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Old 11-20-2009, 12:52 PM   #1
JusticePete
 
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Drives: Camaro Justice
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Virginia
Posts: 20,174
Camaro beats Vette on a Road Course

The Corvette is the KING of Muscle Cars and an American Icon. It is the benchmark of performance at every level of trim. The base Vette is more car than most are capable of driving. The Z06 stellar. The ZR1 is the best production performance coupe on the planet. When GM announced it was going to build a 5th Gen Camaro based on the Global Rear Wheel Drive ZETA architecture Pedders went to work on two continents designing our suspension bits to beat a Corvette around a road course.

We took years to do this and it really started with the Pedders USA wide-body GTO, progressed through the G8 and culminated with the 5th Gen Camaro. Working with and knowing the chassis in all the evolutionary forms going back to Opel have been a huge advantage to Pedders in developing the 5th Gen suspension.

For years I have been telling people that the almost three decade old VZ chassis is capable of running with a Vette when Pedderised. The development of the Xa coilovers made it absolutely a true statement. Using an OEM engineering approach to develop a complete solution from foundational bushes to dampers, coils, endlinks and sway bars a Pedders suspension works by tuning each component to compliment the other. A Pedderised GTO does run with the big dog.



Many companies talk about their suspension products and how they perform. Pedders takes their fleet cars out to the track and proves it with our customers, on video and with hard data. Don't be fooled by cheap copies of Pedders technology. There is only one best suspension for a GTO and that suspension is PEDDERS.

The next step was to take everything we learned with the GTO and use it as the starting point for the G8. We knew that everything we learned on the G8 would transfer almost directly to the 5th Gen Camaro. One of the weakest links in the GTO and the G8 is the design of the front strut mount. The strut requires a certain amount of articulation, yet the mount as designed is susceptible to damage from impact and rapid wear. While Pedders experimented with both urethane and rubber solutions, most other companies focused on just urethane. In this application a steel and dense rubber bush turned out to be vastly superior in Pedders testing. The stability offered by a Pedders 5851 is superior to every other solution on the market. Armed with the Pedders 5851, urethane radius bushes, Xa coilovers and the advanced ZETA virtual pivot from suspension the G8 had a far more capable front suspension that the GTO.

The ZETA IRS appears to have been designed by a checklist. A TEAM of engineers walked through the GTO IRS. They made a list of every weak link and handed it to the ZETA TEAM. The ZETA TEAM then incorporated every item and added some of their own ideas to build perhaps the most capable IRS of any vehicle in this class. Pedderised it is nothing short of one of the finest sedans on the road today at virtually any price. It is GM at their best.

The benchmark has been set for the GTO and G8. If a company claims they make a better suspension tell them to bring it to Gingerman and prove it. We will be more than happy to meet them there. I don't want to hear any well bring your car here or bring it there. Pedders set the benchmark at Gingerman. Any challengers will come come to Michigan where American Muscle is built to prove they are better.

With the fastest best handling GTO and G8s street machines in the world running flawlessly Pedders was ready for our most important build -- the 5th Gen Camaro. GM did their home work on this car. The smallest details were addressed. The front radius arm was made more linear. The ball joint studs and joints heavier. Better brakes. Dramatically improved strut mount. Improved rear IRS sub-frame bushes. GM built the class leading American Muscle Car. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't Pedderised. Pedderised, ProCharged shod with 19 x 10.5 Forgeline wheels and Bridgestone RE-11 tires the Camaros is thisclose to perfect.



And if that wasn't impressive enough we took our Camaro to the Optima Challenge with Paul Tracy behind the wheel. In the hands of one the best drivers in the world our Camaro performed as we expected -- flawlessly. We asked Paul what we should change to make the car better and his list was short: Bigger Brakes and Race Slicks. Do we need to adjust the setup. "The car is good."



Fast, smooth composed and sounding as good as it looks the Pedders Camaro is a lethal machine. But can it beat a Corvette around a highly technical race track that favors light weight, large sticky tires and big brakes over RWHP? OH YEAH!!!!





















The data is impressive. A 2004 GTO runs withing a half second of a 2009 Corvette. A four door sedan is just off the pace of a Corvette. And the Pedderised Camaro is faster than the Corvette. Yes a Camaro can beat a Vette around the track. You can build a camaro like this Vette beater for the same cot as a base model Vette. Bolt on a ProCharger, American Racing Headers, QTP Cut Outs, Forgeline Wheels, Bridgestone RE-11 tires, Cobalt Friction Brakes and a Pedders Justice Pete Suspension. You now have a Z06 with four seats!

While the doubters will find fault with the data or vehicle selection, the fact is that even a Z06 would be running dead heats with the Pedders Camaro. Those who know Corvettes and Gingerman tell us that a Z06 is three to four seconds faster than a stock Vette at Gingerman. Which puts the Pedders Camaro and a Z06 in a dead heat. We are not interested in splitting hairs. The data and Chris Brannon will speak for us. Chris Brannon in his own words discusses what it is like to pilot these great cars in stock and Pedderised trim.



You should know we are not done with the Camaro range. Today we released the EP1201HD. This is a Delryn like set of sub-frame bushes, but unlike Delryn long lasting so it is well suited to the street. How long lasting -- they will last longer than most will own their 2010 Camaro. There are more Camaro products in development that will take the Camaro even further in terms of performance. We are not done with the Camaro, we are not done with the GTO, we are not done with the G8, the Mustang, the Challenger, Charger....

For years Pedders has been proud to have one of the most loyal groups of customers supporting our company. They are as passionate about Pedders as we are and in some cases more so. We cannot thank them enough. While they appreciate our thanks, what they really want is the best suspension product, backed by the best warranty and supported by the best Dealer Network in the industry. They deserve nothing less. You have my word that Pedders is as fanatical about our customer service as we are about R & D. We will do everything we can to return your support and loyalty by delivering the finest products we can build to the best customer's a company ever had.

We respect your trust in our brand. We appreciate the support we receive in the GTO, G8 and Camaro communities. We THANK YOU for making the PEDDERS NATION possible.
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