Wire coming from strut?

[lvangundy]

I'm asking this for a friend who has a 1995 240sx SE.

He said he was looking at his strut (he's not too familiar with his car) and said he saw some tubing / wiring coming from the side of it. He seems to think the car has some sort of electronic suspension. I'm not going to answer him, since I have no clue about 240 suspensions.

At first I thought he was talking about the ABS sensors, but he believes it's coming from the side of the strut. I'm actually confused on what he means since I didn't see it for myself so I'm asking here to see if anyone knows what's up.

thanks.

[Grant@tirerack]

Yep, some of those had an optional electronic suspension. I am not aware of what would be involved in switching the car to the standard setup. All of the electronic components are going to be a dealer-only item Has anyone here seen these converted? What would be involved? Let's see if we can help this fellow out:help

[C-Kwik]

the 240sx never came with an active suspension. He should double check that he is not looking at the brake lines. They clip to the struts.

[lvangundy]

I did some searching on my own and ran across some sites that mentioend the "Hicas active suspension".

Was this possibly a japan only option?

[Grant@tirerack]

We have seen a few of these here State-side but not many. Most were grey market imports. Both Koni and KYB show this as well in the listings. Odds are he is looking at brake line fittings tho...

[lvangundy]

That's what I figured, either ABS or brake lines.

And if it was active, he would have some sort of data screen/controls in the cabin which he doesn't.

[Grant@tirerack]

Yeah, I'm with C-Kwik on this one.

[C-Kwik]

HICAS was available on the 91+ S13 hatchbacks. But this only affects the rear end and I do not think it uses any sensors located at or near the wheels. Most of the hardware resides underneath the car. And HICAS is not an active suspension as most people would call it. It doesn't change the shock valving. It's more of an active rear toe, where it makes very small toe adjustments to the rear wheels to "enhance" handling characteristics. Essentially it promotes better turn-in by adding a toe out to the rear wheel as you initially turn the wheel and then add's toe in while sustaining the turn to help stability. Most people seem to not like it. I've never driven one so I couldn't say how good it is, but Don Nimi has a HICAS car and did quite well in the SCCA with it.