Gen 5 Track set up????

[Shookemup]

Generally what is the best setup for suspension and tires for track?

[PepeLePew]

what kind of track are you setting your car up for? Road racing or drag racing?

Drag racing depends a lot on power levels and transmission.

If you have an Automatic, then for tires you want a a good drag radial with a hard sidewall and sticky compound like MT ET street R. If your power levels are close to stock in the 375-425 range, then you'll get good traction on a 20" wheel. If you are above 500whp or so, you'll want to consider smaller diameter wheels and larger sidewall. Whether you are stock or modified, you'll want to consider a higher stall torque converter in the 3600-4000 range. This will help your call get out of the hole a lot faster and improve 60 foot and ETs regardless of power level.

If you have a manual, you want a bias ply slick like Hoosiers with as much sidewall as you can fit. Some wheel makers like weld will fit oem rear brakes in a 17" size allowing a bigger sidewall. Or you can do a 15" conversion kit with smaller brakes and get a lot more bite out of the tire.

For suspension, the first upgrades considered should be cradle bushings, toe rods, trailing arms. If you are making a lot of power or have a manual, you'll want to think about axles and driveshaft upgrades as well. A rear diff cover will stiffen up the housing and allow the gears to hold up better under high stress as well.

If you are talking about road racing its a different story.

You'll want a good sticky road racing radial on all 4 corners like toyo proxes r888r. Suspension minimums would be things to stiffen the body like subframe connectors and strut tower braces. Also, track rated lowering springs (not the comfy progressive rate springs that just give a lowered stance) and shocks are a minimum. Beefier sway bars help eliminate body roll as well. You can go crazy with adjustable coilovers, control arms, solid bushings, adjustable track bar, etc.

It mainly comes down to what your goals are performance wise (like times, speeds, cornering Gs), what kind of racing you'll be doing, and what your budget will allow you to do to accomplish those goals.

I'm sure I left some stuff off here but you'll get a bunch of other input from others here as well.

[Spec]

The above for road racing, which is more my personal preference - one package hands down the best set for 10, 11's - Hotchkis Race Set with fine tuned Springs, Sways, Endlinks, Strut and Chassis braces. Some good tires like PepeLePew (lolwut?) said, and you're set.

Consider aftermarket bushings like BMR for everything they offer. Considerable improvement over stock.

From there, its pretty much weight-loss and more power...

[Shookemup]

Sorry, I was referring to road course/ track settings. Check my profile for all the jazz I have under my car. I bought it already kinda done. The OE owner raced it in the Optima Street car challenge. From what I read I have most of that stuff. Plus I have extras, What is the best brand? Also with the horsepower I m about 500 to the wheels...

[PepeLePew]

Originally Posted by Spec

The above for road racing, which is more my personal preference - one package hands down the best set for 10, 11's - Hotchkis Race Set with fine tuned Springs, Sways, Endlinks, Strut and Chassis braces. Some good tires like PepeLePew (lolwut?) said, and you're set.

Consider aftermarket bushings like BMR for everything they offer. Considerable improvement over stock.

From there, its pretty much weight-loss and more power...

hahaha... I'm glad my name made you laugh.... black car white stripes... skunk!

[CamaroDreams76]

I think it boils down to money.

"Best" would probably be to mimick the Z/28.R and run Penske coil overs, snag up some spherical bushings and run slicks.

Budget minded would be buy the Z/28 or 1LE suspension kit from GM and snag a set of the corresponding rims and tires.

You could also look at JPSS and make a reference point. Theres an article by Pete that has a lot of good info about the 5th gen in the handling department.

[bkevind]

Originally Posted by Shookemup

Sorry, I was referring to road course/ track settings. Check my profile for all the jazz I have under my car. I bought it already kinda done. The OE owner raced it in the Optima Street car challenge. From what I read I have most of that stuff. Plus I have extras, What is the best brand? Also with the horsepower I m about 500 to the wheels...

