I have an 03 Z06. I have the original shocks and run GY SCs on the car and am pretty happy with the street performance except for one thing: if I hit a sharp dip/pothole/bump in the middle of a curve at speed, the rear end steps out. I was wondering if upgrading to a set of 04 shocks would help cure this?

 

I had the same problem with my camaro but it was to be expected because of the solid axel it uses.

I went around a corener the other day in my 04-Z06 and it performed the same way Ive only got 10 k on my suspension so Im thinking we have the same problem or limitations..

More than likely GM has a poor match between the vette shocks ad the springs they use..not enough compression avalialiable..when they build these cars the have to find a comprimise..otherwise people will complain about the ride being too soft or too hard...abd its all so subjective

Ive been ithinking about trying some koni's SA or DA's..but their gonna cost a butt load

Are you lowered?

 

It won't "cure" it, but the 04 shocks ( I put them on my 2001) help make the car feel more "controlled" .... an example ....

Going over a hilltop and cornering at the same time, the body feels like it is "floating" over the wheels with the "old" shocks .... while the 04 shocks make it feel much more that the wheels and body are connected tightly together.

Not much difference on the street (the 04's are not harsher or stiffer) it is mainly on a road course that you'll notice the difference. I think it was worth it.

HTH

 

Not worth it at all.

 

This comment from a moron who doesn't own a Corvette and posts questions such as "Why is street racing illegal and dangerous" ... see ...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1598637

Go away you and leave serious discussions to people who actually have some experience with this kinda stuff ...

 

Nope, not lowered. And yes, it's all compromise with production vehicles.

Soooo, even with an 04 the problem persists, eh? I tell ya, it's my least favorite thing about the car...other then that, I'm a happer camper.

Like you, I'm also looking at the Koni's..and the Bilsteins...and the Pfadts...the mind boggles. I just wish I knew which ones would give me the control I want. In all likelihood, I'll end up with a set of adjustable coilovers. Hopefully then I can just dial out the step out. Another nice thing about the coilovers is that you can lower the car easily and not worry about bottoming out on the shocks.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

I haven't seen any track time with my car yet, but I've experienced the floating feeling you're talking about. I find that doesn't bother me nearly as much as the step out. I'm probably leaning towards coilovers just because of the adjustment factor and the hopes I can dial out the step out...and the floating too. The curve I speak of is just down the road from me, so it'll be easy to test...adjust, then try the curve. Repeat as necessary.

 

I'm not sure you're ever gonna be able to "dial out" that step out .... you might make it somewhat better, but I've had rides in cars like a Porsche GT3 where the same problem exists even with their "sophisticated" suspension set-up.

Bottom line, if the bump is affecting the loaded (outside) wheels, and you're pushing the car, there is gonna be that moment in time where the wheel has risen up because of the bump and for a moment, as the bump goes away, the tire just has much less grip as it tries to get back down to the road - the rear end steps out. A softer suspension (one that has lots of travel and soft spring and shock rates) will actually handle these types of problems better than a stiff suspension.

Any suspension system is a compromise. Look at race cars ... whether F1, Champ Car, NASCAR, whatever .... they are forever changing shock and spring rates, first based on the track, and then on driver input (It's pushing into turn 3). Even in racing you're compromising one turn for another. Chevy did a pretty good job developing the Z06 suspension to provide good street performance (not too harsh a ride) while also providing good track performance.

I'd recommend you sit down with a book like "Competition Car Suspension: Design, Construction, Tuning " or "Chassis Engineering" and realize that just bolting on some different shocks may not solve the problem, but in some casese can make it worse.

HTH

 

Amen! You can't make a Corvette ride like a Buick and absorb those kinds of bumps AND have it handle like a Corvette. Sorry but the 2 can't co-exist together folks. The Corvette has a very limited amount of suspension travel.

It is also not a poor choice of shock/spring matchup. It is specifically tuned for the Z06 for performance. Sure you can go get some $3K Penske DA shocks and tune it better. But I'll bet that won't fix the problem described here.

You could get some coil overs and play with the coils and shock dampening to help it. That would make each wheel truly independant vs the trans leaf setup. But you'll end up with another compromise.

 

Yep. While I'm by no means an expert, I'm aware of all that.

What I'm taking away from this is the fact that even though the 04 shocks can improve the handling characteristics of the car, they are not adjustable. This probably leans me more towards coil overs, but time will tell.

 

That's correct. The 04 shocks are not adjustable. GM went back to the Nurburgring and refined the tuning on the shocks for improved handling. They physically look just like an 01-03 Sachs shock.

As BlackZ06 noted in his example of going over a hill and turning. The floaty feeling is reduced. At high speeds through Esses on track the "hover" feeling is gone. So those transitions are handled much better. I also notice it on the highway where you hit a depression in the road. They react quicker to that depression so the car feels more controlled.

But they do not increase suspension travel at all. And if you are lowering the car then you just reduced what little travel you started with. On really rough roads or pot holes you might be completely compressing the shock and hitting the bump stop. If that happens the rear end is going to skip or step out since it has nowhere else to go.

 

And Amen again

Co-exist? With adjustable coil overs, you have the next best thing; different settings for street, performance, track, off-road? Sounds like the best "compromise" to me.

 

Yep. The new Pfadt coil overs allow you to adjust ride height and shock dampening independently. So you can get the stance you want and then adjust the firmness. As long as you are willing to put the time and effort into adjusting the setup and trying different adjustments.

That would allow you to get the slammed look with a softer ride for the street. Then setup the ride height and shock firmness for the track. And if you go to tracks that have completely different surface types, elevation changes, etc.. you can dial in settings for each track. A lot of work and trial and error though. You will also have to pay attention to your corner weights or you'll mess up the cars balance. Then I suppose you could set it for max height for those off-road events to do baja or trail riding

I have tested the Supercars in the grass before (missing a turn on track and leaving it) and they suck at off-road driving

 

The SC tires don't work well in the desert either ... I went off track at Willow Springs (Mojave Desert) and had NO grip at all .... shocks worked great though .....

 

i have seen posted a few times that upgrading to the HD endlinks helps that problem

 

THIS IS WHAT I MEANT WITH THAT POST READ http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/05/16/ct...ial/index.html

YOUR ARE NOT A NICE PERSON.

 

Call Carmine at VETTE DOCTORS HE has been a GREAT help to maney about this. good luck.

 

Vette Doctors specialize in DRAG RACING .... I hardly think they're gonna help someone tune their suspension for a road course ... I may not be nice ... but you are dumber than a box of VERY dumb rocks ....

 

WHAT A NICE MAN WELL SAID.

THEY KNOW MORE THAN YOU THINK.

 

I'd like someone to explain that one to me. The base C5 has plastic or some kind of cheesy end links. The Z06 has metal ones. But they still have rubber isolators in them to stop them from clanking. More rigid than the base coupe ones for sure. If by HD you are referring to the T1 end links then I would expect it to be worse. Those end links are heim jointed and have no rubber isolation at all. Once they are adjusted down they hold the sway bar even more rigid. Unless I'm mistaken that means the back could jump out more. Now matched with the T1 sway bars they might help if you can live with how tight the car is on a daily basis.

I'll let you know. I just got a set of T1 bars and matching end links. They're going in over the next couple of weeks. That front bar is FAT!