First here is my suspension prior to the QA1's
Bilstein HD Shocks
ZO7 sway bars, 32mm solid front, 26 mm solid rear.
Urethane sway bar bushings.
Lowered around 1.25-1.5 inches (26 inches from ground to top of fenderwell)
BFG 275 KD's front 315 KD's rear
Anyways I put the recommended turns(6 front, 4 rear) to them, and it was a little stiffer than the Bilsteins, as I was bouncing a little. Not the bouncing you get when your shocks are GONE, but stiff bouncing.
So, I lowered it 2 clicks to 4 front, 2 rear. That may be too much, but driving back and forth on the same roads you could feel these shock have quite a bit of valving change with the clicks.
Whats scary is I was recommended 10front and 6 rear for autocross!!!
Overall I am happy with the shocks. They also have a thicker piston rod, if that makes any difference than the Bilsteins. I think the Bilsteins are fine, very fine, but adjustability is nice. I like the adjustability, for whatever mode of driving I am doing.
The only complaint I have is the front lower mounts, as they are universal fit and don't quite fit over the holes for where the lower bolts go through for fastening.
This thread shows the pics of the lowers. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...&highlight=qa1
Another thing, the front part numbers I used TC1958P are replaced bu TC1959P's for a minor changes whatever that is. And I used the TC1958P as mine is lowered and they compensate for the difference in length of the shock travel.
BTW my Bilsteins are for sale.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1655842

 

Great write up!!
Hey, what did you do with the front shock upper bushings. The stock ones are much bigger (diameter) than the replacements. I reused the stock ones. But I was wondering how you did it.

 

Good info Steve!

I love mine

I have coilovers, and the lower T-bars fit great on mine...

MO

 

I used the ones that came with the QA1's as they were a stiffer rubber than Bilstein.
Tommorow is fun run day at the Autocross. I will play with the settings and see how she runs. Hopefully I will see gains and losses to be able to see how my springs, driving etc work.

 

Mo, I was looking at your photos of your fronts and your T Bar looks like the Bilsteins, as it looks closed. Ours is open and too narrow, as it doesn't quite go out far enough to the width of the holes for the bolts, so as Jeff did, I put washers in. I may email QA1 and see if they have other T Bars available to fit.

 

Heres mine, and you can see the T fitting fitment issue

And heres Mos

Apparently some are made with longer T's, and I noticed that some are fully encompassing of the bolt, like Bilstein.

 

Question on the Qa1's:

Did you get the DUAL adjustables.?

(adjust settings for compression AND rebound)

Just curious.
I have QA1's in a box right now.
Getting car out of storage today and installing Qa1's next week.

Matt383

 

I got the single adjustable. I cant fathom the amount of tuning needed for me to get those dual adjustable in tune. I barely have enough hair left.

 

Shocks are stunningly easy on these cars.

The QA1 is a nice piece.

 

I've got the singles, I wish I had the duels especially at the drags.

I've got an adjustment guide (for penskes) I can post for those who have doubles.

 

I ordered the duals.

I drag the car.

I use my WRX to Auto Cross (oops, that's another thread).

Anyway, I was interested in the dual settings.

Matt383

 

For drag racing, you set fronts up, well, like a drag shock. 90/10

Stiff in compression, soft in rebound. So the nose will come up fast and then settle down slowly.

 

Well I ran the QA1'a at the autocross today. Settings 6 front, 4 rear was a little to stiff, for my tires I thik.
Anyways, it plowed into turns, so I lowered it to 5 front 3 rear and it actually turned really well. Granted it was only a total of 7 runs, but there is definitely a difference it these shocks on 1 click. I know I am in need of tires, but the shocks make driving this car much more enjoyable, even for a Vette.

 

C4 are plough pigs to begin with.

What are your alignment settings?

What springs do you have?

What tires/wheels are you running?

If it's understeering, your running the fronts too stiff compared to the rears. Either go down in the front, up in the rear, or both.

I run my singles at 10f 8r for autocrossing.

Here's a vid

 

Alignment is VB&P advanced street, very mild.
I have stock FE1 springs
I have 32mm solid front, 26mm solid rear bars.
I have very old BFG KD's with 315 rear and 275 front. 34 front and 31 rear psi today. AFS 17x11 and 179.5 Grand SPort A Molds in Silver.
So, I should soften the front and stiffen the rear?
10front, 8rear is stiff IMHO. I was bouncing with 6f 4r.
I am tire challenged right now, I believe.

 

Hi Steve,

The ones i have should fit with noproblem on your shocks...

I get them from summit


PN : HAL-BAR350K

I hope this helps!

MO

 

Are they a press fit? Or are they fairly easy to install?
I looked it up, and I am not sure if they fit my series of shocks, TC1959/58 shocks.
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...view=32&N=700+

 

You've got several things going against you.

That 32mm bar is way too big. especially with the 275/315 setup.
take a look at the GS setup. It's a great track setup, but not an autocross setup.

try 10f 8r and if you still dont' like it 10f 9r etc.
You'll also want some toe out in the front, but just try the shock settings for now. keeping a chart of all your changes.

 

I as well tend to start at around 10F and 6-8R depending on the auto-x track surface. The next test-n-tune event slowly turn them up a notch to see how they handle.

I got my QA1's from Naake, who said they valve them slightly different for auto-x than the factory settings.

 

The way I understand it, the big bar in front gives the rear more traction resulting in more understeer. Increasing the rear bar would give the front more traction, resulting in less understeer. I have not seen larger rear bars then that though. You may need to use a smaller front bar.