Amazing result for Torq and Pfadt at the 2010 LS Fest! Full report inside with pics! - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

Erik@Torq · 09-14-2010, 03:45 PM

Well after arriving home yesterday from Bowling Green, KY (1100miles one-way) and the first annual LS Fest I put together a short report to share with you all.

First I would like to thank the whole crew at Holly LS Fest for putting on an amazing event! It was the first one so nobody really knew what to expect, plus the weather forecast wasn't the best but they definitely pulled it off with flying colors! We look forward to next year!

So getting ready for the event, we teamed up with Pfadt Racing once again and went with a complete suspension package for our shop car. We have been running their Springs and Sway bars previously and actually won quite a few races with just those mods, but to be able to competitive against some of the best built cars in The US some upgrades were necessary.

First we went with a set of Nitto NT-05's, 315's in the rear and 275's in the front on our light-weight rims. Even though I was very pleased with them, I would probably go with a different tire for an AutoX only set-up. Reason being is that they don't heat up as quickly as I would have liked. This is very important in Auto X racing since you only have about 1min for a full lap, then head back to to staging lane. My fastest times were all set when I was able to get 2 laps in relatively quickly after each other. But again, I am still very happy with the way they performed and they are a good compromise for a street tire that sees a lot of track duty.

For the suspension we put together the following package together with the guys at Pfadt. The sway bars were already installed previously so for a complete package I would make sure to have them in their as well.

Pfadt Racing fully adjustable Coil-overs
Pfadt Racing Rear Trailing Arms
Pfadt Toe-Link Assembly
Pfadt Solid Subframe Mounts
Pfadt Poly C-Arm Street Spherical Bushings
Pfadt Street Polyurethane Differential Bushings

Here are a few shots of the parts themselves, the finish and quality of the Pfadt parts are just outstanding. I know I am a suspension geek, but these are simply a work of art!

Pfadt Racing vs. OEM

Rear Trailing arms + Toe Link Assembly

Close-up of front and rear coil-over assembly

We managed to get everything installed on time for the long haul up to Bowling Green, and 10 min after the car was corner weighted and aligned I set off for the long drive.

When aligning the car we were quite conservative on the negative camber , mostly due to us actually driving the car the whole way there. The 5th Gen Camaro LOVES a lot of negative camber and needs it to really steer in nicely but we set it up so the tires would last the whole way there and back. Remember, absolutely nothing was changed from the cars daily driving specs when arriving at Bowling Green and tearing up the Auto X. We could have had a new set of tires with us, we could have knocked more camber in it, we could have even trailered it but we wanted to show what a full weight 5th Gen Camaro in full street trim could actually do competing against the best of the best.

I was extremely pleased with the ride quality of the Pfadt Coil-overs, even on the poor roads we have here in South Florida. Riding on the stiff track setting the car was in no way uncomfortable, and was very pleasant to drive. The "shudder" that you can sometimes get with an aftermarket spring was nowhere to be felt, and when trying out the softer settings she drove almost like a Cadillac!

After arriving at the track, it came clear to me what we were up against I and I knew it wasn't going to be easy in any way to finish top 5. Some of the finest, fastest, and most extreme Pro-Touring cars from Detroit Speed and Ridetech were on site to compete in the Auto-x.

Both Friday and Saturday called for rain, and boy were they right. It wasn't until Saturday afternoon when the track started to dry up (but was still quite greasy) that times started to drop for everybody. Although we did manage to set the fastest time in rain and held that for quite a while!

This is a shot to show just how wet it actually was, at times there were puddles so big you could park Queen Mary in one

So after all was said and done, my fastest time was set early Saturday morning after being able to almost hot-lap the tires and get them up to temperature. That time ended up giving us 3rd place overall in the Street Tire class! Seeing the competition I never thought it would have been possible, and many other contestants were extremely surprised with what we managed to achieve with Project Cammedmaro. A 4000lb full weight street car on street tires should not be able to run around a tight Auto X cross the way she did.

Here is a photo of the final time-sheet, car # 129 would be yours truly driving our Shop Car Cammedmaro in 3rd Place!

Notice the lap-times as well!

So as an end result, we beat every other 5th Gen Camaro, 4th Gen Camaro, Corvette etc (50+ cars entered), and only came after 2 of the most awesome Pro-Touring builds I've seen. All this and ours was the only car driven from a distance this far away, both to and from the event, and we still managed to end up in 3rd. To me Project Cammedmaro really sets the standard for a true Street Car!

