Whether you’re looking to improve street handling or clock in better times at the track, suspension upgrades like aftermarket coilovers are sure to transform your Infiniti G35 coupe or sedan.
In this guide, we’ll review the best coilovers you can buy for your Infiniti and equip you with all the information you’ll need to choose the right set.
Most performance enthusiasts turn towards coilovers over lowering springs and regular shocks because of the added tunability.
They’re a key piece of suspension kit that most modified Infiniti owners simply can’t look past.
Tip: You will find that the Infiniti G35 and Nissan 350z have many compatible parts and that’s because both cars were built on the same platform.
They share a very similar chassis and the same 3.5 liter Nissan VQ35DE engine, though from the factory they handle differently as they are built for different driving styles. Most Infiniti G35 Coupe coilovers also fit the Nissan 350z.
Why Coilovers?
Picture your car as a table with four wobbly legs. If only you could adjust each corner in a way that the table stood solid, right? That’s what coilovers do, in a nutshell.
They make the car’s sprung weight sit perfectly on level, making sure it drives the exact same way through every turn, with much better handling.
They’re called coilovers because they’re coil springs wound over shock absorbers. It is an integrated unit that lets you adjust preload, rebound, compression, and damping, unlike the OEM setup or lowering springs.
Because it is an integrated unit, the spring is perfectly matched with the damper right out of the box. Their main advantages include a lower center of gravity (a lower roll center as a result) and higher spring rates.
The lower your car, the lower its center of gravity. This, in turn, reduces weight transfer, ensuring that all tires are evenly loaded, and gives you better traction.
Stiffer springs contribute to this added traction by dialing down the body roll and maintaining a flat tire contact patch.
Oh, and your car will sit a lot nicer too, as a result of the improved stance — say goodbye to those pesky fender gaps.
The Right Coilovers For Your G35
Yes, there are lots of options and most of them are great! But If you’re confused and don’t know which coilovers will best suit your Infiniti G35, ask yourself these questions to filter the list:
- How much do I want to spend?
- What am I building my G35 for? Shows? Street performance? Track days?
- Is warranty something I value?
Knowing what you expect from the upgrade before putting your money down is an easy way to avoid being stuck with the wrong setup. The idea is to buy something suited to what you do with your car.
For example, if your G35 going to spend most of its life on the streets, then you can make do with limited adjustability. Having adjustable lower mounts will help too since you can adjust your ride height without affecting compression.
In contrast, if you intend on taking your G35 to the track every week, then it’s a good idea to spend more and buy coilovers that are high-quality, have a stiffer spring rate, multiple levels of damping adjustments, and some degree of re-buildability.
Considering how you really use your car will help narrow down your options, making the selection easier.
The list gets even narrower once you check if the coilovers you selected will fit your G35, or not.
Coilover Compatibility: Coupe and Sedan
The G35 comes as either a four-door sedan or two-door coupe. There’s also the AWD variant but that comes only on the G35x AWD sedan.
The Infiniti G35 coupe and sedan require a different style of coilovers while the RWD sedan and AWD sedan need different ones again.
If you’re looking for the best g35 coilovers online, make sure to enter your vehicle details (Year, Sedan/Coupe, RWD/AWD) correctly to check if the product fits your car before hitting that “add to cart” button.
Example: If you’re looking for coilovers for the G35 sedan, then it’s required to mention that before making the purchase.
Spring Rate
Think of spring rate as a unit that measures how soft or stiff your spring is. Here’s how it’s calculated.
For every 1 mm of compression, the spring requires x kilograms of force. ‘X’ is the spring rate.
10K spring rate means 10 kg of force is needed for 1 mm of compression.
When researching online, you’ll come across spring rates denoted as kilograms per millimeter (10K) or pounds per inch (560). Here’s the conversion formula: Kg/mm * 56 = lb*in
Example: 10 kg/mm * 56 = 560 lb/in
A softer rate may seem better for passengers at first, but it comes at the cost of handling as it increases weight transfer. A stiffer rate will give you better handling but the ride may feel harsh.
It is difficult to pinpoint what spring rate works best as it is often a personal choice and depends on variables like road conditions and even vehicle type.
For example, your front engine G35 will be heavier in the front end compared to a mid-engine Lotus Elise due to the engine’s placement.
The latter would have most of its weight concentrated in the center and this will impact/dictate what spring rates are the most suitable.
