[2SS BUMBLBE]

Review of my Pfadt suspension.

Part I.

On June 20, 2011, I drove from Clarksville, TN to Marietta, GA, to have MTI Racing install my Pfadt suspension. The items for installation were:

Coil-overs
Trailing arms
Solid sub-frame bushings
Engine mounts
Street differential mounts
Rear lower control arm bushings
Rear tie rod (fixed)
Rear upper control arm bushing kit
Front lower control arm bushings
Front trailing arm bushing

Additionally, I had the MTI folks provide and install:

SLP 160 degree thermostat
MTI front/rear sway bars
Braided steel brake lines

I dropped the car off on June 21 at 9 a.m. with Scott at the front. We reviewed my work order and he gave me a ride to my buddy’s house. At 5 p.m., I picked up my candy apple red, powder coated, Brembo OEM calipers from Mikethepowdercoater. Mike is a great guy, showed me around his shop, and demonstrated his powder coating ability. Mike will soon be leaving his garage in favor of a dedicated shop, which I am sure will make him very happy.

At 9 a.m. on June 22, I dropped off the calipers at MTI. I decided to add MTI sway bars, because, as Steve put it, the sway bars were off anyhow, so now was the time to do it. He also convinced me to upgrade to braided steel brake lines, again, half the work was already complete while doing the calipers.

MTI had promised me the vehicle by COB June 22, and they were slammed on the 21st, so had not been able to start mine. Reese had two of his crew go full bore to get my car finished. The guys and Steve stayed until 7:30 p.m. (an hour and a half after close) to knock it out! I really appreciate that they were able to get me out of the shop on the day they promised. The only piece of the puzzle they did not address was the front trailing arm bushings; they require 12 hours for the Locktite to set, and I had to get home. They will go on another day.

I drove back out to Mike’s house and dropped off the core calipers and he got to see his handiwork on my ride and I got to see his racer, ready for the trailer ride to Birmingham for a track day.

I’ve kept you in suspense-ion long enough. The drive from MTI to Mike’s was in moderate traffic on the Interstate and surface streets. I drove the whole way with the radio off and windows up; the only non-automobile sounds were the instructions from my Tom Tom.

So here is the down side. There was a noticeable increase in perceived engine, road, and transmission noise. I expected this after the change from all of those soft bushings to solid or more rigid ones. What I did not expect was the serious vibration increase when the L99 was sitting at ~1200 and ~1800 RPMs. The engine or transmission must cause something to resonate, which causes a seriously annoying vibration in the cabin. Unfortunately, I think that those numbers are shift points and/or AFM points, because they seem to hit often. I had to accelerate over or brake under those points or my spleen was in jeopardy. There was a noticeable but acceptable difference when hitting road seams, bumps, or potholes.

And now here is the up side. The vehicle handles perceptibly better, more nimble and less roll in cornering. I was babying it because I did not want to overestimate its capability. Once I left Mike’s place and headed home, the weather took a turn for the worse. Somewhere on I-285 the sky opened up and traffic slowed down. I had no problem holding the road and changing lanes in the crappy weather. The drive from ATL to CHA was off and on rain in the dark and the car performed well. Semis, motorcycles, and idiots driving too fast for the conditions were of no concern. From CHA to BNA, the weather cleared up and the drive was uneventful.

I need to get on some curvy roads and open her up a little bit. There is a stretch that I have driven a few times stock, so now I will drive it Pfadt and report back in Part II.

I will post more pictures when I get the progress shots from MTI.

More to follow….