Bulletproofauto

Hi folks. I just bought a 2015 1LT shark grey Stingray It was in stock at the dealer and it was the coulour I wanted with all the options including the 8 speed automatic and the Z51 package. The only option missing was the MRC which I would have ordered. I will be tracking the car very rarely and was wondering if anyone has replaced the Z51 Bilsteins with the standard Bilsteins? If so was there a noticeable improvement in ride quality? I don't find the ride unbearable at present but just weighing my options including getting rid of the run flats when it's time to replace the rubber. Love the car BTW. Feels like an American Ferrari to me !

savage

last year i started with a base and tryed to make a z51 out of it.(missed gearing/springs/a8, so i traded)got z51 shocks, bars for base car. anyway if i were you. the easy and cheep way out is = just removed the rear sway bar, nothing else. the z51 bars changed the ride ( harder) for me much more than the shocks did. i felt when i put bars on and did not feel a thing when i added z51 shocks. the base comes without a rear bar of any kind and save the $150 not changing the front bar. as you said your not driving the car like you stole it.

Bulletproofauto

Savage thanks for the reply. I always thought a sway bar effected the left to right movement of the car and the shocks and springs effected the ride. Hoping others will chime in on this.

FYREANT

This is correct, but the sway bars do have a large effect on the overall "feel" of the car. I personally have a base model that I have upgraded TO Z51 shocks because I wanted a stiffer ride. That being said, I have an extra set of stock shocks laying around now..

Bulletproofauto

Hmmmm. PM me if you're interested in selling the base shocks.

Thanks

savage

removing the rear bar will cost you nothing but 20 minutes of you time to test. i have seen threads on this forum talking about drag racers removing rear bar for better launching( softer rear end) its( i feel) worth the your test. AND FREE!

savage

OK, FYEANT'S shocks and no rear bar, EVEN BETTER!

C2367

By having the rear sway bar, links and harder bushings you are transferring more road noise into the car. I added the front and rear Z51 bars to my ZF1 and notice the increase of noise and change of ride. My ZF1 handled nice before the install so I real did not see a great improvement. The base has softer rubber bushings then the Z51.

Bulletproofauto

Hey guys sorry for the ignorance here. So the base model has a front sway bar but not a rear? Is the suggestion to try removing my rear sway bar only or replace the front with a standard bar and bushings as well as removing the rear bar?

Thanks

FYREANT

The base has a smaller front bar and no rear bar. You can try removing the rear bar and leave the front as is for now to see if it is to you liking but several other have said that not matching the bars front and rear can cause understeer/oversteer situations. Its worth a try though.

Ant

Bulletproofauto

Thanks

Jim Barker

I was about to do this on a '12 GS because of the stiffness, but changed to a base C7 instead!

bob guzzy

You might want to consider getting rid of the run flats also, those alone will give you a harsh ride.

I just changed my stock tires to AS3's I hope to feel a better ride if the weather here in Pa cooperates soon.

Bulletproofauto

Hi Bob

I've heard that helps as well. Let me know your thoughts when this winter of ours finally ends !

axr6

I'm going to advise you differently from the above posters. I just added Z51 swaybars to the base C7 and they improve the handling a great deal. That is, if you care about going around corners. They will stiffen the ride only when the car goes over uneven surfaces, meaning that one side of the car hits a bump while the other does not. On even surfaces. bumps or dips, no difference in ride smoothness. The Z51 swaybar bushings are much harder/stiffer than the base bar bushings. That softness in the base bushings provide more "give" and less sharpness at the initial turn-in. For me, there is no way I would give up the Z51 swaybar setup in exchange for the softer base front-bar-only setup. I venture to say that if you remove the rear bar and leave the Z51 shocks-on you will not feel the difference in ride smoothness.

On the other hand, the non-magnetic Z51 shocks are considerably firmer on both compression and rebound actions than base-stock, definitely degrading the ride quality over the base shocks. The Z51 shocks are more track oriented as opposed to the more road comfort orientation of the stock base shocks.

Higgs Boson

Have you considered the Chevrolet SS or maybe the Impala?

The shocks control the movement of the springs and the Z51 springs are stiffer. All you're going to do is make the car more bouncy by putting on smaller shocks. You would need to change your springs to base model springs. You bought the wrong car/model if you want a soft ride.

You can remove the rear swaybar but all that will do is untie the left and right from each other, make the rear of the car roll over more in corners and give the illusion of riding softer even though it isn't from a spring standpoint.

FYREANT

I am pretty sure that the actual spring rate difference on the springs themselves are very miniscule from what I have read on the forum over the last year. I do not have actual spring rates as proof though.

Higgs Boson

I am just basing it on all the previous generations, pretty substantial difference, maybe the C7 is different, but my base with Z51 shocks and sway bars is still very soft. I will have to go coilovers.

FYREANT

Really? My base with Z51 shocks and sways feels night and day different to me. Honestly though, I have been toying with the idea of buying some Z51 take off leaf springs to finish the job. I could go aftermarket, but since mine is also my DD, I don't want it to be TOO harsh a ride..

Higgs Boson

I felt a difference for sure but not really a stiffness difference. More of a less bounce difference. I definitely noticed the sway bars, not putting at least a small rear sway on the base was a mistake from GM, IMO.

When I first drove it home last April I was pretty surprised how wallowy and soft it was but it is my first base model, my last Vette was a Z06 with coilovers.