Goodwood

I just replaced my C6 Z51 sway bars with C6 Zo6 sway bars. Was that really a dumb move and a waste of money? The installer said they looked the same as far as he could tell from eyeballing them. In the little bit of testing I did on the back streets, I can barely see any difference they make, if at any. Also, can I use the Z51's urethane bushings on the Z06 bars?

JiminVirginia

I noticed on the Pfadt Race Engineering site that the rear bars for the C6 Z06 are a little stiffer than for the Z51, while the front bars are the same. Interestingly, it seems to be the opposite for the C5Z06 (front bar stiffer for Z06 and rear bars the same).

You might not notice any difference except at the limit.

Don't know about the bushings.

AutoCutter

The Z06 and Z51 Front Bars are the same part with the same part number.

The Z06 rear bar is about .250 larger than the Z51. The Z06 rear bar requires the Z06 bushings.

Goodwood

Looks like I've got a set of Z51 sway bars for sale. Thanks guys.

gkmccready

Just a side note... I replaced my C6Z51 rear bar with a _Base_ rear bar and it's helped a lot with getting into the gas earlier on corner exit... with the stock rear bar the car was exceedingly twitchy mid-corner.

Goodwood

So, you're saying I could've actually went the wrong direction in putting a stiffer rear bar on? I see you have Pfadts. What settings are you running F/R at the rack?

Rob Burgoon

I tried the Z06 rear bar on my Z51. I had problems getting the power down especially exiting turn 2 at spring mountain. I switched back.

gkmccready

Depends on how you drive, I suppose.

I have the Pfadt Pfatty bars in my garage. They're currently off the car as I experiment with the stock front bar (Z06/Z51) and the base model rear bar. When I had the Pfattys on the car I ran full-stiff front, and full-soft rear. The car felt pretty good but the rear still seemed too stiff.

On the street I tried the Pfadt front (full-stiff) with the stock rear, and the base rear, and I eventually went back to the stock front just to reset my butt-o-meter. On track I've liked the stock front with the base rear. Especially now that I've taken the Supercars off and got 295+305 Toyo R888s on the car.

I suspect when I get the rear toe dialed-in I'll probably be back to what RAFTRACER recommended over a year ago with a stiffer front bar, and the stock rear bar, but we'll see...

glen

C5 XTC

When I picked up my 07 in Bowling Green last February and toured the plant, I was told the sway bars on the Z51 and Z06 are the same. Was also told some people did a swap of Z06 for OEM Z51 only to find out they are identical. As the man says, looks like you have a set of sway bars to sell.
C5 XTC

gkmccready

Front front bars are the same. The C6Z has a stiffer rear bar than the C6 Z51.

C6400hp

And as far as making a mistake it all depends on your driving style and what you like, there will probably be no noticeable difference in regular driving. you will notice the difference when pushing the limits.If you like the way it handles you made a good choice, if you don't you made a mistake.

AutoCutter

The biggest difference you will notice is that you will have more oversteer. Now this oversteer will not be the surprise snap type oversteer that you get at the track with stock Z51 rear bar, rather you will get some warning. The downside with the oversteer is you lose that bit of understeer that keeps many of us out of trouble on the streets.

Goodwood

Wanted to let you guys know that I'm A, running Phadt coilovers, and B, I had the Pfadt urethane bushings on the Z51 bars, running BFG street tires. Now, I'm going to be running R888's all around. I didn't hate the setup I had before. Afterall, I've only done 2 single day DE's so far. I betterr go back to the Z51 bars/urethane bushings, and see how much change the tires alone make, before messing around with a pretty good setup (for my skill level). Also, I can sell the complete set of Z06 bars and get some of my money back for thoses.

Aaron Pfadt

There is a lot to this when you really get into it. Wheel HP, driving style and event type all play a large roll in what will work. At 530 or so wheel HP, I run my rear Pfatty bars at nearly full soft even with some aero to get the rear hooked up. That is why adjustability is so important in the sway package. Danny (RAFTRACER) ran my Pfatty front bar at NASA Nationals this weekend with some 'unknown' black bar on the rear. My feeling is that it was about the same stiffness as my bar on the soft end of the adjustment. Our cars are very similar in weight and HP despite some aero and spring differences.

The other cool thing is that between our Street and Pfatty packages we have 4 bars that allow a lot of combinations. For track cars that fall outside a certain window we can always provide a different combo of our sets to get the car dialed in.

As always, please contact me with any questions.

later,
Aaron

gkmccready

I wouldn't ever tell anybody not to get the Pfadt bars. They are beautiful, work as advertised, and the customer service is excellent. Part of my taking them off was to do some shock testing for a friend of mine and he wanted the car closer to stock.

One day I will probably go back to the Pfatty front and look at acquiring a Street rear to give that set up a shot!