Since we’re talking about the Infiniti G35, here are some ballpark figures that’ll help put things into perspective:
- 10K Front 8K Rear: Comfortable for daily driving
- 12K Front 10K Rear: For aggressive street use
- 14K Front 12K Rear: Suitable for track use
Pre-Purchase Essentials
It may seem fun to slam on a pair of coilovers, drop your car as low as possible, and adjust the camber angle to maximum negative.
You might feel like you’re now ready for the track, but that’s not how it works. It can take some trial and error but this can be helped by getting the right product to begin with.
Coilovers come with all sorts of different features. Generally, the more you pay, the more of these you’ll have.
If you’re just making some performance changes for street use, you don’t need to spend a heap of cash on 4-way adjustable coilovers. Consider the adjustment options that you really need, and factor that into your decision-making.
Bump Stops
Bump stops are rubber-like blocks placed on top of the piston to avoid metal-to-metal contact in case you max it out under full compression.
Without bump stops, you’ll experience a jarring effect – not comfortable at all. Of course, this only becomes a concern if your roads are terrible, or you’re on the complete limit, regularly.
Adjustable Damping
Damping adjustment lets you adjust how effectively your piston absorbs the shock and gives you the freedom to change how your suspension ‘feels’.
You may not know exactly what dampening level is best for your needs, based on the spring rate and weight of the car.
It comes down to personal choice, some like the dampening rate rather stiff, and some like it softer so the car rolls over and puts a little more weight on the lead tire.
Dust Guards
Dust guards are rubber boots that cover your piston, protecting it from dust and debris.
It may not seem like much but you’ll be surprised how much damage these seemingly uninteresting dust guards can prevent.
Pillow Ball vs Rubber Top Mounts
Most coilovers include top mounts, unlike the Tein Street Basis Z which requires the reuse of OEM top mounts.
Coilovers usually come with pillowball top mounts where a spherical bearing is used as the joint between the strut assembly and the top hat. This will give you sharper handling but will also transmit the vibrations and harshness into the cabin.
Rubber top mounts help dissipate some of that harshness making the coilovers more street-friendly.
This is also the ideal time to check how much adjustment the supplied mounts give. The best top mounts give you the ability to change your:
Truetype vs OEM Style
We see a lot of debate as to which one’s better but it comes down to personal preference. True-type coilovers are integrated and include the spring, shock, and mounts as one unit whereas OEM-style coilovers come with separate components.
Here’s a photo that shows the difference:
The Best Coilovers For Your Infiniti G35
The “best” G35 coilovers range from $500 to over $4000 and more. What works well for one person is different from the next.
To keep things simple, we’ll be dividing 9 of what we consider the best coilovers into three categories based on price and intended usage.
Entry Level Coilovers for Daily Driven Infiniti G35s
Entry-level coilovers are great to get a feel of what you’re in for. They’ll help make your car perform, look, and sit better than stock. You can improve your G35’s stance, lower your center of mass, and add some serious personality to your car.
These are perfect for some spirited driving along the backroads especially if your car is going to spend most of its life on the street and off the track.
Ksport Kontrol Pro
Manufacturer: Ksport
Construction Type: Mono-Tube
Damper Adjustment: 36 Levels
Upper Mounts: Pillowball | Included
Warranty: 1 Year
Suits: 03 to 06 Coupe and Sedan
Buy From: Amazon | Enjuku Racing
If you’re looking for budget coilovers for your G35 coupe / G35 sedan, make sure to put these on the list. Complete with 36 levels of damping, these coilovers do a great job of maintaining the manufacturer’s recommended suspension geometry and ride height.
This will ensure that your car will continue to feel familiar and stock-like but with more control and safety.
The lower mounts are adjustable, meaning, you can change the height of your G without changing the compression level. This comes in handy if you want to lower your car without compromising on comfort.
The shock body is coated with zinc (galvanized) which makes these great if you live in a city where rust is a problem.
Your can of WD40 is going to last a little longer. Plus, you get solid 6061 billet aluminum alloy upper mounts, all for less than $900! These are a total steal.
BC Racing BR Series
Manufacturer: BC Racing
Construction Type: Mono Tube
Damper Adjustment: 30 Levels
Spring Type: Linear
Upper Mounts: Pillowball | Included
Warranty: 1 Year
Suits: 03 to 06 Coupe & Sedan
Buy From: Amazon (true-type spring), Amazon (OEM-Style) | Enjuku Racing
BC Racing’s BR Series are extremely popular coilovers, known for their value-to-reliability ratio.
They come with options that allow you to customize them just a notch over the entry-level territory.
Options like Swift Springs, different valving, and a choice between Truetype and OEM Style.