In no way is 2200miles and 3 days of serious beating easy on any car, but with the right parts and built the right way anything can be achieved. I contribute this "win" to two things, Pfadt Race Engineering and and their superior suspension parts, and to our own team here at TORQ for putting together an amazing package, and spending hours and hours at the track and on the dyno testing every single part.

Stay tuned as Project Cammedmaro will be attending many more Road Course and Auto X events in the near future! Or mission to build the best handling Street Driven 5th Gen Camaro is proving to be fully achievable, and soon to be a reality. We learned that with a few minor things we could have taken the win, but we are extremely pleased with the outcome and will be back even stronger for the next event.

Here are a few more shots of The Camaro on the track!

Braking HARD from high speeds to zero with a very aggressive pad and slotted rotors = lots of sparks

How something so big can look so much at home on track is unbelievable

I will be posting some videos as well as soon as I get them uploaded. If anybody has any questions at all regarding the suspension set-up or anything else, just post them here and either a representative from Pfadt or myself will answer them.

/Erik@Torq

TCao · 09-14-2010, 06:42 PM

Outstanding report! Please post the alignment specs and shock damping settings used for this track when you have a chance. Kudos to the driver as well for finishing 3rd.

Erik@Torq · 09-14-2010, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TCao

Outstanding report! Please post the alignment specs and shock damping settings used for this track when you have a chance. Kudos to the driver as well for finishing 3rd.

The Driver would be me, so thank you for that

I will post up the specs shortly!

/Erik@Torq

1977and2010 · 09-14-2010, 07:07 PM

Way to represent. You guys are a horrible influence on me. I just ordered the pfadt coilovers, lol.

TCao · 09-14-2010, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1977and2010

Way to represent. You guys are a horrible influence on me. I just ordered the pfadt coilovers, lol.

Congratulations! You should consider getting your car corner-balanced after the PFADT coilovers installation to get the most out of this suspension system. Back to the regularly-scheduled program...

CamaroFTW · 09-14-2010, 09:09 PM

Erik..Congrats to you and your beautiful Camaro! WOW 3rd place...awesome!
I love my Pfadt too

Talk to you soon! Glad you had a safe trip back!

sunsfan · 09-14-2010, 10:08 PM

grats on 3rd you guys put together a nice car!

IPS Brandon · 09-15-2010, 01:16 PM

Doing work! I still cant get over how you guys were racing through the monsoon. Only in auto cross !

Good seeing you again.

Regards

Erik@Torq · 09-15-2010, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1977and2010

Way to represent. You guys are a horrible influence on me. I just ordered the pfadt coilovers, lol.

Very nice! You will be very pleased, let me know if you have any questions about them!

Quote:

Originally Posted by TCao

Congratulations! You should consider getting your car corner-balanced after the PFADT coilovers installation to get the most out of this suspension system. Back to the regularly-scheduled program...

Thanks! The car was actually corner balanced when we aligned it, so that is all taken care of. We are going to have it re-aligned once we get the camber plates i though, need some more camber for the track.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CamaroFTW

Erik..Congrats to you and your beautiful Camaro! WOW 3rd place...awesome!
I love my Pfadt too

Talk to you soon! Glad you had a safe trip back!

Thanks Hank! I appreciate it! I will get back to you shortly regarding your email btw

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunsfan

grats on 3rd you guys put together a nice car!

Quote:

Originally Posted by IPS Brandon

Doing work! I still cant get over how you guys were racing through the monsoon. Only in auto cross !

Good seeing you again.

Regards

That is true, but that's what makes auto-x fun! Rain just makes it a little bit more interesting

Matt'sSS · 09-17-2010, 10:32 AM

Amazing job Eric! Congratulations to you and your team at Torq! Keep the podium finishes coming!

PfadtRacing · 09-21-2010, 02:05 PM

Erik, what is the next event planned?

YancyJohns · 09-21-2010, 06:11 PM

Erik, Thanks for the ride. Keep a lookout in your rear view mirror......hehe

Erik@Torq · 09-22-2010, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PfadtRacing

Erik, what is the next event planned?