Copy/pasting your mod list here:
---
Magnuson TVS2300_8PSI
ZL1 Fuel Pump
Ride Tech HQ coilovers-lvl 2
BMR sway Bars
1LE toe links
LSR end links
Pedders cradle bushings
UMI trailing arms w/Roto Joints
Z/28 radius arms
Z/28 rear upper control arms
slp front splitter
ZL1 Rear spoiler w/ wicker bill
373 gears
---

This is a solid list of parts. With the potential pace that is capable with this list of parts, I'd recommend brake upgrades and brake cooling (ducting) as number 1 thing to address, followed up by addressing heat soak on long runs (I'm not sure if this is an issue with your car or not) - upgrade oil cooler, intercooler etc.

Other than brakes as red flag to me, what you have is pretty solid for track days. Spend money on tires and track time and enjoy what you have.

Yeah there are definitely things to upgrade if you start chasing lap times and if you want to go more hardcore track setup.

[12blkgrayRS]

My last 2 track cars I first upgraded the brake fluid to DOT 4 to keep from boiling on the track. changed Diff and tranny (Manual) fluids. Upgraded stock brakes (RS) to Brembos, new SS lines, for consistent pedal under hard braking when hot. Rubber lines will collapse after a day at the track.
I have replace/upgraded to BMR coils, frt/rr 3 way adjustable sways. next on the list was to replace the OEM struts with Konis (haven't done yet - cost prohibitive at the moment). Bushings are good idea as well. Strut bar for quicker turn in, (at least it was for me). Realigned suspension to track specs, more camber and less toe. there some track spec alignments specs on this forum somewhere. And of course, some tires (extra set would be good) that are more suited for the track, street tires get hot and give you handling issues. I have the goodyears supercar F1's. the Michelins are awesome, but wear really fast. now this was for a V6 Camaro. I sure the V8 cars would have similar needs. But like the above track rats, the list of mods never ends...…..
Oil and tranny coolers are strongly recommended.

[SS Performance]

For tires I'm happy with Nitto NT01's

[bkevind]

oh for tires - 305 square is a good size, maybe bigger in the back if you can fit them.

The Goodyear from the gen 6 ZL1 1LE are a good track tire that is streetable

Bridgestone RE71R also (may not last long - it's what I have now)
NT01 are an old favorite of mine
Hankook RS4 are known to be a decent long lasting track day tire

Depending on how it goes with my RE71R, I may go to the GY F1 3R to go a little quicker, or go with the RS4 to get more laps out of a set.

[Tajefe Couple]

Originally Posted by PepeLePew

hahaha... I'm glad my name made you laugh.... black car white stripes... skunk!

LOL Never got that on the name thing!
Loved that cartoon as a kid, that skunk was always chasing tail.

[bkevind]

For suspension your Ridetech HQ is decent - entry to midlevel performance.

I am changing my Ridetechs out for MCS 2 way adjustable, which are upper mid-level and can in theory take a lot further along my driving journey. I actually thought my Ridetechs did pretty well on bumpy Texas tracks. But I got bit by the upgrade bug.

Others will tell you JRI, or JRZ are good choices.

These are some good out of the box options.

Big budget hard core custom racing setups are an option, but really overkill unless you're at the top level of racing. Some really quick drivers are doing just fine on fairly basic suspension.

[Shookemup]

[SS Performance]

Originally Posted by bkevind

For suspension your Ridetech HQ is decent - entry to midlevel performance.

I am changing my Ridetechs out for MCS 2 way adjustable, which are upper mid-level and can in theory take a lot further along my driving journey. I actually thought my Ridetechs did pretty well on bumpy Texas tracks. But I got bit by the upgrade bug.

Others will tell you JRI, or JRZ are good choices.

These are some good out of the box options.

Big budget hard core custom racing setups are an option, but really overkill unless you're at the top level of racing. Some really quick drivers are doing just fine on fairly basic suspension.

Any idea how the Z28 suspension would compare to these?

Thanks
Craig