OS Giken STU FRC Corvette Build Thread - Road to Lincoln 2015
01-09-2015, 08:33 PM
#21
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Suspension Section
*Note* We installed our OS Giken Dual Core LSD on our vehicle prior to determining our total suspension package. After all the testing we ended up with this current setup. Our diff made the car drive fantastic and puts down power phenomenally on 285s despite the firmer suspension. If you choose to follow our setup please note there will be a difference in how efficient your rear end grip will be.
Shocks
Through experience and success we decided to go with Penske Shocks from Guy Ankeny at Ankeny Racing Enterprises . These are aluminum bodied double adjustable shocks with external canisters (Penske 8300). He has many years of Solo2 success working with Corvettes and happens to be a local for us here in SoCal. This makes things simple for us as any additional work on the shocks will have very limited downtime as turnaround should be quick. Also when going towards firmer springs on any vehicle, proper shocks are needed to make sure the car is as driveable and comfortable as possible on and off the track.
Swaybars
For the front of the car we had the help of Sam Strano at StranoParts.com utilizing their Hollow 33mm 2-way adjustable Front Swaybar. This really helped keep the rear end tamed with adjustment still left on the bar. For the rear we opted to reuse the Z51 rear bar that came with the car. So far we haven't had the need to add more rear roll stiffness. In terms of endlinks we had the help from the guys at Whiteline who provided KLC110 for both front and rear adjustable links. The gold color of the links just add to the theme we have going for the vette.
Bushings
Due to time constraints for our build there was only a few options in regards to bushings. We went with VB&P Bushing kit for both the front and the rear. These are definitely an improvement over the stock bushings and helped wake up the car's nimbleness. The stock bushings were a piece of cake to remove and was a quick indication that the aftermarket bushings would really firm things up in terms of response. The softness of the stock bushings are ridiculous and really should be one of the first things to replace.
StranoParts upper front bushings would be another great selection once those are up and going. Sam makes great parts and would be beneficial to those planning to build their cars.
Springs
We partnered up with VB&P in testing various composite springs. We have settle on VB&P Extreme 1020 in/lbs Front and VB&P 740 in/lbs Rears.
I will too chime in and mention that the numbers really don't mean much of anything when trying to calculate what the ideal spring rate should be for an STU car. The ride sits firm but the Penske shocks do a hell of a job keeping the ride tame and civil for everyday commute. Our boss just took a New Years ride up to the Malibu Canyons where we met Jay Leno (makes an appearance every year!)
*Note* We installed our OS Giken Dual Core LSD on our vehicle prior to determining our total suspension package. After all the testing we ended up with this current setup. Our diff made the car drive fantastic and puts down power phenomenally on 285s despite the firmer suspension. If you choose to follow our setup please note there will be a difference in how efficient your rear end grip will be.
Shocks
Through experience and success we decided to go with Penske Shocks from Guy Ankeny at Ankeny Racing Enterprises . These are aluminum bodied double adjustable shocks with external canisters (Penske 8300). He has many years of Solo2 success working with Corvettes and happens to be a local for us here in SoCal. This makes things simple for us as any additional work on the shocks will have very limited downtime as turnaround should be quick. Also when going towards firmer springs on any vehicle, proper shocks are needed to make sure the car is as driveable and comfortable as possible on and off the track.
Swaybars
For the front of the car we had the help of Sam Strano at StranoParts.com utilizing their Hollow 33mm 2-way adjustable Front Swaybar. This really helped keep the rear end tamed with adjustment still left on the bar. For the rear we opted to reuse the Z51 rear bar that came with the car. So far we haven't had the need to add more rear roll stiffness. In terms of endlinks we had the help from the guys at Whiteline who provided KLC110 for both front and rear adjustable links. The gold color of the links just add to the theme we have going for the vette.
Bushings
Due to time constraints for our build there was only a few options in regards to bushings. We went with VB&P Bushing kit for both the front and the rear. These are definitely an improvement over the stock bushings and helped wake up the car's nimbleness. The stock bushings were a piece of cake to remove and was a quick indication that the aftermarket bushings would really firm things up in terms of response. The softness of the stock bushings are ridiculous and really should be one of the first things to replace.
StranoParts upper front bushings would be another great selection once those are up and going. Sam makes great parts and would be beneficial to those planning to build their cars.
Springs
We partnered up with VB&P in testing various composite springs. We have settle on VB&P Extreme 1020 in/lbs Front and VB&P 740 in/lbs Rears.
I will too chime in and mention that the numbers really don't mean much of anything when trying to calculate what the ideal spring rate should be for an STU car. The ride sits firm but the Penske shocks do a hell of a job keeping the ride tame and civil for everyday commute. Our boss just took a New Years ride up to the Malibu Canyons where we met Jay Leno (makes an appearance every year!)
Last edited by jonlugod; 03-26-2015 at 01:12 PM.
01-10-2015, 10:42 AM
#22
Burning Brakes
The Corvette already sits 2 inches wider than the 350z. We tried to not make the car any wider than it needed to be and these wheels worked out perfectly for what we wanted to do. Again its an industry build so we tried to use as many off the shelf parts as possible. This is for our followers who want to reap the benefits of our testing and essentially cookie cutter our setup without having to do all the expensive tuning/testing involved in a project build. 
01-13-2015, 06:52 PM
#25
Supporting Vendor
I wonder when it will warm enough and/or I get enough motivation to start mine under the STU knife? Kinda hard to be motivated when I have a Z06 on Hoosiers to drive, and it's 5 degrees outside (and not much warmer in my shop).
