naschmitz

Did my first track event at Summit Point last weekend with my 2006 with magnetic selective ride F55. I used with this setup for two years of high speed autocrossing on abandoned runways, so I know how to generate decent cornering and braking forces with the car.

With the elevation changes at Summit Point, I rubbed holes in all four plastic fender liners because the springs and shocks are so soft, even in "Sport." The track photographer got some shots of me in a braking zone where the black plastic front air dam is in contact with the roadway across it's entire width.

Going to fix it by installing a set of HardBar dual rate coil overs and Penske two way adjustable shocks. I've ridden with Gary Hoffman in his C6Z06 with this setup and it rides very nicely on both the street and the track, so I doubt that I'll miss the F55.

I'll post pics of the install after I receive the goods.

BEZ06

Wayne O tracked his F55 for a long time and really liked it on the track. He had Z06 sway bars, then latter went to wider wheels and bigger tires and T1 bars.

However....he's been progressively turning the car into a track only machine and finally switched over to either regular shocks or coil-overs. Contact him (or maybe he'll pop into this thread) if you have any questions about the conversion.

I believe he had to go to the dealer and get them to use a Tech 2 to "de-program" the F55.

Bob

Z11409

F55 can be defeated by installation of a small resistor in the shock end of the wiring.

BrianCunningham

Your ready to junk your stock suspension after ONE track day???

longdaddy

lowered the car too much?

naschmitz

I could keep doing additional track days and rubbing the tires against the fender liners, but doing the same things and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity, is it not?

naschmitz

Thanks for the idea. Any guess on the value of the resistor needed? Four resistors is far cheaper than having the dealer hook up the Tech2 to delete the F55 option.

naschmitz

Thanks, Bob. By the way, thanks again for the TPMS tool help you gave me a few years ago. I have TPMS sensors in all my wheels -- which is good since I had a nail in my tire driving home from Summit Point and the TPMS saved me. I made it home the last 300 miles by inflating the tire to race pressure (42 psi) and watching the TPMS until it hit 26psi. That got me 90 miles between air fills. Four air stops and I was home. I love TPMS!

Bert

Z11409

I have used many sets of 5 W/15 OHM without a problermo.Ceramic resistors at about $4-$5 for a set of 4. Needless to say trim wires,tape and waterproof well. Consider just changeing to the PFADt shocks and bars.

RattlerC5

The F45 can be handled with the resistors, but the F55 has to be programed out. My dealership handled it with a Tech II and less than 90 minutes.

I have gone to Pfadt coilovers and couldn't be happier. I was told I would need a very sharp tuner with access to upgraded GM software and the going rate on the left coast was $650! It really had more to do with islolating the suspension module and telling the BCM not to look for it. One hour labor and I was on my way to RSD for my coilovers.

No codes and no performance issues.

BrianCunningham

Why don't you try that?

You want wheel travel even with the coilovers
If the car is lowered too much, then the suspension will be too stiff, like a gokart.

tmak26b

I was using the Z51 stock setup, even now I am giving up on it with stiffer shocks. The R comps and the aggressive brake pads really show how soft the car is. I already spent $100 fixing wheel liners from car rubbing, I guess spending $1K on shocks will fix it

naschmitz

Brian,

It isn't an issue with ride height nor am I planning to change the ride height -- the springs and shocks are waaay too soft for how hard I am driving the car. If you are at NHMS on the 21st you'll be able to see it or if you are at Devens on the 31st I can take you for a ride.

Bert

naschmitz

Yup!

BrianCunningham

I'll be at Devens on the 31st.

Love to go for a ride

Wayne O

True enough but in all fairness the tracks I generally run on don't have a lot of elevation changes. On the flatter road courses I was actually surprised with how well the F55 suspension performed (at least considering the bad 'track press' the F55 often gets). Track performance became the priority and I did switch to LGM coil-overs and T1 bars which is unquestionably a better track setup. Yes, the Tech 2 tool was needed to de-activate the F55 and render it dewat.

We have a new track facility opening soon in southern Arizona with a 2.75 mile road course including 100 ft of elevation changes...can't wait!

BrianCunningham

The bigger issue is for people like Bert & I who do both autox and track events.

Generally you run much stiffer springs/shocks for autoxing

I've been doing the 'using shocks as springs' deal for 10years with my soft base suspension.

I'm really looking forward to upgrading it to coilovers. the dual rate springs I'm putting on should help things out.

tmak26b

There is no such thing as a flat road course in the northeast

naschmitz

The dual rate springs combined with the adjustment range available on the Penske's provides a good ride over the New England crappy roads -- not a Cadillac ride, more like a BMW sports car ride. The handling improvements are dramatic. The cost of this mod was comparable to the cost of long tube headers with high flow cats and exhaust -- in retrospect, I should have done this mod FIRST.

Thanks to Gary Hoffman at HardBar and Richard Strout at Leading Edge Motorsport for all the personal attention and advice provided for the parts selection and installation.

Front Sorry for the dirt




Rear




Front canisters




Rear canisters mounted in storage bins

BEZ06

Hey Bert - that looks like a great setup!!

Did you end up needing to use a Tech 2 to tune the F55 out of the system?

Bob