I'll be posting up some info about our next big event shortly! This weekend we have a PCA event here in Miami. I plan to show these Porsche Owners what the rear end of Camaro looks like.

Quote:

Originally Posted by YancyJohns

Erik, Thanks for the ride. Keep a lookout in your rear view mirror......hehe

No problem, it was nice meeting you!

I will keep a look out, we might be seeing each-other sooner then later my friend

/Erik

09-14-2010, 03:45 PM	#1
Erik@Torq Drives: '10 SS + '04 Z16 Z06 S/C Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Miramar, FL Posts: 1,196	Amazing result for Torq and Pfadt at the 2010 LS Fest! Full report inside with pics! Well after arriving home yesterday from Bowling Green, KY (1100miles one-way) and the first annual LS Fest I put together a short report to share with you all. First I would like to thank the whole crew at Holly LS Fest for putting on an amazing event! It was the first one so nobody really knew what to expect, plus the weather forecast wasn't the best but they definitely pulled it off with flying colors! We look forward to next year! So getting ready for the event, we teamed up with Pfadt Racing once again and went with a complete suspension package for our shop car. We have been running their Springs and Sway bars previously and actually won quite a few races with just those mods, but to be able to competitive against some of the best built cars in The US some upgrades were necessary. First we went with a set of Nitto NT-05's, 315's in the rear and 275's in the front on our light-weight rims. Even though I was very pleased with them, I would probably go with a different tire for an AutoX only set-up. Reason being is that they don't heat up as quickly as I would have liked. This is very important in Auto X racing since you only have about 1min for a full lap, then head back to to staging lane. My fastest times were all set when I was able to get 2 laps in relatively quickly after each other. But again, I am still very happy with the way they performed and they are a good compromise for a street tire that sees a lot of track duty. For the suspension we put together the following package together with the guys at Pfadt. The sway bars were already installed previously so for a complete package I would make sure to have them in their as well. Pfadt Racing fully adjustable Coil-overs Pfadt Racing Rear Trailing Arms Pfadt Toe-Link Assembly Pfadt Solid Subframe Mounts Pfadt Poly C-Arm Street Spherical Bushings Pfadt Street Polyurethane Differential Bushings Here are a few shots of the parts themselves, the finish and quality of the Pfadt parts are just outstanding. I know I am a suspension geek, but these are simply a work of art! Pfadt Racing vs. OEM Rear Trailing arms + Toe Link Assembly Close-up of front and rear coil-over assembly We managed to get everything installed on time for the long haul up to Bowling Green, and 10 min after the car was corner weighted and aligned I set off for the long drive. When aligning the car we were quite conservative on the negative camber , mostly due to us actually driving the car the whole way there. The 5th Gen Camaro LOVES a lot of negative camber and needs it to really steer in nicely but we set it up so the tires would last the whole way there and back. Remember, absolutely nothing was changed from the cars daily driving specs when arriving at Bowling Green and tearing up the Auto X. We could have had a new set of tires with us, we could have knocked more camber in it, we could have even trailered it but we wanted to show what a full weight 5th Gen Camaro in full street trim could actually do competing against the best of the best. I was extremely pleased with the ride quality of the Pfadt Coil-overs, even on the poor roads we have here in South Florida. Riding on the stiff track setting the car was in no way uncomfortable, and was very pleasant to drive. The "shudder" that you can sometimes get with an aftermarket spring was nowhere to be felt, and when trying out the softer settings she drove almost like a Cadillac! After arriving at the track, it came clear to me what we were up against I and I knew it wasn't going to be easy in any way to finish top 5. Some of the finest, fastest, and most extreme Pro-Touring cars from Detroit Speed and Ridetech were on site to compete in the Auto-x. Both Friday and Saturday called for rain, and boy were they right. It wasn't until Saturday afternoon when the track started to dry up (but was still quite greasy) that times started to drop for everybody. Although we did manage to set the fastest time in rain and held that for quite a while! This is a shot to show just how wet it actually was, at times there were puddles so big you could park Queen Mary in one So after all was said and done, my fastest time was set early Saturday morning after being able to almost hot-lap the tires and get them up to temperature. That time ended up giving us 3rd place overall in the Street Tire class! Seeing the competition I never thought it would have been possible, and many other contestants were extremely surprised with what we managed to achieve with Project Cammedmaro. A 4000lb full weight street car on street tires should not be able to run around a tight Auto X cross the way she did. Here is a photo of the final time-sheet, car # 129 would be yours truly driving our Shop Car Cammedmaro in 3rd Place! Notice the lap-times as well! So as an end result, we beat every other 5th Gen Camaro, 4th Gen Camaro, Corvette etc (50+ cars entered), and only came after 2 of the most awesome Pro-Touring builds I've seen. All this and ours was the only car driven from a distance this far away, both to and from the event, and we still managed to end up in 3rd. To me Project Cammedmaro really sets the standard for a true Street Car! In no way is 2200miles and 3 days of serious beating easy on any car, but with the right parts and built the right way anything can be achieved. I contribute this "win" to two things, Pfadt Race Engineering and and their superior suspension parts, and to our own team here at TORQ for putting together an amazing package, and spending hours and hours at the track and on the dyno testing every single part. Stay tuned as Project Cammedmaro will be attending many more Road Course and Auto X events in the near future! Or mission to build the best handling Street Driven 5th Gen Camaro is proving to be fully achievable, and soon to be a reality. We learned that with a few minor things we could have taken the win, but we are extremely pleased with the outcome and will be back even stronger for the next event. Here are a few more shots of The Camaro on the track! Braking HARD from high speeds to zero with a very aggressive pad and slotted rotors = lots of sparks How something so big can look so much at home on track is unbelievable I will be posting some videos as well as soon as I get them uploaded. If anybody has any questions at all regarding the suspension set-up or anything else, just post them here and either a representative from Pfadt or myself will answer them. /Erik@Torq