01-13-2015, 10:06 PM
#26
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Sam Strano, Bryan Heikotter, Jeff Stuart, and Jonathon Lugod all competing for STU jacket would be a nationals for the ages.
01-13-2015, 11:32 PM
#27
Supporting Vendor
Don't forget Lane Borg. I'm not in for STU @ Nationals unless something drastic changes I'm in for SSR. But STU is a interesting backup plan and when the ax falls on SSR it's would be what I'd do (well an ESP car would be what I'd really want to do but I have the FRC and no pony car currently).
01-14-2015, 01:52 AM
#29
Supporting Vendor
That's what's been the top of SSP the last few years. I think a Supercharged Elise won this year but it wasn't a walk-off. But really you'd want to start with a Z06 and it's better gearing/more power to start with.
__________________
Sam Strano
Strano Performance Parts
www.stranoparts.com
814-849-3450
More options than any other single company out there. More parts than any other single company I know: Brakes to Safety, Wheels to Exhaust. Suspension to Air Filters: Girodisc, Hawk, Raybestos, Essex Racing/AP, Ferodo, Wilwood, Penske, Koni, Borg Motorsport, Ridetech, Viking, After Dark Speed, Hotchkis, Bilstein, KW, Forgestar, BC Forged, Forgeline, MRR Wheels and on, and on, and on it goes.
Sam Strano
Strano Performance Parts
www.stranoparts.com
814-849-3450
More options than any other single company out there. More parts than any other single company I know: Brakes to Safety, Wheels to Exhaust. Suspension to Air Filters: Girodisc, Hawk, Raybestos, Essex Racing/AP, Ferodo, Wilwood, Penske, Koni, Borg Motorsport, Ridetech, Viking, After Dark Speed, Hotchkis, Bilstein, KW, Forgestar, BC Forged, Forgeline, MRR Wheels and on, and on, and on it goes.
01-14-2015, 02:12 AM
#30
Drifting
Seems like C5 would be the underdog in that class, but at the same time I doubt there are too many people running gallardo, nissan gtr, 911 turbo s, viper acr-x, etc. competitively. C6Z would probably crush a C5 on most courses too though and is more likely to actually be prepped for the class.
Technically I'm running SSP myself in a C5Z but I'm not even trying to be competitive, I'm on street tires and sort of building toward optima/onelap rules (on a tiny budget).
Technically I'm running SSP myself in a C5Z but I'm not even trying to be competitive, I'm on street tires and sort of building toward optima/onelap rules (on a tiny budget).
01-14-2015, 02:25 AM
#31
Why do you think a c6z has the advantage? It's bigger and heavier, there comes a point of diminishing returns for the additional power. My car will probably end up in SSP after a few years once I get some more seat tone under my belt and get bored with street (or maybe even SSM if that has a chance at all against the smaller RX7s).
01-14-2015, 02:45 AM
#32
Drifting
They actually weigh about the same but the C6Z weight is better distributed, that plus the giant mountain of torque and super long gearing I'd think would make the C6Z better, they can run small courses without ever shifting out of 1st and can run big courses without ever using 3rd - and on middle length courses where the C5Z gearing is "better" the C6Z will still be making more power despite being 1000 or so rpm lower.
01-14-2015, 08:47 AM
#33
Drifting
I know Sam is out for this year and Jon is in, but are those other guys in too? It'd be really exciting to see that many new cars in STU.
Last edited by ltborg; 01-14-2015 at 09:17 AM.
01-14-2015, 09:10 AM
#34
Burning Brakes
Heikotter just bought a well prepped 350z and Jon works for OS Giken so being he's working this car and is actually pictured a couple of times, I'd say he's in also.
01-14-2015, 09:18 AM
#35
Drifting
Yeah I knew about Jon. Nice to hear Heikotter is in too. He's not changing classes with the car and doing BSP or something like that?
01-14-2015, 10:27 AM
#36
Burning Brakes
01-14-2015, 01:23 PM
#38
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It was Brian Peters' STU 350z no less. Alien to Alien transaction right there. Jeff Stuart will also be driving a 350z.
01-14-2015, 04:17 PM
#39
Supporting Vendor
They actually weigh about the same but the C6Z weight is better distributed, that plus the giant mountain of torque and super long gearing I'd think would make the C6Z better, they can run small courses without ever shifting out of 1st and can run big courses without ever using 3rd - and on middle length courses where the C5Z gearing is "better" the C6Z will still be making more power despite being 1000 or so rpm lower.
The gearing is too long, and a Z IMHO requires a change to the GS gearbox to have a real shot. I've spent a lot of time around SSP Z06's including the only one that happened to have won SSP Nationally (helped by weather, etc).
The C6 is also wider, and has a longer wheelbase. Now, I have a C6Z and I choose to run it in stock/street, whatever. Because I like the car better as a car. If I was buying a Corvette to autocross only in A-Street or SSR, it'd be a C5 Z06. I've run many, set them up, even back to backed them vs. my cars.
01-14-2015, 04:20 PM
#40
Drifting
C5Z's don't hit 3rd gear on big courses and need to lug 2nd on small ones? Maybe I'm just both really slow and really fast at the same time, but in my C5Z I was pegging the rev limiter for several seconds at the NEPA Pocono event and end up lugging it making no power in 2nd on the smaller lots.
