the car is precise on banks and turns. Again, with Powertrix, the car's limits were pushed further out. The new set up begs me to go further but is I want to keep it in undiscovered territory. Twists and turns are handled with ease and gives me great confidence. This is what it is supposed to do.
Would I recommend? Absolutely. I've had the set up since Aug 30th and really happy with it. So for those looking for an affordable, street-focused with occasional hard driving, easily adjustable, set up backed by a service oriented owner, give Charles at Powertrix a call. This coilover set up allowed me to spend my leftover mod money elsewhere like........brake pads and rotors but that's for another post.
Feedback of this review appreciated.
