taken19

After some corrective maintenance (possible wheel bearing and PS pump), I'm looking to step up my game on the track. I currently have stock Z51 leaf springs, DRM custom Bilstiens and stock Z51 sway bars.

What has a more significant impact on the track, a set of coilovers or upgraded sway bars? I'm looking in terms of car stability and corresponding lap times. Also figure in bang for the buck since the difference in cost is large.

If sway bars are the answer, which ones would you recommend? The car is still dual purpose but spends 80% of the time on the track. I'm not looking for street comfort with upgrades, only maximum track performance.

Thanks for any input,
Sean

TMyers

With my F55 car I first upgraded with sways, in my case Z51 and bushings. Good improvement but still to much brake dive. The dive I believe led to blowing my right shock. Added coil overs, damn why did I wait so long. I have Pfadts SA setup, front springs are about 40lbs heavier and 70lbs lighter in the rear and drops the car about 3/4 of an inch.

Gone is the excessive brake dive. The car is much more neutral in the corners, push is reduced greatly and I can control the rear end with throttle instead of always picking up the front end and washing out. Ride is compromised some but is still nice on all but the worse roads.

Of course now that I have the coil overs I find that it would be great to have a bigger and adjustable sway setup. It is a never ending chase.

PS: I don't track as much as I auto cross. YMMV

taken19

Thanks for the input. So it sounds like coilovers may be a better overall upgrade in terms of car control.

Anybody else?

sperkins

Without a doubt, the best bang for the buck is sways. T1's are really good.

dbratten

COs give more compliance but much of their benefit is in also raising the spring rate. Sways will keep the car flatter and you faster as your first step. I've run the Pfadt Street Bars for many years both with and without COs.

taken19

That's 2 votes for away bars and one for coilovers.

In searching for improved car control and track times, keep the opinions coming!

AU N EGL

Set time and more seat time and then nothing but seat time.

taken19

I understand that completely and agree. Im buying all the seat time my schedule and wallet can handle. Maybe I didn't phrase that correctly...

I want a better handeling car on he track. Crisp turn in, less body roll, etc. Thats the info I'm looking for help on.

CHJ In Virginia

It really is a slippery slope that you are on. I started out with Hotchkiss sways and poly sway bushings. They made a BIG difference in handling and allowed me to drop lap times. Then came Bilstein shocks which also helped but not as much. Finally went with LG - GT2 coilovers and Pfadt poly A arm bushings last winter. The Z06 is an entirely different car !!
Bottom Line - if the car is mostly track driven, save up enough $ and do it all at one time ! Piece mealing will cost you more money in the long run, especially if you are having someone else do the install.
Just wait and do coil overs, poly bushings, corner weighting, lower and sways at the same time. Don't forget to do a track alignment. You will be amazed at your new race car !

NOSLO6

I switched from Z51 springs / sways to T1 springs and swaybars over the winter (I'm still running Billies for shocks). The difference was unbelievable.

I can't answer your question with real data since I haven't ever tried the opposite (fancy shocks with stock springs / sways), but what I can say is that the $s spent on T1 stuff does yield a big difference.

taken19

Right now I have poly bushings, track alignment, DRM custom Bilstiens and stock Z51 sways (poly bushings there too) and springs. I do all the work myself and I won't see a significant savings buying everything at once.

My budget would only allow one of these before the next track day and I would like to get the best bang for the buck. Upgraded sways for about $1k or slightly used Gen 1 pFadt coilovers (at least for now) for about the same price.

Pfadt Racing

Generally unless you're trying to cure one specific handling issue we feel that Sway Bars are your biggest bang for your buck. The sway bars and coilovers should really be designed to work together for best performance, but if we were given one mod to do on a Corvette it would probably be a set of sways. Not only can you significantly reduce the amount of body roll the car sees under hard cornering, but you can also directly effect the balance of the car with a set of adjustable sway bars.

For dual use cars you might want to take a look at our Heavy Duty - Light Rate sway bars... or for best performance in one tuned package I think you would LOVE our new Johnny O'Connell Stage 2 package. It features custom valved coilovers to Johnny O'Connell's spec and a set of our Light Rate sway bars. It would be perfect for your dual use application, and comes in a really cool limited edition black anodization package. You can get some more details here:

Pfadt introduces the new Johnny O'Connell Stage 2 package

Jason

You could argue with Pfadt, but you'd be wrong.
You could argue with Scott, but you'd be even wronger.

sperkins

VGLNTE1

I vote coils. I had the t1 bars and t1 shocks. After putting on the LG g2 coils, it was a new car. Best mod I've done

krisa9977

Did Johnny test those dumpers himself? What track did you use for testing? Since he is very good professional driver and obviously knows how to set up a suspension for track use why you don't use his valving recommendations for your other products?

Kubs

Leaf springs have many benefits in the stock configuration. I prefer a softer sprung car with large sway bars to a stiffer sprung car. Sway bars are also cheaper than a set of coil overs.

l8_apexer

Coil-overs. BIG difference. Plus you can corner balance the car, get stiffer spring rates, true independent suspension.

I learned this the hard way on a 944 turbo I raced for many years-- wnet through it all-- one step at a time-- stiffer shocks, then poly bushings, then sway bars, ripped it all out when the balance of it wasn't right-- went finally to coilovers-- a decision I had always dismissed becuase it was "too expensive".

Probably 2-2.5 seconds a lap difference alone. Best improvement in car handling, stability, responsivenes, etc.

So with the Vette-- we went straight to coil overs. Night and day difference to stock Z51 set up.

Get a setup known to work, worth paying a bit more to get a setup that has been already de-bugged and is pretty good right out of the box.

I'd suggest paying attention to your brakes at the same time-- make sure you have cooling ducts, stainless steel brake lines. You'll be going faster and stressing the brakes more.

Jason

So you guys are recommending coil overs and stock sway bars?

taken19

Seems to be some great discussion points here. My biggest concern now is funding. If I do both now, seat time will have to wait. I can most likely do one and still hit the track next month to see the fruits of my labor.

As a side note, I already run stock Z51 calipers with fog light cooling, SS lines, DRM SS caliper pistons, Motul RBF 600, XP20/10's and DBA 4000 rotors. I'm happy with this setup for now but know better brakes may not be too far off.