Lowering the car causes all sorts of angles to change, and such, you don't have optimum drive angle transfer. If you think about if for a second, when lowering your car, the shafts now angle up toward the tires, so any effects of power transmission are going to be more sensitive to spring and damping rates.

On live axle cars like F-bodies or Mustangs, wheel hop can be very violent, but also very easy to solve. Most of the time, it is the result of lowering the car, which changes the angle that the Lower Control Arms are at. They sell brakets to relocate the LCA's if you lower your car.

I never had any wheel hop on my 2.73 TransAm, but when I changed the rear to a 3.42, the whole rear felt like it was going to fall off it shuddered so bad at times. Upgraded shocks helped a little, but I relpaced the rear with non-binding poly-bushing LCA's and the problem went away. Even upgrading to 3.73's, I still don't have any issue.

Spring rates, damping and tires affect wheelhop in an IRS car. Idealy, you wouldn't have any suspension, it would all be hard connected to get maximum transfer, but that's unrealistic in the real world. Also, rear end ratio make a huge difference, since upgraded rear cars would be more likely to overpower the tires and get hop. Tires make a huge difference, followed by the shock and spring upgrades. All the drive angles then come into play, and lowered cars are going to be worse.

The ZR1 is supposed to solve issues by using variable damping shocks that when the computer sense a hard launch, it softens the rear shocks to allow the car to squat, then immediately firms them up. I also saw something about using different sized output shafts. Maybe that's what another poster refered to as harmonically tuning.

As for C4's, I don't think wheel hop is an issue since they didn't have enough power to overcome the tires, but maybe someone with a modded C4 can speek up.

 

I have driven and been in some nasty C4s never a hop problem. They use 4 trailing arms much like a drag style 4 link suspension to locate the knuckles vs. A-arms in the C5, C6, and Viper.

 

My 99 C5 has never had wheel hop ever.. Just spins like crazy through 1st and 2nd gear.. Factory Bone srock suspension with an extra 30rwhp from mods.. Its an A4 tranny 3.15 axle. Looks like the problems with wheel hop are mostly the 6speeds with 3.42 (stock) rear ends

 

its all a matter of how you are shocking the suspension.. the harder you hit it the more out of wack you are making it.. if you load up the suspension first you don 't have the hop.. hence stall converters. and i would bet more than half of you are running the same tire so you are all going to have the same reactions from the cars.. your shocks are most likely a big source of the problem too.. if you aren't getting enough weight transfer to keep sufficient pressure which can also be due to shocking the suspension or too stiff of a front end not allowing rise...and for the smart c4 comment from nj02vette, let me know when you want to see what a little old c4 can do to either one of your ls1's...

 

So that's it--A-arms? Can we convert to trailing arms geometry? Will softer sidewall tires help?