09-14-2010, 07:07 PM	#4
1977and2010 Tampa Gulf Coast Family Drives: 1977 Z28, 2SSRS 2010 M6 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Dunedin FL Posts: 810	Way to represent. You guys are a horrible influence on me. I just ordered the pfadt coilovers, lol. __________________

09-14-2010, 10:08 PM	#7
sunsfan Drives: 1970 Camaro, 2010 Camaro Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Gilbert, Az Posts: 78	grats on 3rd you guys put together a nice car! __________________ 2010 Camaro & 1970 Camaro

09-21-2010, 06:11 PM	#12
YancyJohns Drives: Camaro Performers Magazine Join Date: May 2009 Location: South East Posts: 121 View My Garage	Erik, Thanks for the ride. Keep a lookout in your rear view mirror......hehe __________________ Camaro Performers Magazine SS/RS- 416 stroker, MagnaCharger TVS2300, DSE Sway, Baer 6S Brakes, Forgeline Wheels, BFG Rival, JBA Long tube/Exhaust, Center-Force Clutch, BMR-sfc,ta,tr, Energy Suspension poly kit, ADM CAI & Fuel pump, Norris PCV/Tune, Lingenfelter GT-9 cam, DSS 9" rear ind rear, Innov. West pulleys/8 rib, Pedders Super cloil-overs, MGW shifter,/Seibon/ Anvil carbon Fiber. Owner-American Street Car Series and as seen on R U Faster than a Redneck?...lol

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09-14-2010, 06:42 PM	#2
TCao Drives: 2010 2SS RS, 2007 FJC Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: SD CA Posts: 48	Outstanding report! Please post the alignment specs and shock damping settings used for this track when you have a chance. Kudos to the driver as well for finishing 3rd.

09-14-2010, 09:09 PM	#6
CamaroFTW Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS-Rally Yellow Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Palm Bay, FL Posts: 1,284	Erik..Congrats to you and your beautiful Camaro! WOW 3rd place...awesome! I love my Pfadt too Talk to you soon! Glad you had a safe trip back!

09-15-2010, 01:16 PM	#8
IPS Brandon Drives: 2010 Camaro SS black Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Columbus Ohio Posts: 907	Doing work! I still cant get over how you guys were racing through the monsoon. Only in auto cross ! Good seeing you again. Regards

09-17-2010, 10:32 AM	#10
Matt'sSS From 2 door to 5 door Drives: C5 Vert->CGM SS RS M6->SRT8 Magnum Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 600 View My Garage	Amazing job Eric! Congratulations to you and your team at Torq! Keep the podium finishes coming!

09-21-2010, 02:05 PM	#11
PfadtRacing Drives: 2010 Camaro, 2006 Z06 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: SLC, UT Posts: 3,370	Erik, what is the next event planned?