Stevesvt

I love the way this car handles (88 w/ Z51 susp. package) but as most of u know the ride is pretty rough...I was thinking about adjustable shocks (Koni, Tokico)...anyone done this? After driving a lot of Vettes I can tell u that I'm still impressed by the handling of this car..and I'm also talking about C5 vettes as well...but man, if the road isn't perfect its a buckboard ride... :eek:

SharkB4C4

On my 88 Z51, I softened the ride a bit by going to 285 tires on all 4 corners, and lowering the tire pressure down to 32 or so. Also, the shocks seemed to get softer after 60K miles, and that helped too.

vetracer

My suggestion would be to try replacing your rear spring only with a base car spring from a salvage yard. In my opinion the only problem with the Z51 (84's especially) ride is that the rear is way too stiff. I replaced the rear spring on my '86 Z51 with a base suspension spring and I love the ride now. The bilstien shocks used on the softer springs are different from the Z51, if you want to change those you could but I didn't and the ride seems fine.

Another benefit I think you will see is that the car will hook up better on acceleration. I learned from tuning the coilovers on my race car that too much spring in the rear of a C4 is a very bad thing. You get much better weight transfer on acceleration with softer springs. A larger sway bar can be used in the rear to compensate if you really want to dial in the handling.




[Modified by vetracer, 7:20 PM 1/30/2003]

scorp508

Sell your car, buy a caddy. :)

vader86

Make sure the pressure in your tires isnt over 35psi.
You can try soft-el cheapo shocks from Autozone, Edelbrock IAS is a good semi-soft shock, but those wont have near the impact of changing the springs.

GS 163

I wish my car had the Z51. :smash:

_freakmonkeydogboy_

:withstupid: no kidding....

Gary04Z06

:iagree:

Buck96LT4

I will buy your '88 Z51 spring when you get it out. You can have my base rear spring.

Buck

Torch Red

I was also considering recommending to you a Caddy.... Ha Ha of Course, But it did come to mind first.

I do not know what they did differntly but my 96 has the Z51 and I ordered it that way. I also did have a 1984 with Z51 I do not remember minding it but the Girlfreinds always said something about it being rough.

BORING STORY:
The first Auto I remember riding in when I was a small brat was an old Corvette. I remember the ride was quite rough ... I thought that was because it was a "Corvette". Handling-Performance-Engineering, etc.

I was told "Other" cars were available for softer ride. And my father pointed at a Cadilac.




[Modified by 96TorchRedCoupe, 12:44 AM 1/31/2003]

Mike_88Z51

Stevesvt,

When I bought my 88 Z51 it came with Koni Sport shocks and Goodyear GSC tires. The Koni Sports are great handling shocks but I believe they ride harsher than the original Z51 Bilsteins. The car handled fantastic, (and I mean fantastic) but the ride was really rough.

I replaced the Goodyears with Firestone Firehawks and that made a difference in ride quality was well as ride noise. Not a huge difference like some were claiming, but definately enough to be noticable. I then swapped the Koni Sports out and put in KYB shocks. That made a significant difference. Now my Z51 rides softer than my brother's base suspension 89 vette and his car rides very well.

Handling was definately affected by the change from Koni to KYB. The Z51 springs and sway bars still give me bette handling than the base 89, but I know it isn't nearly as good as it used to be. Fortunately, the shock swap is pretty easy on the C4s so I can pop the Konis back on for those trips thru the twisties and use the KYBs for in town.

You might look into Koni standard (red) shocks. It is my understanding that they are a bit softer than the Z51 Bilsteins. Koni makes a great shock so it might turn out that the Koni standards are easier on the seat with the same or near same handling.

92TripleBlack

Tires, shocks, and switch springs with me.
I line HAL QA1 shocks and Michelin Pilot Sport tires. :thumbs:

Stevesvt

Thanks for all the responses, even the Caddy ones (I'd like a little more originality here, however). It's my understanding that the 89 cars with Z51 had an adjustable system...what is the feasibility of this swap? Anyone tried it? I'm thinking about Dynamatting the car as best I can...also, when my stereo system is complete I can turn it up more than I am now which helps (but ticks my girlfriend off).