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Old 11-16-2011, 09:54 AM   #1
2012camaro2SS/RS
 
Drives: 2012 Camaro 2SS/RS A6
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I need Help Choosing a Suspension Upgrade.

Right now I have everything stock on my 12' Camaro SS suspension wise.

The Camaro has some wheel hop, rear end sway and cornering weaknesses. I used to drive a 09' 335i and it handled a lot better when taking turns above 60mph(mountain fun), going from 0-60 without slipping as much, as well as feeling more in control of the car at higher speeds.
Does a stiffer suspension cause this on the BMW?

What is the best thing I can do for my Camaro Suspension that will
1. Reduce wheel hop when going from 0-60/quarter mile
2. Improve handling and traction when: cornering, slalom type driving and quarter mile?

I am not trying to make this car a stiff and uncomfortable ride(daily driver).

I am open to ANY suggestions and all input

All I know about is Hotckis and PFADT Engineering. But there are a ton of different options that seem to overlap each other in what they do for your car. I am confused and need you all's pro advice.

Please Help!

-Dylan
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Old 11-16-2011, 09:58 AM   #2
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Your going to want trailing arms, rear differential and cradle bushings (street or race version up to you), probably a set of coil overs, adjustable sway bars (front and rear), strut tower brace, and I think that's most of it. But I probably missed one or two things.
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Old 11-16-2011, 10:03 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stieger View Post
Your going to want trailing arms, rear differential and cradle bushings (street or race version up to you), probably a set of coil overs, adjustable sway bars (front and rear), strut tower brace, and I think that's most of it. But I probably missed one or two things.
Do you think Pedders springs are a good cheaper alt to coil overs? It's so much money for coil overs.
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Old 11-16-2011, 10:08 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by JoshBobGuptaMarley View Post
Do you think Pedders springs are a good cheaper alt to coil overs? It's so much money for coil overs.
Yes. I suggested coil overs because of how the OP described his driving habits. For what he wants to do coil overs would be the best bet, but that's not saying that springs wouldn't be an improvement.
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Old 11-16-2011, 12:09 PM   #5
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Hey Dylan! The Camaro does have it's pros and cons, especially when compared to the 335 you had before. There are absolutely some things that you can do to bring the handling of your Camaro beyond where your previous BMW was.

First thing we would suggest is a set of sway bars. The Camaro is big and heavy and really soaks up increases in roll resistance very well. It's not easy to remove 500 pounds of weight from your Camaro, but a well designed sway bar package can make it feel like it has. Sway bars will help the overall balance of the car by moving it's normal tendency from understeer back to neutral. We took a video during our development process to help show the differences between the stock sway bar package and our Sport sway bars:



More upgrades to consider are our Solid Subframe Mounts and a Trailing Arm package. The rear end of the Camaro has room for quite a bit of improvement for a performance application, and it starts at the Trailing Arms and Subframe Mounts. On hard launches the rear trailing arms can deflect, and the rear subframe will bound around on it's soft rubber bushings. Both of these are major contributors to wheel hop. After some strategic modifications to the rear end you will not only be able to more effectively put power down at the drag strip but really increase the handling capability of your car as well. When we were doing the development of our subframe mounts we also looked at manufacturing a Cross Brace as well, but found that we could get more performance improvement without adding weight or complexity to the bottom of your Camaro by just replacing the Subframe Mounts. Take a look at another video focusing on the rear subframe and you can see how much difference there is after subframe mounts and trailing arms:



Depending on your budget and your performance goals there are a couple different sways you can go with your spring and shock package. If you're looking to drop the car for a more aggressive stance but don't necissarily need the flexibility of coilovers we offer a drop spring kit for the V8 that will lower the car 1.25 inches, which in our opinion is the best balance of improved visual appearance, performance and shock life. Much lower than 1.25 inches on the stock shocks and you run the risk of shortening the overall life of the shock, and degrading the handling of your Camaro.

If you were looking for a more flexible system we do also offer a custom engineered coilover package that offers both ride height control and adjustable dampers. With our coilover system you can drop your Camaro up to 1.5 inches without worry, and really tune the ride characteristics to exactly what you're doing with your Camaro. If you're heading to the drag strip it's extremely easy to tune the car for an optimized drag setup, if you're heading to the Autocross or Road Course you can tune the car stiffer for increased response, and for just daily driving you can find an extremely comfortable ride. All of this is offered in one convenient package that is a direct bolt on installation and was designed specifically for your Camaro.



There are a bunch of different ways to look at modifying your Camaro. All of the above will provide a great ride quality on the street, while drastically improving the handling and fun factor of your Camaro. If you've got any questions please shoot us an email over to info@pfadtracing.com and we can talk about what you want to do with the car and how our parts can get you there!
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Old 11-16-2011, 02:20 PM   #6
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Thanks Pfadt!

Quote:
Originally Posted by PfadtRacing View Post
Hey Dylan! The Camaro does have it's pros and cons, especially when compared to the 335 you had before. There are absolutely some things that you can do to bring the handling of your Camaro beyond where your previous BMW was.

First thing we would suggest is a set of sway bars. The Camaro is big and heavy and really soaks up increases in roll resistance very well. It's not easy to remove 500 pounds of weight from your Camaro, but a well designed sway bar package can make it feel like it has. Sway bars will help the overall balance of the car by moving it's normal tendency from understeer back to neutral.

