C5 Community help needed for Suspension Upgrade

[PQ]

Originally Posted by roccky08

Thank you for your opinion PQ, and no you don't sound like an ass , you too agree that lowering and sway bars made a huge upgrade to your ride handling and comfort. Although, Springs might be the economical route, I really like the flexibility that adjustable coil overs have. I can see myself taking a trip to the mountains in a "comfort" level, and stop before the curvy roads start, adjust and let the fun begin, then adjust back for comfort and take a nice ride back home.

Additionally, force induction will eventually come and having the car ready from the suspension standpoint will be desirable.

As long as you keep the comfort setting the aligned setting. Sounds like you may do more comfort driving that performance.

[CamaroSS8491]

Originally Posted by PQ

Not to sound like an ass or anything, but if you're not gonna be tracking your car on a regular basis, it really doesn't matter.

And if you're looking for ride comfort as an important factor, get some Pfadt springs and call it a day. It'll lower your car for a good stance just like everone elses does, and it'll feel like stock. Trust me. The sway bars are what made the killer difference. For just over 700.00 I got the ride and handling any street car needs. There is a reason most Corvette guys use Pfadt. And if you ARE gonna track it, I'd want a race engineering company.

Just my opinion.

I am certainly no expert on suspension. I just know that of all of my mods, my suspension stuff has been my favorite and easiest and smoothest investment.

I agree, I added Pfadt Springs, sway bars, subframe bushings, and trailing arms for my DD and I love it. If your intrested in the cost I can tell ya just PM me...

[Ron@Vengeance]

Roccky,

Unfortunately I will not be in the office this Saturday. My brother is getting married in South Carolina Saturday. I will be available any day next week or the following weekend if Saturdays work better for you sir.

While it is difficult to compare one vendor to another on the forums I do have experience with all of the manufacturers listed. My professional and personal opinion lean toward Pfadt Race Engineering.. We use Pfadt products on all of our C5/C6 Corvette builds and have done so for several years now. Most all of our 2010 Camaros are using Pfadt Racing products as well with excellent results.

Pfadt engineers their products to out perform the competition and has proven this time and time again on many levels. A quick example would be Pfadt Racing winning both the street tire AND race tire class at Camaro Fest this year. (http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showth...Fest+autocross ) Aside from all out competition the ride quality under NORMAL driving conditions is extremely comfortable with no harsh vibrations/noises. The quality of the Pfadt pieces is simply second to none. Here is a short testimonial from a recent customer who had coil springs/sway bars/trailing arms installed at Vengeance Racing

My car does really look good with it's new stance and rides like it is on rails. I can tell a dfference in the way it handles but I can honestly say that I didn't give up any ride quality.

I had about a 3 hour ride home after the install and could not tell any difference in ride quality.

The MGW that Ron suggested is totally awesome. I like the positive shifts and simply the way it feels.

With the cam and other things I am pushing about 445 or so to the wheels and she runs great, I have had ZERO problems with any of the work Vengenace has done to my car. I make great power with a smaller cam, have not lost any drivability or dependabilty.

I did have a check engine light, but that was because the gas cap wasn't tight, duh.

I do not plan on doing any track racing, but I may do a lap or 2 at the track fest coming up just to see the difference, but since the course is a motorcycle course it really eats up the tires, so not much of that.

Ron is talking me into a TVS2300 and I will probably make around 600 rwhp, but need to save a few more pennies for that one.

I would like to thank Ron from Vengeance for the hospitality he showed me during this install, great bunch of guys who do awesome work, and to Aaron and Blair from Pfadt for answering many many many questions I had. Sometimes on these forums you get vendors who just want your money and they are gone, but these two Vengeance and Pfadt are really great and continue to answer any question I may have.

Their products are well designed and work as advertised. They just don't " Sell You Parts for the sake of selling you something" which in today's society is refreshing.

John



I do agree that the coilovers are the way to go on most any setup should the budget allow. Coiliovers give you MUCH more flexibility over standard coils and offer a greater performance advatange as well. Sway bars are also a requirement as far as Im concerned. It has been mentioned earlier in this thread that sway bars are not needed and I believe that to be entirely untrue. Swaybars are a crucial piece of the suspension and play a very important roll in cornering/oversteer & understeer as well as body roll. There are several bushings that are suggested as well to fully optimize your suspension. We can go over these in greater detail when we sit down.

Feel free to email/PM/call and let me know when you would like to stop by sir. We look forward to working with you.

Ron

Originally Posted by roccky08

Thank you Ron. I will need your experience to help me decide what vendor(s) I should go with from your personal and professional point of view, other suggestions will be welcomed as well. Will you be available this Saturday?

[roccky08]

Originally Posted by PQ

As long as you keep the comfort setting the aligned setting. Sounds like you may do more comfort driving that performance.

Now I'm a confused. I though that just "turning the knob" will make it firmer and looser without affecting the alignment. Why can't all this stuff be simpler

I'm hoping for Ron to help me decide here as you have a valid point. Sounds more like I'm wasting my money on coil-overs because of my driving habits. Springs seem to satisfy 95% of my ride requirements (hard city driving) now the question I should ask myself is the other 5%(long trip comfort / high performance need) worth the extra $$$$??

[roccky08]

Originally Posted by Ron@Vengeance

Roccky,

Unfortunately I will not be in the office this Saturday. My brother is getting married in South Carolina Saturday. I will be available any day next week or the following weekend if Saturdays work better for you sir.

I will call you next week to set up an appointment with you for either Friday or Saturday and help me with my decision.

Thank you Ron

[seddon]

Originally Posted by roccky08

Now I'm a confused. I though that just "turning the knob" will make it firmer and looser without affecting the alignment. Why can't all this stuff be simpler

I'm hoping for Ron to help me decide here as you have a valid point. Sounds more like I'm wasting my money on coil-overs because of my driving habits. Springs seem to satisfy 95% of my ride requirements (hard city driving) now the question I should ask myself is the other 5%(long trip comfort / high performance need) worth the extra $$$$??

I had the H&R springs they were good but the pedders Xa is way better and I am sure all these guys will tell you that coils are better than springs for the long term and adjustability. Set your ride height get alignment and forget about it. Select your comport level and forget about it.

[PQ]

Originally Posted by seddon

I had the H&R springs they were good but the pedders Xa is way better and I am sure all these guys will tell you that coils are better than springs for the long term and adjustability. Set your ride height get alignment and forget about it. Select your comport level and forget about it.

Change the alignment and you need an alignment.

With springs, you can set it and forget it, but you don't have to set it. Just swap them out,

[Jaysin]

Originally Posted by PQ

Change the alignment and you need an alignment.

With springs, you can set it and forget it, but you don't have to set it. Just swap them out,

You don't affect the alignment by adjusting the dampening on adjustable dampers, e.g. Pedders or Pfadt coilovers. If you start mucking with the ride height, then you need to have the alignment checked.

OMG PQ!! 18k posts... You're an animal!