I have a 2001 z06 that is semi setup for drag racing as it sits now (the previous owner did it all). Stock suspension is lowered in the front and the front sway bar is taken off. I go to the drag strip on occasion and bought MT et street slicks for that but I can't stand not being able to take a corner because the rear end is so happy when going fast in normal daily driving which is what the cars purpose is. My question would be if I put on a more autocross oriented suspension, how much would that effect my my drag racing? How much would I expect to lose on my et's at the drag strip?

 

Taking the front sway bar off won't gain you anything as long as you have the bushing lubed so it can rotate freely. the front end picks straight up on these cars due to the drivetrain configuration so the swaybar doesn't affect weight transfer. I doubt raising the front a bit would hurt either. What else is changed besides that?

 

As far as suspension that is all. Engine wise; cam, air intake, intake manifold, clutch, full exhaust and tuned. I have been into motorcycles and quads my whole life so the car scene is a little new to me, but my friend has been drag racing for 10 years and I have gotten a lot of my advice from him. He said that putting a front sway bar back on it would hurt my et's at the track so I haven't made a decision yet. I have been looking at the Johnny O'Connell stage 1 kit but haven't been able to find anywhere how much it takes away from drag racing, if any at all.

 

Put the bar back on and see what difference it makes.

Does your friend drag a straight axle car? That's not the same as a IRS car and not the same as a C5 where drivetrain torque twist isn't imparted into the chassis.

 

I don't exactly have the bar haha. Didn't realize it wasn't there til after I bought it and the previous owner didn't have it any longer. I guess I'm just not wanting to drop a grand on the Johnny O'Connell if it was gonna mess up my drag times as much as my friend seems to think it is haha (extremely firm on me not buying it).

He has an 02 Camaro. Fully built rear end with all my engine mods + heads, injectors and all the necessary stuff to go with it.

 

Well, I personally don't believe the sway bars will have any effect as long as they're free to rotate, which they need to be capable of doing for turning corners too.

The shocks probably can probably make a difference. I suggest you post a more relavent titled thread in the C5 Perf. Results forum. Something like "drag shocks vs road course shocks" to see if anyone has experience with different shocks or setting their adjustable shocks for drag use. I don't believe anyone makes shelf stocked drag specific shocks ( for example 90/10 shocks) for the C5. If you have non-adjustable shocks then they're likely the stockers.

So, why not buy a set of C6Z06 shocks and C6Z51 sway bars and try them? It's a good setup for street use. You can find some decent pricing like this;

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-t...house-com.html

About $50 more could get you a set of Bilstein Sport shocks instead of the C6 units.

 

Thanks a ton, checking it out now.

 

I run LG coilovers with big PFADT bars on my car. More of a road course setup. I tried a set of MT ET Street Radial II's on my car for 70 miles back and forth to work and took them off. The absolutely killed the handling and was really squirrelly. I tried them with a lot of pressure trying to stiffen them up with no luck. I've got a set of brand new 315x30 ET II's sitting in my garage now.

 

Sorry for the confusion. The slicks are for track only, i have the stock sized F1 tires for daily driving. I can just tell when I'm going around a corner at the same speed my wife's honda accord can take it, my rear end feels like it's going to slide out. Just need/want it to handle like it should or better.

 

I just had about the same thing happen to me. Went from my99ss no front sway for drag racing. Sold that got a 97c5 and the Guy dragged it regular. Well when I got it home. Saw no front sway bar. And has qa1 adj shocks. I ordered a set of c6z51 bars. I wanted a good all around car. My camaro was strait drag car couldnt handled or brake like the vette. And so far not much change that I tell from the front lifting with it on.

 

The only concern I would have would be in the link posted above to purchase the GM parts, they recommended to NOT put c6z51 sway bars on a c5z06 which made sense because of the minimal size difference in them. Just to purchase the c6z06 shocks and put original c5z06 sway bars back on it or upgraded aftermarket ones.

Purchasing the c6z51 bars from that link though is almost cheaper than just going and buying a front c5z06 sway bar from anywhere I've found.

 

Is there a need to replace the springs as well when upgrading shocks/sway bars?

 

I think we talked yesterday on the phone Kooker01Z, but in case anyone else finds this thread and has the same questions:

1. It's not typically necessary to swap out springs when moving to a performance suspension package, unless the manufacturer recommends it. In the case of our Johnny O'Connell Stage 1 package you can install the matched set of sway bars and shocks and dramatically improve the handling of your car without swapping out the springs. There are some situations where stiffer springs would be helpful, such as hard braking zones and hard acceleration. If the car was going to be aggressively tracked every weekend there would be changes in our recommendations... but the Johnny O'Connell package is targeted at daily drivers who see occasional track time, and given those criterion you can install the JOC package on any C5 or C6 without hesitation.

2. We would definitely recommend getting a fully functional sway bar package under the car if you're driving anything but a fully dedicated drag race car. The Corvette was really designed to provide best handling with a set of sway bars installed, and with no front bar it's not surprising that the car feels pretty unstable and prone to oversteer. There may be an incredibly slight change in ultimate drag performance with a front bar installed, but it will be way more than made up for with the increase in handling you will see on the street.

By moving from a C5Z with no front bar to the entire JO package your car will feel MUCH more confident and controllable than it currently sits!

 

Thank you very much for the advice. Ordered my kit yesterday and plan on installing it with some headers and xpipe next weekend.