I am bringing my 93 back to life after 5 years of sitting and the shocks are not providing the ride that I want. I have looked at AC Delco, Bilstein, Monroe, Ridetech etc for the most comfortable riding shock and not sure which is best. In my 70s and now looking for comfort vs track performance and yes I know I am talking about a 93 Vette and not a Cadillac. I will be buying the Continental extreme sport tires to help with the ride.

 

Eagle, the smoothest ride shock you are going to get are the OE shocks. It makes no business sense for an aftermarket shock manufacturer to build a "softer" ride shock. Enthusiasts looking to improve performance and that means various levels of "stiffer" as fewer customers want softer than OE shocks.

 

Just put Continentals on my 86.............Wow what a difference from the Nitto 555's. Money well spent.

 

The shocks are only part of the ride quality. It also depends on what springs you have and what your ride height is. As for shocks, I would go with whatever you can get cheap. Probably Monroe, will have the softest rebound control.

 

Jazfe. Glad to read you like the Contis. I went and ordered mine today the extreme sport -02. I read about the stopping distance and the Contis were significantly better than the 555 according to the Discount tire store comparison.

 

Although the better aftermarket shocks are indeed usually biased toward performance rather than ride, I have not found Bilsteins to be particularly comfortable shocks, even stock-spec ones. They tend to have a fair amount of compression damping and a not-very-digressive damping curve, which hurts ride quality. Believe it or not, Koni Sports (the yellow single-adjustables) and Ridetech HQ are probably the best-riding shocks out there for a C4 when set to their softer damping rate settings. Both have a more digressive damping curve, which means they have a stiffer damping rate during slow suspension movements like roll and squat from acceleration and cornering forces, but a much lower damping rate during fast suspension movements like driving over bumps. Also, their compression rates (which are not adjustable) seem to be lower than those of Bilsteins.

The Contis are pretty good-riding tires as really good high-performance tires go, so that's a good move. Tires and damping rates have the most impact on your ride quality, so you're on the right track. If your 93 was not optioned as a Z07, then it should have 17x8.5 wheels in front and 17x9.5 in back, and would have come with 255/40/17 tires in front and 285/40/17 in back. These were specifically used by Chevy for a softer ride and less tramlining in the steering. Hopefully that's the sizes you ordered, because this will help achieve your goals.

 

Thanks, I got the right size tires, that part is easy and fairly idiot proof. I appreciate the info on the shocks and now looking into which one makes the most sense as I can get 4 AC Delcos for $133 from Rock Auto or $690 for the Konis vs $1020 for Ridetech. The car is in need of a lot of things and I have already spent $2500 of my $5000 budget

 

Oh wow, the last time I looked at the Ridetechs they could be had for $700! They have gone up in the past half year or so. That's still a good price for what they are. OTOH, there's a good chance that the Konis would be just as good for your use in off-the-shelf configuration and they are now a lot cheaper.

On a third hand (sorry), it also just occurred to be that Ridetech can also custom-valve a set of shocks if you ask. They might be able to set yours up for even nicer ride quality by taking, say 20% of the rate out of the fixed compression rate and also out of the range of the rebound adjustments. That could make them a better-riding shock than the Konis. They used to sell a series called "Ride Quality (RQ)" alongside the "Handling Quality (HQ)" series. I wonder what happened to that?

 

Please try the simple approach: Lower tire pressure. Over the past 10 yrs, I've enjoyed pressure being set between 24psi and 28psi. Yes, 24. Ironically, I first tried it to extend tire life as my FAT 315/35-17 rears were wearing in the middle first (and that was at 30psi). So, I lowered them even further (and included my 275 fronts). It helped quite a bit (to even out wear) and I enjoyed the benefit of a softer ride. My next set of Sumitomos got the same pressure from new to the end. This time, I put Michelins on. The tire shop filled them to 35psi. They felt a bit firm at first but I've left them that way (for a year).

Bottom line: Tires can make a HUGE difference in ride -- as does the tire pressure. Don't be afraid to experiment. Last thing I'd do is buy "softer shocks". If you can take the short suspension travel, it might be time to get a different car? Put a different way, after running mine at 24psi - FOR YEARS, I can't imagine ANY shocks that would make a Corvette ride like a Buick. BTW....if you try 24psi, check pressure more often. You don't really want them to get much lower than that.

 

I changed to Kyb 2 years ago way smoother ride and still handles good.

 

I have a 95 with Z07 package and yes it could ride very rough, I have the Cont, tires on with RideTech shocks. With the rebound set at 13 with 01 heaviest rebound and 21 the softest my ride is very comfortable. I have also installed the Banski rear suspension system. My buddy has a stock 93 and mine rides better than his. I hope this helps.
Thank You
Hawkeye56