CORVETTE magazine Coilover vs. Leaf Spring Article
10-13-2010, 01:19 PM
#1
CORVETTE magazine Coilover vs. Leaf Spring Article
Just wanted to share a recent article from Corvette magazine written on the benefits of upgrading your C5/C6 suspension to coilovers. There are some great points in here that dispel the myth that coilovers are for race cars only. Johnny O'Connell has pointed out that "When we improve cars, it doesn't mean you have to be a racecar driver, it actually means the opposite. It makes the car easier to drive." This is precisely the objective when we sit down to engineer a product for the Corvette chassis.
10-13-2010, 08:57 PM
#2
Racer
Member Since: Nov 2009
Location: Orlando FL
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To Pfadt: Interesting read; thanks for sharing. With regard to the caveat in the last paragraph, cornering-weighting sounds like something that requires a race shop for proper chassis adjustment to get the benefit of these coil-overs. What's the $ hit on that?
10-14-2010, 01:12 PM
#3
I would say that the large majority of our customers do not get/need their car corner balanced. Corner balancing is a GREAT thing to do if you plan on tracking your car, or if you want the best possible set-up. The C5/C6 chassis is very good to begin with, and for street performance, I would not necessarily say it is required. I would recommend it more for those who are looking for that final tuning ability to dial in your perfect balance on the track. It works fantastic on the street, but if you driving resolution is not high enough to push the limits, then it may not be for everybody.
We corner-weight and align our cars by hand in about 2 hours or so, including setting up the strings etc. But we have very specific goals and repeat the same process a lot. I would look for a shop to charge in the 2-3 hour range as well. Can not say for sure, every shop will be different depending on the experience they have.
10-14-2010, 01:14 PM
#4
Team Owner
Coilovers maybe on my winter to-do list. I'm sure I can find a shop in SLC to help me with the corner balance.
10-14-2010, 08:32 PM
#6
Racer
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No problem, glad we got this article sent to us to share!
I would say that the large majority of our customers do not get/need their car corner balanced. Corner balancing is a GREAT thing to do if you plan on tracking your car, or if you want the best possible set-up. The C5/C6 chassis is very good to begin with, and for street performance, I would not necessarily say it is required. I would recommend it more for those who are looking for that final tuning ability to dial in your perfect balance on the track. It works fantastic on the street, but if you driving resolution is not high enough to push the limits, then it may not be for everybody.
We corner-weight and align our cars by hand in about 2 hours or so, including setting up the strings etc. But we have very specific goals and repeat the same process a lot. I would look for a shop to charge in the 2-3 hour range as well. Can not say for sure, every shop will be different depending on the experience they have.
I would say that the large majority of our customers do not get/need their car corner balanced. Corner balancing is a GREAT thing to do if you plan on tracking your car, or if you want the best possible set-up. The C5/C6 chassis is very good to begin with, and for street performance, I would not necessarily say it is required. I would recommend it more for those who are looking for that final tuning ability to dial in your perfect balance on the track. It works fantastic on the street, but if you driving resolution is not high enough to push the limits, then it may not be for everybody.
We corner-weight and align our cars by hand in about 2 hours or so, including setting up the strings etc. But we have very specific goals and repeat the same process a lot. I would look for a shop to charge in the 2-3 hour range as well. Can not say for sure, every shop will be different depending on the experience they have.
10-18-2010, 11:10 AM
#9
Thanks! The weight savings with our current coilover offerings is ~3lbs or so. While this may not be monumental, our new Feather Light Generation coilovers will have much more weight savings. Stay tuned for upcoming info!
10-18-2010, 01:13 PM
#13
Street Suspension Package
For your information, the only time you will see different versions of our products (currently) will be due to frame type. So, if you have a Grand Sport, that is essentially a standard C6 due to its Steel Frame construction.
10-18-2010, 01:49 PM
#14
Melting Slicks
Which kits are you referring to? The C6 and Z06 coilover kits are virtually identical and the part number is the same. The only difference is that we provide upper mount bushings to accommodate both Steel and Aluminum frame cars. The upper plates are different thicknesses. No matter which car you have, we have you covered.
For your information, the only time you will see different versions of our products (currently) will be due to frame type. So, if you have a Grand Sport, that is essentially a standard C6 due to its Steel Frame construction.
For your information, the only time you will see different versions of our products (currently) will be due to frame type. So, if you have a Grand Sport, that is essentially a standard C6 due to its Steel Frame construction.
10-18-2010, 03:46 PM
#15
Burning Brakes
I read somewhere that the geometry of the leaf spring design provides some roll resistance, similar to a sway bar. This allows a lighter sway bar to be used. When you switch to coilovers, do you need to adjust sway bar size to compensate for removed leaf spring?
10-20-2010, 09:31 AM
#17
Burning Brakes
. Regards
10-20-2010, 12:41 PM
#18
cool, but seems hard to say that the improvements were specific to the coilover vs. transverse leaf design. could be that shocks better matched to the existing springs (or to leaf springs with different weights) would have helped similarly
