smitty2919

I know most will just jump in and say to get coilovers because....well because coilovers right? Well bear with me.

Car is a 03 C5Z being 70% daily driver (I'll drive it in anything except torrential downpour or sleet/snow/hail) and 30% autocross toy. It's a date night car, highway cruiser and eventually take some trips in it with the wife. I hit maybe 5-8 local autocross events a season and as time goes on I plan to make more time for bigger events etc.

Car is currently stock shocks and swaybars and running 315 square on 18x10.5 for racing and 285 square on 18x10.5 for daily duties. I HAD a set of Koni Sport shocks (you know the ones EVERYONE loves) and already sold them in preparation for bigger/better things (the point of this post). End goal WILL BE coilovers with slightly stiffer springs to help keep my finders off my tires during hard braking and I tend to like a little stiffer setup but nothing crazy to keep it civil on the street.

Budget CURRENTLY allows to get into some different options:
1) Ridetech HQ coilovers + a front adjustable swaybar.
2) JRi non-adjustable shocks + front adj swaybar (would keep stock leaf springs)
3) JRi single adjustable shocks only (can be converted to coilovers later easily) (would keep stock springs and swaybars)
4) Maybe luck into some used JRi double adjustable coilovers from local racers

They don't have to be JRi, can be Penske or similar but within the budget of roughly $2500.

From some that have gone this path I'd like some opinions on what you chose and why. I don't like doing things twice so I like the idea of a JRi/Penske to custom valve it and convert to CO later. But maybe a simple Ridetech option would be perfectly fine.

jw1

I just went through this same debate myself after selling my Koni Sports, though I already have an adjustable Hellwig front bar and a set of T1 bars.

I ended up going with JRi double adjustable coilovers so I can just go through this upgrade once and then spend my time getting everything tuned to how i like it. Yes, it is more than your current budget allocation, but if you do decide to sell you should be able to recoup a good chunk of what you spend

67Ranger

If you wanted to bump up your budget a little, you ca get into a set of spec corvette bars and penskee coilovers for ~$3500 for both, but the bars may be stiffer than what you're looking for.

crimlwC6

I have Penske DAs that I was able to score unused at around your budget, you may or may not be able to find a similar deal. When I got the Penskes I had Pfadt JOC front and rear bars (rear only adjustable). I don't run a rear sway bar anymore after tuning in the Penske's. I don't have data on what the car would be like with a stock front bar but my 2 cents is get the best coilovers you can, they are more important than swaybars. I would not shy away from getting a used set and refreshing them.

Kubs

Option 3 would be my choice. You can get into a very nice set of JRi shocks and upgrade later. The JRi shocks alone will help control the body motion much better and may keep your tires off the fenders even with the stock springs. We run JRi non adjustables on my dad's '02 Z51 coupe with stock Z51 springs and sway bars (class restrictions for him) and the difference was night and day. The car is so much more controlled and less marshmallow feeling. Talk to the folks at VanSteel or Danny Popp about the JRi options.

smitty2919

I had actually come across the SPEC stuff and was reading you couldn't get them unless you were involved in SPEC racing? Maybe I was wrong. The issue I see with that is that they are valved and setup for SPEC racing to be matched with SPEC bars and I'm not sure if that would be suitable for my needs/wants. But maybe someone like Sam could get a custom valving for them? Hmmm

Finding stuff used is not a big problem to me since higher end shocks can be freshened up like you said. I'll definitely keep an eye out for some. Some around me seem to rn a front bar only with stock Z06/Z51 rear bar. Moral of the story it is mostly a bigger adj front bar and shocks/CO setups.

I have spoken to Danny in person about this and there are multiple JRi paths. He said a non-adjustable shock can be made into a single adjustable and or coilover fairly easily since they are a pretty modular design (aside from a threaded vs non threaded body). My approach to that is spending money wisely...meaning do I save money in the long run going to a single adjustable right away or not? More research needed on that.



But it's looking like the approach so far is get GOOD shocks first (IMO ideally a SA at a minimum) then get into bars and eventually convert to CO when the time/money allows. I'll reach out to Sam on some Penske SA options as well.

67Ranger

You can for sure buy the spec corvette stuff without being involved in the series. I should be getting my swaybars today, and I'm planning on getting the coilovers in the future. From talking to the guys at track spec, they can be revalved or have the springs changed as needed, and from what they told me they can also be converted to double adjustable like any other penskee 8300, but I'm assuming that would make them illegal for spec corvette.

smitty2919

Ahh, good to know. I'll see what Sam suggests on the Penske front. Start with the SPEC stuff and tweak it or just start from scratch.

Shortcutsleeping

There are a lot of things you can 'upgrade' later on and spend incrementally, but I've never felt that dampers were one of them.

Figure out where you want to end up (what event/class/etc) and buy the best you can afford so your purchase can climb the ladder with you, and then also get faster with you as your skills improve.

At NASA nats GSpeed worked with Penske (the Penske trailer/team were there) and the results were incredible. JRi is a good unit as well, but I don't have as much experience there to speak one way or the other.

But I know a good Penske has the revalve potential to take you to do virtually anything you'd want to do. From mostly street with a bit of autocross, to serious autocross and some track, to serious track.

Good luck!

Costas
cars and such...

gimp

My 2c:

Coilovers/shocks and brakes are your big ticket items around which other things are built. Brakes because you need wheels to clear big brakes; coilovers because you want your spring rates, damper rates, ride height, and anti-roll bar stiffnesses to match for whatever your use case is (and your tires).

