gumby4mayor

Looking into what kind of setup people run to compete in A stock.

all or any help would be appreciated.

Started this thread to find a good starting ground to get into A stock autocross with the C5 corvette. Lots of good information in here, If anyone wants to share alignment specs, tires, brakes, shocks or any tips/tricks they have picked up this past season feel free to post here.

So far this is my setup that I currently have or plan to have.

Car: 2000 FRC

Shocks: Penske 7500NA

Tires: 275 front and 315/295 rear Hoosier A6's on some wagon wheels (undecided what i want to run for rear)

Front sway: Z06 with HD endlinks

Lowering: Front, Qtr inch from slammed on stock bolts and the rear about a Qtr inch higher. (this may change as next season progresses)

Brakes: Stock pads up front, Hawk HP+ in the rear.

Power: K&N drop in filter, Corsa Catback exhaust.

Alignment specs: (stay tuned)

Painrace

Sorry, I tried to post some set up directions.

gumby4mayor

And?

Just from looking at the scca results it looks like the 01+ vette was more popular, assuming because you can use the Z06 suspension and still stay in A stock. how does the Z51 suspension compare? ideas on Tire/wheel setup?

acrace

No, you can't put a Z06 suspension on a coupe (targa top) and run A-Stock. Your "best" choices in A-Stock would be what you have (2000 FRC) or perhaps an '01+ Z51.

From the results that you see, it probably is that the '01+ is more popular because they're more readily available.

AlanC

The big difference for 01 was the introduction of the Z06 and the improved active handling which I believe became standard on all models.

Our 2000 active handling is not all that great for autocross, but my 2002 Z06's AH worked very well for both autocross and open track events (to the point where we just abused it - when you lean on it hard it will grab rear brake and force the car to rotate which can be very useful).

I'd suggest that sticky tires will make the most difference, followed by the best shocks you can afford. I run the Mallett/Penske 8100's.

I think you're allowed to change the front sway bar in stock class as well, which you might consider if you need to tune the balance.

Alan
2000 FRC

RX7 KLR

The car I drove earlier this year (2000 FRC) had:
2004 Z06 shocks
Z06 front swaybar
275/305 V710s

Simple, inexpensive and worked pretty good.

TedDBere

Contact Sam Strano at StranoParts.com since he's put together the best
C5 FRC in the country. Good luck.

AverageVetteNut

+1 on Sam..
He helped me out a ton on my C5. He can point you in a direction for alignment specs and parts that you can work with.

When you say "pretty much stock car"... what IS NOT stock on it?

And if/when you upgrade the front sway bar, you can get some HD enlinks as well. It makes a difference in tightening things up up there.

waktasz

Koni singles and a z06 front bar is a pretty good start. If you want to spend more than that on shocks the Penskes are extremely well reviewed but the Konis are no slouch either.

gumby4mayor

ok, so this is what i have thus far.

Contact sam because he is a C5 god.
Z06 front sway, any specific year? Any other options or is this the popular choice?
Koni shocks...always used them and love them for the money.
Only modification to the car currently is a corsa exhaust (catback exhaust is legal per Stock class rules)

275/305 V710s what’s the sidewall measurement? Also what wheels did you use for this setup? Stock 17's? I’d like to go with a square setup but with the stock rims the widths they are I guess it only makes sense to stick a fatter tire in the rear.

waktasz

If you are sticking to Stock you need to keep the stock wheel sizes and within 1/4" offset of stock.

I ran the Kumhos my first year because i was worried about wear but the Hoosiers seem to last just as long and are faster.

AlanC

I would suggest that you consider changing the sway bar only after you decide what you want the car to do differently.

The last I checked, you are not allowed to change the rear sway bar in stock class. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong here.

So, if you can't change the rear bar, changing only the front bar will affect the balance of the car (whether it tends to understeer or oversteer).

