Wicked Weasel

I installed my Hardbar Penske Setup last week, but didnt make any comments knowing I had 3 track days this week.

First I like to say all of the parts are top quality. Gary includes dyno sheets for every shock. As proven by the first set of shocks that failed the dyno testing (Gary told me why, but I foget) Gary tests ensures you are getting what you are paid for. Before you get them you know Gary has made sure they work 100% which has always been part of Hardbar service.

The install was easy especially since I was replacing my old coilovers. The hardest part of the install is figuring where to put the canisters so that you can have access to them for quick adjustments. The rear canisters were easy to figure out where to put them and the included canister mounts makes for easy installation. The front ones prove to be more of a challenge. For now we put them in the front fender area. It is a clean install still using the provided canister holders, but to change setting you have to remove the lower front cover (4 screws). Not an issue really, but in the winter when we have more time I am going to move the canisters to inside the engine bay area just to make it easier to make changes.

The only change I made from what Gary sent me was the ride height on the driver's side. I did not have time to corner weight my car at the shop, but I knew the ride height I had front to back and side to side so I wanted start with those numbers with the new setup.

I did call Gary and state that the height was higher than my old setup and that there was no way I would match the old ride heights all around. Gary said give it a try. He said if I wanted the slammed look he could make the change to the coil, but his thoughts around how the suspension should work allows for full travel of the shock without smashing into the quarter panels.

Since I paid for Gary's knowledge along with the setup I decided it was time to trust his opinion 100% and go from there.

My first 2 track days were at the new Thunderbolt course which just opened in South Jersey. My first impression was the suspension felt a bit mushy on turn in and that lowered my confidence. As the day went on though I realized that yes on turn in it felt mushy compared to the old setup, but the more you pushed the suspension the tighter it got and the better it felt compared to the old setup. By the final session on day 1 I was pushing the car further and never once was I concerned about handling.

The 2nd day on the track I got to play with the Ferrari guys. Although they were faster in the carousel part of the course everywhere else I felt I was just as quick if not quicker.

Day 3 I went to Pocono. I made no changes to the suspension wanting to see what it felt like on an old track not a freshly paved track. First I never did the double infield so that took a full session to understand where I was going so suspension was the last thing on my mind. The 2nd session though I turned it up a bit. The transition at Pocono from the NASCAR course to the infields is brutal to say the least. We were there with motorcycles that day and my friend who races bikes said that all the bike guys hated it because they would really get thrown around.

My car though handled the bumps without an issue. The car was very smooth and had no problems handling the bumps. This was what I was looking for and why I contacted Gary about getting his setup. My old setup was fine if the track was smooth, but in the Northeast it seems that none of our tracks our smooth. I wanted something that absorbed the bumps and gators on our Northeast tracks and that is exactly what Gary@Hardbar gave me. I took my motorcycle friend out for a ride and he was impressed on how well the car tracked and how you didnt feel the bumps making the transition.

By the end of the day I still wanted my turn in to be a bit more aggressive so I called Gary and he said turn the blue **** on the canister 3 clicks and see what it was like. If that felt better then adjust the rebound 3 clicks too. These adjustments are very quick to do at the track. If I didnt have to take the cover off to make the change to the front canisters I am sure I could be done in less than 10 mins.

When I bought my first setup I thought that I would never have time to make adjustments at the track and never really wanted to mess with the suspension. Put it on, have it work and be done with them, but now realizing how easy it is to make an adjustment with this setup I look forward to dialing in each track to what makes me feel the most comfortable and thus gives me more confidence to attack the track.

Unfortuantely it rained at Pocono (whats new ) and I didnt get a chance to make the adjustment that Gary suggested at the track. I did make the adjustment this morning and took it out on my private track course . The mushy feeling was gone and turn in was more crisp. I wish I called Gary earlier, but such is life. I now know what to do for the future so I will begin logging my settings at different tracks.

BTW - I played around with the suspension and made it less aggressive just to see. I never knew my vette could drive like a Caddy on the street

Thanks Gary for you support and for providing me with top notch coilover setup.

Bob

(I have some pictures of the setup that I hope to post today. I am getting ready for Bondurant though and I think my wife wants to spend some time with me )

Here are some pictures from Thunderbolt from Track Time Photos (which I am in the process of ordering)





Coming over the hill that you swear you get air on. I had a passenger and was keeping the speed down, but look at the travel



and the Ferrari Guys

RUN4CVR

Nice set up Bob, good talking to you at Pocono.

Glad your Vette is yellow, there was too many red ones out there!

Jason

(Black C6 Z)

L98Terror

Nice write up, What was your old set up?


Thanks for sharing

vettedan

95jersey

Bob, glad to hear the good experiences. I was wondering where you guys went on Friday, it cleared up, the sun came out and dried everything and we got 2 more sessions by 6pm.

Anyway, I have a couple of questions. You say the set up came high from Hardbar and that He said if you wanted the slammed look he could make the change to the coil.

I am trying to understand this. What kind of "change" to the coil? Ride height as far as I know is totally adjustable on any coil over, why would Gary need to "change the coil"?

Also I would imagine the dual spring compared to a single spring probably dramatically improves the street ride compared to a single spring coil-over? I guess the initial mushiness is the softer coil taking the slack before the stiffer coil comes into play. While this sounds like a great benefit for a dual use driver (street/track), I am wondering if the softer coil isn't a drawback on the track where high speed turn in stability is critical. Keep us informed, like anything it may just be something that one has to get use to, as you did say that once you were in the corner the grip was vastly improved. I know going from leaf springs to coil overs in general was night and day and took a few track events to get use to and build back that confidence.

Great write up and give us updates.

Chris@East Coast Supercharging

I hope you weren't driving like a sissy on my account

Axelrod

No, no, he said he didn't want to mess up your hair!