There are a bunch of different ways to look at modifying your Camaro. All of the above will provide a great ride quality on the street, while drastically improving the handling and fun factor of your Camaro. If you've got any questions please shoot us an email over to info@pfadtracing.com and we can talk about what you want to do with the car and how our parts can get you there!
I really appreciate all the information. I definitely want sway bars and trailing arms from Pfadt(with the goal of having no understeer or wheel hop). Still debating on the drop springs!! I like that stance quite a bit, but if I can get the handling I desire from the sways and trailing arms, that would probably be my route. I will email you soon!
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Old 11-16-2011, 02:52 PM   #7
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We also have some options that ould really help out the handling of the car and not break the bank. Our parts are made here in our facility so we can keep the end price down and give the customer the best deal possible.

The parts you should really look at for the wheel hop would be the trailing arms, toe rods, differential bushings, and rear cradle bushings. We have a couple different options for each part depending on how much power and what kind of driving you are looking to do with the car. These parts will also help in the handling department but you will want to add a few things to that list to really get your Camaro handling like you want. A good set of sway bars and lowering springs or coil-overs would be a real good place to start depending on your budget.

Here is a link to our 2010+ Camaro parts we have available, let me know if you have any questions or if there is something I can help you out with.

BMR 2010+ Camaro parts
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Old 11-16-2011, 03:31 PM   #8
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I suggest you get the full Hotchkis track pack, it is really is a great complete kit and we install a TON of these. Unless your tracking the car this track pack will really make you happy without breaking your wallet. can't beat it and the install is a breeze.
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Old 11-16-2011, 04:46 PM   #9
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Dylan the Pedders drop springs have a great stance to them, but bought as a Street II kit makes a better value to help the overall handling of the car.This kit includes the foundational bushings and adjustment kit with the drop springs.There is a Pedders pace car kit that has the coil overs,sway bars and bushings that you may want to consider,this one of our most popular kits it is worth a look before you decide.Here is a set of Pedders drop springs installed.
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Old 11-16-2011, 04:53 PM   #10
sweasey
 
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Hey Dylan... From another daily 2010 2SS RS driver

I feel your pain. After back surgery I want to be comfortable and have high performance. I live in Moorpark and drove up to Oxnard to see what Granatelli had to offer. Sooo worth the drive. I can't do the install so they did and here is what I had them do at their suggestions.

1. 2010 - 2012 Camaro 1G Suspension Bracing Package... This alone vastly improver grip in straight runs and 101 to Malibu drives... If you know what I mean.

2.Camaro Rear Lower Control Arms... These stopped the hop from starts and sudden excellerations that the chevy parts could not stop.


This is all you'll need for now and all under a grand ( I think due to Black Friday Sale I got 35% of web prices).

I plan on going all the way with this car as I want it all. But within my fixed budget.

I know this will help as it does for mine... Chris

So you don't have to look... Here's the info

http://www.granatellimotorsports.com
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Last edited by sweasey; 11-16-2011 at 06:02 PM.
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Old 11-16-2011, 04:56 PM   #11
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Here is the difference between Chevy and GMS control arms

Have Fun!
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Old 11-16-2011, 05:28 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sweasey View Post
Have Fun!
I wonder what the price is on trailing arms? I've heard they really help traction issues at the strip. I PMed Pfadt long time ago but never got a response...
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Old 11-16-2011, 05:33 PM   #13
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PM Sent!

They really do help reduce wheel hop when you're launching the car when you're at the strip, or help you put power more effectively down coming out of corners.
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Old 11-16-2011, 11:06 PM   #14
L99CAMA2011


 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2012camaro2SS/RS View Post
Right now I have everything stock on my 12' Camaro SS suspension wise.

The Camaro has some wheel hop, rear end sway and cornering weaknesses. I used to drive a 09' 335i and it handled a lot better when taking turns above 60mph(mountain fun), going from 0-60 without slipping as much, as well as feeling more in control of the car at higher speeds.
Does a stiffer suspension cause this on the BMW?

What is the best thing I can do for my Camaro Suspension that will
1. Reduce wheel hop when going from 0-60/quarter mile
2. Improve handling and traction when: cornering, slalom type driving and quarter mile?

I am not trying to make this car a stiff and uncomfortable ride(daily driver).

I am open to ANY suggestions and all input

All I know about is Hotckis and PFADT Engineering. But there are a ton of different options that seem to overlap each other in what they do for your car. I am confused and need you all's pro advice.

Please Help!

-Dylan
Sways, springs, rear cradle bushings not inserts,(waste of time), Radius bush mod, endlinks a must with upgraded sways, rear trailing arm upgrade and toelink arm upgrade. If you want to corner like an M3 instead of a 335 I would get BMRs rear drag bar, Pfadts, Hotchkis competition kits or Pedders solution C and kiss understeer good bye in extreme conditions. My Hotchkis 35mm rear comp bar set to full stiff feels not stiff at all but corners Freaking fantastic. Out cornered an e46 M3 so far like it was going straight, I couldn't believe it. The Camaro SS chassis is very well balanced and the weight distribution is to die for, better than a 335. Great balanced chassis with lousy stock suspension = GEN 5 Camaro SS. Now give it a good dose of suspension mods from any one of our vendors and watch it turn into a supercar, no joke.
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