So, if you decide you want it to oversteer more, you probably want a smaller bar up front as a larger bar will make it understeer more.

Here's a post that lists the various flavors of factory C5 bars (and springs):

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/auto...s-97-04-a.html

Another great source for C5 anti-roll bars is VB&P:

http://www.vbandp.com/

They have a great selection of parts available and have always been very helpful whenever I've worked with them. If you call them and tell them what bar you have now and what you would like the car to do different, they will help you select the right part.

TedDBere

Ummm...half right. A larger front bar will induce some understeer, but the sticky tires and increased front camber will eliminate that...until you go above the Z06 bar, then it'll push.

The Z06 bar will reduce oversteer on corner exit and let you put more power to the ground.

Go with Hoosier A6s 275s in the front and either 285s or 295s on the rears (same tread width, well actually the 285s are wider than the 295s...another Hoosier quirk...look it up). 295s will not trigger the computer because they are taller but the 285s will so if you use 285s you'll have to turn the computer off (which you do anyway with the 295s too) so the computer doesn't think the rear wheels are spinning due to the short aspect (30).

Good luck.

If you can get the car to Lincoln for the ProSolo Finale in a week, and let me drive it with my wheels and tires, I'll really tell you how to set it up to win a national event. I'll even use my Z06 front bar too!

S. Hurley...in need of a Z51 C5 for the SCCA ProSolo Finale, currently tied for 1st place in the country with no ride in the Finale!

gumby4mayor

Back to an orginal question, how am i able to tell if my FRC is equiped with the z51 package?

Being at the prosolo event that soon may be to short of notice, although it wouldn’t be all that far of a drive from Minneapolis....tempting.

Are the pfadt shocks legal for stock class, they claim they are inverted and shortened but as long as this doesn’t actually affect the geometry and extended length they should be legal...anyone? The price is right and they are adjustable.

Sam strano already e-mailed me back with much helpful info; he pretty much regurgitated what was said here. Z06 front bar, 275/295 Hoosiers and turn off traction control, although the 285's seem more intriguing if they are in fact wider, what’s the sidewall on this setup?

AverageVetteNut

YEs... any single or double adjustable shock, Pfadt, Koni, AST,etc.. is legal as long as it bolts in to the stock location.
Front sway and end links are open, but you can't touch the rear in any way.

must retain stock wheel diameter and width but offsets are changeable up to a 1/4.

IIRC, ALL FRC cars were Z51 cars.

You might want to lower your car a little as well, but keep some rake in it. But Sam might've already mentioned that.

I'm running in SS, so I'm not familiar with the sidewalls on the 285s. Check Tire rack.. they have a chart with all the specs on the tires.

gumby4mayor

Sam actually mentioned that the 285's are not wider on a 9.5inch width rim than the 295's.

TedDBere

Depends on your tire pressures.

Savini uses the 295s and that's what Sam recommends. The only non-Z06 C5 to win a SCCA National Championship event was on 285s...but 295s weren't available then. 285s look really strange, but they work.

Here's a picture or two with the 285s on it:

acrace

Just to make sure that it's clear. SCCA Stock category rules are that the wheel diameter and width need to be stock. So you have to run the 17"s in the front and the 18"s in the rear.

gumby4mayor

there in itself lies a bigger question, do you go what worked in the past or do you go with what in theory should work just as good if not better..

I think the biggest thing that makes this so exciting is that now that the C5 vette is in Astock instead of SS and without the Z06 it makes it the car to beat. A c5 vette should have no problem winning nats this year.

TedDBere

Do you want the quickness of a smaller diameter tire, or do you want the higher top speed of the taller one?

Sam's concern with the 285 is not enough sidewall flex and therefore harder to get the power down and possibly less lateral grip. But I had no problems with grip on the Lincoln concrete and had better 60 ft times than I've ever had in my Z06. In fact I had trouble getting the tires to spin at launch.

I'm sure next year there will be many different opinions too.