2012 ZL1 Mag-Ride Enough? - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

BiggFoot · 12-30-2011, 10:03 PM

I wonder about the 2012 ZL1 and mag-ride. If the hp is increased on the car from the stock 580 to the 750 hp range will the car need additional suspension mods to plant the a$$ during acceleration?

Guess I would have thought that the car would have been capable of better than a 12.0 E.T. I also noticed some wheel hop on a couple of the launch vids.

Have any of the aftermarket suspension folks given any thought to customizing their competition track packages for the ZL1?

BiggFoot · 12-31-2011, 02:36 PM

Dang, not one response from a suspension vendor? Guess it is just too early for them to give input, although the mag ride has been in some of the Vettes for awhile so I dont see it that much different in the ZL1. Just saying.

Falundir · 12-31-2011, 05:02 PM

Most are closed for the holiday and will be hung over tomorrow~

BiggFoot · 12-31-2011, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Falundir

Most are closed for the holiday and will be hung over tomorrow~

Yep, I am sure you are right.

Anthony @ LG Motorsports · 01-02-2012, 06:23 PM

Really depends on how you are going to drive the car.

Again we are all just guessing at this point, as only the factory and a few people have driven this thing right now but going off of what we learned from the ZR1....

We have done a number of ZR1 cars (stock 530 rwhp, 3300 lb car) pushing 730-780 rwhp and well over 800 ft-lbs of torque. The PDM (5 way traction control) along with the mag. ride package does work pretty darn good for keeping the cars under control. At this point, I think we have stretched the limits of our house ZR1 between the increased power, slicks, and aero work that we will be changing it out for 2012 for the runs we do with the car (road race, and hill climb).

Of course tires are going to play a big part in this as well, the ZL1 is suppose to have the new GY SuperCar tires on there, which should be sticky for about 2-3k miles, then they get hard and slide around a bit. Not the same kind of tire that is on the ZR1, so I don't know how repeatable the car is going to be after some miles on the tires.

If you are going to focus more on drag racing, road racing, or starting to do some aero work then yes there will be benefits in custom tailoring the suspension to how YOU want the car to drive...for 95% of the guys out there...it is going to be far better than the current SS.

BiggFoot · 01-03-2012, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anthony @ LG Motorsports

Really depends on how you are going to drive the car.

Again we are all just guessing at this point, as only the factory and a few people have driven this thing right now but going off of what we learned from the ZR1....

We have done a number of ZR1 cars (stock 530 rwhp, 3300 lb car) pushing 730-780 rwhp and well over 800 ft-lbs of torque. The PDM (5 way traction control) along with the mag. ride package does work pretty darn good for keeping the cars under control. At this point, I think we have stretched the limits of our house ZR1 between the increased power, slicks, and aero work that we will be changing it out for 2012 for the runs we do with the car (road race, and hill climb).

Of course tires are going to play a big part in this as well, the ZL1 is suppose to have the new GY SuperCar tires on there, which should be sticky for about 2-3k miles, then they get hard and slide around a bit. Not the same kind of tire that is on the ZR1, so I don't know how repeatable the car is going to be after some miles on the tires.

If you are going to focus more on drag racing, road racing, or starting to do some aero work then yes there will be benefits in custom tailoring the suspension to how YOU want the car to drive...for 95% of the guys out there...it is going to be far better than the current SS.

Thanks Anthony, I appreciate your thoughts. I wonder a bit about the tires myself because I have a friend that had similar tires on his Vette (though I realize these were supposedly customized for the ZL1) and he complained of excessive wheel spin when he tromped it at 70 mph. He switched to a set of Nitto's and has been extremely pleased ever since.

Regarding the suspension, I probably wont make any changes until I have some seat time in the car. If I find the car just wont hook then I will probably change tires first before diving into suspension mods. By late summer this forum will probably be filled with ZL1 questions regarding this subject and with some drive time and tinkering, I am certain we will all learn a lot about the ZL1. It should be interesting.

Anthony @ LG Motorsports · 01-03-2012, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BiggFoot

Thanks Anthony, I appreciate your thoughts. I wonder a bit about the tires myself because I have a friend that had similar tires on his Vette (though I realize these were supposedly customized for the ZL1) and he complained of excessive wheel spin when he tromped it at 70 mph. He switched to a set of Nitto's and has been extremely pleased ever since.

Regarding the suspension, I probably wont make any changes until I have some seat time in the car. If I find the car just wont hook then I will probably change tires first before diving into suspension mods. By late summer this forum will probably be filled with ZL1 questions regarding this subject and with some drive time and tinkering, I am certain we will all learn a lot about the ZL1. It should be interesting.

It will be interesting to see if Michelin will make a tire for the car. I know on my Z06 the Michelin's over the GoodYears, there is a HUGE difference in traction. The GoodYears are great when they are new, they just don't last long.

