What should I do to tighten up the suspension & road feel of my '99 convertible? I've got the active handling & adjustable suspension kit (F45) but the settings on performance are still 'soft' for me with too much rolling around. I want to keep the adjustable set up though as it's great for those bumpy road sections...

I've read the various posts about new sway bars for F45 equiped cars, but I'd like to know what people's impressions are of the various options - i.e. Z06, Hotchkiss etc.

Also, any recommendations?

Graham
:D

 

You have four options and I will list them in order ease of doing it.

1. Dump the run-craps. The Goodyear Runflats have such a stiff sidewall that transmits every imperfection of the road into the car and at the same time eliminate all road "feel." Options are Nitto 555's for about 650 for all four corners or Michelin Sports $1100 for all four. You could try the other runflats as I have heard good things about them but have no experience with them. I have with two mentioned above. The Michelin provide better grip but cost twice as much and wear out twice as fast. Your choice.
2. Ditch the swaybars - I have the Z51 bars cost me $100 brand new from a forum member. Best mod I have done to the car suspension. Drastic improvement in ride/feel. If you have jack stands it is easy to do yourself. Just torque all bolts correctly. Hotchkis work well also. If you go to stiff you will actually hurt the at the limit handling. If you want an absolutely flat car in a turn as in slot car like. Then you will need to go to Z06 or TI bars. I would not recommend them unless you do option 3 as well.
3. change the transverse leaf springs to Z51. Expensive but can be done by a do it your selfer. This is highly recommended if you intend to dramatically lower the car. The stiffer spring will reduce the possibility of damaging the bump stops in our very expensive shocks. YOU DON'T WANT TO HIT THE BUMP STOPS WITH F45 SHOCKS. If you are going for the more radical in option 2 then with the Z06 bars I would use the Z06 springs to keep the balance. I would stayaway from the T1 stuff for street use.
4. Dump the F45 system completely for a Coil Over package or convert to Z51/Z06/T1. Requires BCM be reprogrammed.

Hope this helped. Email me if you have any other questions. I have a lot of experience with the F45 and race with it often.
:flag

 

gonbad,

Can you comment on how the upgraded Z51 swaybars effected the general ride (if at all), and specifically in the other F-45 settings (tour and sport)?

Thanks

P.S. Here is a link for interested parties to a useful site describing the procedure for upgrading the swaybars (http://www.chazcone.com/corvette/z51/).



[Modified by SDVette, 4:22 PM 10/3/2001]