It takes some tweaking to dial these in perfectly. Once you hit the tuning sweet spot, you can use its concave lower locking ring to keep all your adjustments locked in and ready for predictable performance in any scenario.
BC Racing uses exceptional quality oil with their coilovers, which is important due to their large 53mm diameter damper body.
This means the BC BR’s suspension performance tends to remain consistent even in extreme temperatures (too hot or too cold), whether that is due to climate or aggressive use.
Tein Street Basis Z
Manufacturer: Tein
Construction Type: Twin tube
Damper Adjustment: Not Adjustable
Upper Mounts: Not Included. Requires reuse of OEM upper mounts
Warranty: 1 Year
Suits: Coupe & V35 Sedan | RWD Only
Buy From: Amazon | Enjuku Racing
Even though we usually associate quality with price, the Tein Street Basis Z is among the most popular low-price coilovers out there. It is strictly a height-adjustable kit – there is no other adjustability.
Originally designed in Japan for the Nissan V35, Tein coilovers manage to strike the right balance between quality and affordability, unlike some other brands.
This is mainly because they rely on your car’s stock top mounts. These coilovers do not come with top mounts and that’s where they cut costs, which is fine for most purposes.
Damping adjustment is not available either but you won’t miss that as the spring rates and the factory damping adjustment go very well together, straight out of the box. This is the perfect alternative to lowering springs.
Experience-wise, your car will feel very similar to its stock setup minus the bumpy feeling over rough patches. It is only a little still stiffer than standard.
Much better handling for a couple of hundred bucks sounds like a great deal. Although, we wouldn’t recommend these for track use.
Mid-Tier Coilovers for G35s That See Occasional Track Time
If you put performance before comfort and track your car say, once or twice in a month, these mid-tier coilovers are a decent choice.
They perform significantly better than entry-level coilovers while still being tolerable for daily use.
Your passengers probably won’t complain and you’ll still be able to get great handling performance out of your G35.
Apexi N1 ExV
Manufacturer: APEXi
Construction Type: 44mm Monotube
Damper Adjustment: 32 Levels
Upper Mounts: Pillowball upper mounts included
Warranty: 1 Year
Suits: Coupe & Sedan | RWD Only
Buy From: Enjuku Racing
Japanese tuning giant, Apexi, brings you the N1 ExV or ‘Expert Type V’. These coilovers feature 32-way damping adjustments and are designed with a focus on road use but are also track-worthy.
Because they’re focused more on practical performance, its components have been engineered to withstand harsh road conditions and increased wear due to daily use.
These are some of the best value-for-money coilovers you can buy for your G35. They also come with a threaded base for accurate ride height adjustment without altering the spring or damper compression.
Stance XR1
Manufacturer: Stance
Construction Type: Inverted Monotube
Damper Adjustment: 16 Levels
Upper Mounts: Not Included
Warranty: 2 Years
Suits: Coupe & Sedan
Buy From: Enjuku Racing (true-type spring) | Enjuku Racing (OEM style)
Whether you’re a drifter, time attack competitor, or street tuner, you must’ve heard of Stance and its quality, track-proven coilovers.
The Stance XR1 is a no-nonsense, performance-focused coilover with some of the most sophisticated quality touches, usually unheard of in this price range.
Even small things like the heavy-duty adjustment knob, with a very reassuring click, make it easy to adjust the damping. One of its many noteworthy features includes an inverted monotube, designed for motorsport and refined for road use.
The 45mm strut shaft offers increased lateral rigidity which makes the handling significantly sharper than what upright dampers provide.
The inverted design of the damper allows for a larger piston size and reduced unsprung weight, helping you to keep control on bad roads at warp speeds. This design also helps cool the oil faster due to the chamber’s placement. Cooler oil equals consistent performance.
Thanks to their heat-treated, chromoly steel piston rods, the dampers provide solid feedback, all the time, and are less prone to failure, even with time.
The shock body is so protected against corrosion that it can withstand a 1000+ hour salt spray test. Looks like these XR1s can even give the top-shelf coilovers a run for their money!
Fortune Auto 500 Series
Manufacturer: Fortune Auto
Construction Type: Mono Tube
Damper Adjustment: 24 Levels
Upper Mounts: Included
Warranty: 5 Years
Suits: Coupe & Sedan | RWD & AWD
Buy From: Enjuku Racing | Coupe | Sedan
Amazon | Coupe
The 500 series coilovers by Fortune Auto are completely hand-built and are probably the nicest-looking coilovers on this list.
But it’s not all show and no go; these things perform even better than they look. Built with a focus on rebuildability, the 500 series offers a lot of customization options right out of the box.