PfadtRacing · 01-03-2012, 11:17 AM

Again mostly speculative at this point, but our experience with Corvette Mag Ride leads us to believe there still will be large gains to be had when switching to a coilover type setup over the Mag Ride. Most customers are going to really like the system as a whole in the beginning, but as they begin to push their cars on the street and track there are definite benefits to a coilover built specifically for the Camaro. The Mag Ride system can only take you so far as there isn't ride height control built in, so if you're looking for a more aggressive stance coilovers will be the right way to go. Also keep in mind that repair costs will be SIGNIFICANTLY higher with the Mag ride than a traditional shock package should you need to have them replaced in the future.

*More Speculation* Ultimately the ZL1 is a street car and will most likely have spring rates appropriately selected for an aggressive production street car. You can play tricks with damping to achieve some good results on track, but ultimately if you start adding more grip to the car with race tires you're going to need extra spring rate. Our coilovers were designed around readily available coil springs which makes custom spring packages a breeze to setup.

Overall, it will definitely be interesting to see what one of the ZL1's will do on track and in the real world. The whole package should be a huge step in the right direction though, and will make these cars a WHOLE lot more fun to drive straight off the factory floor.

12-30-2011, 10:03 PM	#1
BiggFoot Drives: 2010 Camaro (M6) 1000+ HP SBE Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Houston Posts: 1,391	2012 ZL1 Mag-Ride Enough? I wonder about the 2012 ZL1 and mag-ride. If the hp is increased on the car from the stock 580 to the 750 hp range will the car need additional suspension mods to plant the a$$ during acceleration? Guess I would have thought that the car would have been capable of better than a 12.0 E.T. I also noticed some wheel hop on a couple of the launch vids. Have any of the aftermarket suspension folks given any thought to customizing their competition track packages for the ZL1?

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12-31-2011, 02:36 PM	#2
BiggFoot Drives: 2010 Camaro (M6) 1000+ HP SBE Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Houston Posts: 1,391	Dang, not one response from a suspension vendor? Guess it is just too early for them to give input, although the mag ride has been in some of the Vettes for awhile so I dont see it that much different in the ZL1. Just saying.

12-31-2011, 05:02 PM	#3
Falundir Drives: 2017 1SS 1LE - Hyper Blue, P85DL Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: East Bay Posts: 2,189 View My Garage	Most are closed for the holiday and will be hung over tomorrow~

01-02-2012, 06:23 PM	#5
Anthony @ LG Motorsports Drives: 1994 1LE / 2006 Z51 Corvette Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Plano, TX Posts: 2,829	Really depends on how you are going to drive the car. Again we are all just guessing at this point, as only the factory and a few people have driven this thing right now but going off of what we learned from the ZR1.... We have done a number of ZR1 cars (stock 530 rwhp, 3300 lb car) pushing 730-780 rwhp and well over 800 ft-lbs of torque. The PDM (5 way traction control) along with the mag. ride package does work pretty darn good for keeping the cars under control. At this point, I think we have stretched the limits of our house ZR1 between the increased power, slicks, and aero work that we will be changing it out for 2012 for the runs we do with the car (road race, and hill climb). Of course tires are going to play a big part in this as well, the ZL1 is suppose to have the new GY SuperCar tires on there, which should be sticky for about 2-3k miles, then they get hard and slide around a bit. Not the same kind of tire that is on the ZR1, so I don't know how repeatable the car is going to be after some miles on the tires. If you are going to focus more on drag racing, road racing, or starting to do some aero work then yes there will be benefits in custom tailoring the suspension to how YOU want the car to drive...for 95% of the guys out there...it is going to be far better than the current SS.

01-03-2012, 11:17 AM	#8
PfadtRacing Drives: 2010 Camaro, 2006 Z06 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: SLC, UT Posts: 3,370	Again mostly speculative at this point, but our experience with Corvette Mag Ride leads us to believe there still will be large gains to be had when switching to a coilover type setup over the Mag Ride. Most customers are going to really like the system as a whole in the beginning, but as they begin to push their cars on the street and track there are definite benefits to a coilover built specifically for the Camaro. The Mag Ride system can only take you so far as there isn't ride height control built in, so if you're looking for a more aggressive stance coilovers will be the right way to go. Also keep in mind that repair costs will be SIGNIFICANTLY higher with the Mag ride than a traditional shock package should you need to have them replaced in the future. More Speculation Ultimately the ZL1 is a street car and will most likely have spring rates appropriately selected for an aggressive production street car. You can play tricks with damping to achieve some good results on track, but ultimately if you start adding more grip to the car with race tires you're going to need extra spring rate. Our coilovers were designed around readily available coil springs which makes custom spring packages a breeze to setup. Overall, it will definitely be interesting to see what one of the ZL1's will do on track and in the real world. The whole package should be a huge step in the right direction though, and will make these cars a WHOLE lot more fun to drive straight off the factory floor.