gkmccready

Brought the car in the long way to work this morning. As I mentioned in my other thank-you thread I spent Friday out at Infineon getting new tires (AIM Tire), alignment and checking corner weights (TFB Performance).

As it sits today, my 2006 C6 Z51 has DRM Coilovers, HardbarUSA Camber plates & stud kit, Pfadt Poly Bushings in the control arms, and VBP bushings for the stock C6 Z51 swaybars. Wilwood SL6R calipers carried by LGM brackets. CCW C140 wheels, 18x10+18x11, wrapped in 275/35R18+305/35R18 Toyo R888s. A DRM/Ron Davis radiator+TOC+EOC is in the garage awaiting installation.

Alignment is a touch of toe-in up front (1mm total), -1.8deg camber, 8deg caster. A bit more toe-in out back (1.5mm total, ~1/16"), -1.25deg camber. I set the DRM coilovers to the measurements that Randy provided in a couple of threads now when I installed them a couple months back. For the corner weight we never touched a spring collar -- 49.7% cross, 52% front with half a tank of gas.

I have an on-ramp that has been my benchmark for being able to get power down off the corner. This morning was far and away the best that has ever felt, and the exit speed at the top of the hill merging on to the highway agreed.

After that I hopped off 280S at Hwy84/Woodside Rd and went up the hill to Hwy35. Across there until Page Mill Rd and then down and to work. Climbing and descending the hill is all tight corners, almost switchbacks. Hwy35 is more long sweepers. Public roads, so nothing crazy, just a nice drive to check things out.

The car is far and away the best it has been since I drove it off the dealers lot. I've tried a lot of swaybar combinations, stock shocks, KONI shocks, Penske coilovers. But this is easily the best the car has been. It *wants* to put power down. Turn-in is crisp and easily as good as it was with varying degrees of toe-out. The car just offers grip, grip, and more grip.

I've always been an adjustable parts kind of guy. Adjustable shocks, adjustable swaybars, camber/caster plates on the strut cars, etc, etc. DRM has proven to me that for something to work, really work, it need not be adjustable. Find a tuner that likes the car to behave the way you like the car to behave and life will be good.

Now to flush the brakes with some fresh Motul and find a track day!

DarkMastyr

The 84/35/Page Mill drive is definitely very fun and tight. I haven't been up there in a few months, but maybe I'll go up there this weekend and have some fun!

gkmccready

It's a great shake down. You don't have to speed to put the car through its paces and get a feel for how it's behaving. But nothing replaces an autocross or a track day.

2MCHPWR

i have a similar combo on my 98 c5.
DRM coilovers (slammed) and t1 sways. 295 r888's up front and 315's out back.
-2.6 front and -1.5 rear. cornerweighted with me in it (50% front, 50% cross)
car feels amazing.
question: what is the HardbarUSA Camber plates & stud kit and is it necessary? for what?
thanks!

gkmccready

Necessary? Nope. But piece of mind. the camber plates replace the stock eccentrics and lock the alignment in place. No slipping, no torqueing the eccentrics way over spec.

How are the R888s wearing for you with that set up? I previously ran more camber front and rear but both AIM and Tim said the R888s prefer to be run more upright than, say, the RA1s due to the R888s having a much stiffer sidewall.

Sidney004

Get those brakes flushed and sign up, a bunch of us are going to this one on August 29 and 30:
http://www.ncracing.org/events.php

AtomicZ

I have to agree with you on the DRM coilovers. They really make the car handle the curves. You get them set properly and leave them alone - no reason to be able to adjust them all the time. Randy, Doug and Todd installed mine and I couldn't be happier. I am currently running -2.5 up front and -1.5 in back. And of course the did a full corner balance and alignment.

If you are serious about getting your car to handle better on the street or you have an addiction to feed at the track - you can't go wrong with the DRM coilovers and the professional advice and service they provide.

0Randy@DRM

Thanks guys, I'm glad that you have been happy with the setup. I have said before "Bilstein shocks really make our job easy" With their technolgy and our racing-street experience it's a proven easy to drive package. I was at a school day a couple weeks ago. Out of the two instructors I had in the car, both of them said, man you get on the power early and it just sticks. They have had hundreds of Vettes under their belts and they were asking many questions about the setup. I named dropped a few people that were key people in the making-design and valving of our coilovers, they were

Thanks guys
Randy
www.dougrippie.com

2MCHPWR

So far, I put about 1000 miles on the street, and 3 track days.
Wear is pretty amazing. here's a pic from last weeks event at pocono, this run was on the north course, leaving the infield and entering the nascar bank. car is squished down nicely but no rubbing at all.

0Randy@DRM

So with all your miles and track events, would you guys change any of the setting on the shocks??? If you had the option anyways???

Randy

ZO6NTHEWIND

gkmccready:

Thanks for posting this. It's a good read and very informative.

Later,

Z06Fix

Randy, you have a PM sir

gkmccready

*Somebody* likes to call me a fiddler because I'm constantly futzing with stuff on the car trying to make it better or get it the way I like it. I haven't had the urge, or the need, to do that since putting the DRM coilovers on. Occassionally I feel like I might want a bit more roll stiffness but some wise owl once told me to "tune swaybars by laptimes, and not by driver feel."

dbratten

AAS runs at Great America Saturday & Sunday. Santa Clara Corvette's runs at Oakland on Saturday. SFR runs at Oakland on Sunday. I'll run both on Saturday with AAS in the am and Oakland in the pm.

Come on out.

--Dan

gkmccready

No brake fluid yet. Once the brakes are flushed I'm all over this. Weird "creaking" sound coming from the RF when I get on and off the brakes at a stop right now.

2MCHPWR

Hey Randy -
I recently let a Koni Challenge driver, Sam Schultz, do some laps in my car and he loved it! I was only 2 seconds behind him but I'll soon try to equal his times (2:47 me versus his 2:45).
His only issue was mid corner understeer. We agreed it might be a side affect of the staggered setup (295/30/18 toyo r888 fronts and 315 rears). He asked if I could stiffen up my shocks to address it but I told him no. What would you do to address it, or just live with it? I have T1 sways.
thanks!