Since you already have a good tire setup (315 square for autox) and those 18x10.5 wheels tend to clear many decent brake kits, why not just jump to whatever your target damper / spring setup should be? If you buy shocks now, you'll end up selling them off a year or two later and buying coilovers.

Now, that is all assuming that you actually want big-budget items like coilovers in the first place, that you can justify the cash spend, that you're not gonna change track etc. It would suck to spend $$$$ on coilovers only to realize you don't really care for autox/track or that you're selling the car or whatnot.

smitty2919

For the unforeseeable future the car will see a lot of street miles and be a "when time and money allows" CAM-S car. I do CAM-S because I like to mod and not follow a strict rule set. I'd also like to say I'd see a HPDE type event as time goes on.

A 500-600 spring rate to keep street miles civil seem to be a good starting point. A single adjustable shock only (at a minimum) also seems like a wise choice then get to bars and coilovers next winter.

I race locally with Danny Popp and many others that run JRi so help/resources/opinions are appealing. However, I'm not a real CAM-S contender, but I also don't want to buy things twice. I already bought/sold Koni's (but didn't lose much on those) not in the mood to do the same thing in another year lol.

smitty2919

I agree, however the "shock only" approach now is a shock that can become a coilover in the future. So I won't be buying shocks again, simply buying the springs/seats to add onto the shocks. I have no desire for MORE brake over the stock setup with better pads (this is said without visiting an actual track at which point I would keep stock brakes but a proper pad selection to start with).

The coilover direction is due to liking a slightly stiffer than stock feel on course but I don't want to mess with aftermarket leaf springs. I can already have height adjustment via leaf springs, so the other benefit to coilovers would be ride quality and performance over leaf springs...added bonus.



But over and over many advocate for getting "the best shock you can" then add other bits later. So I suppose this boils down to budget and if I can get into a SA shock only, single adj shock + front bar or SA coilover only. SA coilover + bar will be out of the budget for this winter.

The ultimate end goal is a HCIE + coilovers + bars to retain reliability/street ability and overall fun. Cam/intake/exhaust is already done.

Shortcutsleeping

Popp is a GREAT resource (he brought us a windshield on our way to Mid-O and helped us sort electrical issues last January!!!) and knows his stuff for sure.

You can go fast on non-adjustables (we hold the really-strong COTA record on non-adjustables that were well-matched to the springs and tires) and singles alike assuming they are fairly well matched to the wheel rate.

Good call on not buying twice....and I see dampers like cyl heads...you want to buy them once for your basic setup but have them still work for the setup you envision for 3-5 years down the line. Penske (and I'd bet JRi) can be redone to match your changes and abilities.

Good luck regardless

Costas
cars and such...

smitty2919

Indeed he is! I 100% agree with the approach similar to cylinder heads. Same approach I did with my cam selection. Works OK for stock heads but will shine with ported heads later on.

Waiting to get some pricing back on a Penske SA shock only and or SA coilover and see what the damage is. I don't think I can go wrong between a Penske or JRi for MY use. I'm leaning away from a non-adjustable since the car will see so many different surfaces and my previous Koni were SA which was nice. If this was a 90% roadcourse car where the surface is generally smoother than street or local autocross I would entertain a non-adjustable more with a specific valving.

If the Koni SA were able to be converted, I would have just done that lol.

Tires are locked to 315 square Rivals (which I pick up used most of the time from local racers with at least 50% left).
Springs will be 500-600 rate on ideally SA shocks (DA if by some act of God I can afford)
Bars will be chosen and paired to springs and tires

charger21

The nice thing about going coilovers is you can easily adjust the spring rates via spring rubbers. I have a box loaded with them.

smitty2919

Good point! Now you have me thinking to start with 500-550 springs and can add/remove rubbers when I race. I'll have the car up to swap wheels anyways so it would be easy to put them in.

l98tpi

WIth a $2500 budget, here another option for you. They're LG Motorsports LG GT2 Adjustable Coilovers. And along with these you would have enough left over to purchase a front two way adjustable sway bar from Strano. You really don't need to purchase the rear sway. The stock size will work fine.

https://www.lgmotorsports.com/corvet...coilovers.html

I run these on my C6Z and they work great. Only change I made was I installed Hyperco Springs on the Coilovers.

smitty2919

The GT2's were on my radar too actually. How is the ride quality with those since you can't adjust high speed compression? Are they off the shelf valving?

Another contender that has popped up is Viking's new triple adjustable coilovers also within the budget. These are a twin tube design, but to be able to fine tune the high/low speed compression to keep street manners as well as low speed rebound is VERY appealing. Again this car is not a all out track car. I'm waiting to hear back about the capability of the shocks to handle 500-700 spring rates. As time goes on and this car maybe sees more track time and less street miles, the spring rates may go up.

Viking does not seem to be very popular choice in the Corvette crowd, but that's not to say they are bad. They just don't seem to be on anyone's radar. I came across more topics about BC or Stance coilovers...Any reviews I have come across have been positive. No they are not a Penske/JRi as I previously mentioned but getting a quote from a vendor on here for Penske SA shock only, they are out of the budget.

Waiting on some JRi prices/options as well.

l98tpi

My Z has nice street ride. As far as adjustability. I don't typically focus on changing rebound and compression at different events. I corner balance the car and get alignment set and then drive the car on the roughest road I can find around me and change settings until have the smoothest ride I can get. If I feel I need any changes at events, I will do it through tire pressure and/or sway bar.

TrackAire

Do you have any more information on the spring rubbers you use? I did a quick search and it appears there are different levels of rubber hardness available. Any input or tech tips would be helpful.