Many enthusiasts agree that the ability to rebuild them eventually turns out to be one of the most important aspects of coilover ownership.
These coilovers can be rebuilt and revalved at the Fortune Auto facility in Richmond.
You may have noticed that with some suspension setups, going over a pothole at low speeds will hurt more than doing so at high speeds. Wouldn’t it be great if the damper had an idea of what speed we’re going at?
Something similar happens with Fortune Auto’s digressive flow piston technology. It allows the damper to produce a higher shock force at low speeds and a softer shock force at high speeds.
On the street, this means consistent damping on undulating roads. And on the track, it helps you to stay glued flat despite the pitch and roll even under heavy braking or acceleration.
These are no-compromise, track-oriented coilovers that can be driven on the road. Do be aware that many configurations require a 2 to 3-week lead time. That’s proof that when they say ‘hand-built’, they mean it.
High-End Coilovers for Great All Round Performance
If money is no object, or you just want the very best, these are the ones to go for. They’ll take anything you throw at them without breaking a sweat.
These coilovers can handle a short drive to the shops with relative comfort, while also being able to perform during extended track day use. They are a great option for cars that need to do it all.
Apexi N1 Evolution
Manufacturer: APEXi
Construction Type: Mono Tube
Damper Adjustment: 20 Levels
Upper Mounts: Pillowball | Included
Warranty: 1 Year
Suits: Infiniti G35 Coupe
Ride quality and handling aren’t always mutually exclusive. Most track-focused coilovers aren’t damped and sprung for street use, making your daily drives rather harsh and unenjoyable.
Luckily for us, the folks over at APEXi, have developed the perfect recipe of oil, valving, and spring rates for high-performance daily drivers that double up as weekend track cars.
The N1 Evolution range by Apexi features a 45mm monotube damper and comes with a tool kit that you can use to easily install them by yourself.
With these coilovers, you won’t need a separate car for your daily commuting needs. They’re plush enough to give you comfort when you want it and aggressive enough for your track day fixation.
KW Variant 3
Manufacturer: KW
Construction Type: Mono Tube
Damper Adjustment: 14 Levels
Upper Mounts: Included
Warranty: Limited Lifetime Warranty
Suits: Coupe & Sedan (RWD only)
Buy From: Amazon | Enjuku Racing
KW has been known to bring race technology to the streets, and doing it right. Their patented system has dual-level valves that let you independently adjust the rebound and compression damping.
This makes it the perfect kit for custom setups and lets you dial everything in perfectly.
The KW Variant 3 coilovers are better suited to the Infiniti G35 coupe than the sedan as it tends to drop the latter’s rear a little more than you might want.
If you’re an Infiniti G35 sedan owner, do consider getting KW spring extenders along with the coilover kit. But if you’re specifically looking for G35 coupe coilovers, these G35 KW coilovers are the ones to go for.
Tanabe Sustech Z40
Manufacturer: Tanabe
Construction Type: Twin Tube
Damper Adjustment: 40 Levels
Upper Mounts: Included
Warranty: Limited Lifetime Warranty
Suits: Coupe & Sedan (RWD only)
These special order coilovers are sure to spice up track days by unlocking your car’s true handling potential.
Tanabe’s Sustech Z40 sports a twin-tube construction paired with a low-pressure gas system that gives you control over rough surfaces while still maintaining a fair amount of compression. The Z40s come nickel-plated and powder-coated to reduce corrosion.
The Pro2010 springs came straight off Takata Dome Racing’s Honda NSX in the JGTC GT500 Class in Japan!
Mix that with 40 levels of damping and you’ve got one solid track set up. To our surprise, the Z40s are specially engineered to be quiet so that the spring noise doesn’t distract you. Something we didn’t expect from a track-focused coilover kit.
The Right Coilovers for Your G35
There are plenty of options to choose from and they’re all worth it, in their own way. Here are the ones that really got our attention.
For Daily Driving & Street Use: BC Racing BR Series
You can’t go wrong with proven reliability.
For Occasional Track Use: Stance XR1
Tough call between this and Fortune Auto 500, but if we had to choose one, XR1 would be the way to go. Very thoughtfully designed, durable build, and ultra slammable.
For All-Round Performance: Tanabe Sustech Z40
Turn your G35 into a quiet, nimble track car that you can comfortably use on the streets too.
Did we miss a type of coilovers that should be on this list? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
Feature image: Beach Set, adaptation by Low Offset, original by Yomar Lopez, CC BY 2.0