So I'm stuck! I have a 98 with completely stock suspension. The handling is superb already but it has a decent amount body roll.
I'm putting Nitto NT555 tires in stock sizes (245/45r17 275/40r18) on so I'm good in the tire department. (They may not be as sticky as R888's or KDW's but they are a great tire that won't wear super fast)

I use the car for mountain runs, curvy roads around my area, and I'm hoping to run a track day sometime in 2015.

I am looking into lowering the vehicle but my area does not permit it (road conditions, house etc..) due to the stock air dam being so low already (I scrape it easily even at stock height). I've read that the air dam shouldn't be removed so I don't want to remove it and I don't want to lower the car in all honesty.

I'll be getting Hotchkis front/rear sway bars w/ metal endlinks and C6Z06 shocks to stiffen the ride a little bit.

I know installing the bigger sways/links/shocks will reduce roll and stiffen up the ride, improving handling but I guess I'm wondering if I'm going to need to lower the car still after I get the sways/shocks?

 

To be honest with you at the track stock Z06's murder a lot of modified cars. Some sways will make a world of a difference. I have coil overs and am lowered to Pfadts recommend height (for got the number) but I don't scrape on anything except large flat topped speed bumps.

 

For the lowest cost solution just go get a set of Z06 bars, 04 shocks and Z06 springs. That is a well balanced package and you know that everything works together. Bolt it all on, get it corner weighted and you will have an great track day car, even if you don't lower it. If you lower it just a little bit and have the stiffer springs and bars you can usually still get away with it. Lower it a half an inch from stock on the Z06 parts and enjoy.

Unless you know what your are doing you can end up with a messed up package of springs bars and shocks. To get it sorted out you will need some adjustment capability with the bars and some suspension tuning knowledge.

 

Well I've heard really good things about the C6Z shocks and the Hotchkis sways, especially in combination but would C6z shocks and C6z51 sways be a better choice? Add to that the c5z leaf springs? Do you not recommend my initial setup choice (c6z shocks, hotchkis sways w/ metal end links and [add to it] c5z springs) If i'm going to do the hotchkis sways should I go ahead and get a different shock? The adjustable konis by chance?

I really don't want to lower the car because I can't... Too many bumps around my normal driving area AND where I park.. Maybe a half inch wouldn't be so bad? If I trimmed 1/2" off of the air dam?

Not too worried about cost but I'm not looking to put 3500$ coilovers on the car... at least I don't think I am anyway

On another note, instead of doing c5z springs any suggestions on the T1 front/rear composite leaf springs? http://www.hrpworld.com/store/defaul...-625-rate.html

 

Don't worry about the leaf spring. Before my current setup I had Bilsteins and it made a huge difference. I did a lot of research on sways before I went with mine, and I love my setup. Its quite stout. Even without my coilovers it would be a fast setup.

 

Listen to what Solofast recommended, he not only knows what he is talking about but has also tested many different combinations and tires.

The 04Z setup was very well sorted out by GM performance group and will make the most of a proven combination.

 

You asked about the Hotchkis bar and I can answer to that as I have the Hotchkis set.

My setup, so you can compare it to what you've got: I've got a 2004 Z06 with stock springs, the DRM Bilstein V6 shocks. I'm running 285/30/18 front and 305/30/19 rear Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 tires. Lowered slightly on stock bushings, but only a couple of turns. Running just a spec of toe-in on both ends. No camber rear, as much as I can get front.

I'm running the Hotchkis front bar but I found the rear to be too much for the car, even at the mildest setting. I went back to the stock rear bar. I did perhaps 4 autocrosses with the Hotchkis front and rear and didn't really like it at all. I did 16 with the stock rear and Hotchkis front and found the car to be far more neutral.

I don't think you'll find a lot of guys autocrossing with my tire setup though. Or any.

 

Well you can get coil overs for far less than $3500. You may want to research the options before discounting them purely on cost.

 

 

Well didn't mean to sound purely on cost, I'm not trying to go to a full on track car so I am not really interested in losing the springs, I'd love to do the Callaway coilovers that retain the oem leaf springs.

http://shop.callawaycars.com/Callawa...-220506310.htm

I'm looking for a good street setup for the mountains and such since I'll probably only do 1 track day a year, so the c6z shocks seemed like the best bet w/ hotchkis or z51 bars and I guess either the T1 leaf springs or the z06 springs. Also may consider lowering the car a half inch since it seemed highly suggested earlier.

 

Why keep the leaf springs and pay a ton for that suspension? LG's are around $2000 and will give you everything you need and more.

Those Callaways seem like a total rip off to me IMHO.

 

The T1 parts were designed to win races, but they are way too stiff for street duty unless you plan on wearing a kidney belt when you drive the car. Go Z06 springs and bars, that's plenty stiff for the street or occasional track day, and used parts are relatively cheap. Then you can go to the 04 Z shocks, or C6Z shocks, or Bilstiens or Koni's and you'll have a killer package.

Add a good aggressive alignment and set of serious tires on the above setup and there is most likely nothing on the street that will able to go around corners any faster than you could.

With the base suspension soft springs and bars you can't get the most out of your tires, but once go to the Z06 parts the limit is really the rubber on the car and the alignment. Or, to put it another way, a stock properly set up C5Z with an aggressive alignment is stiff enough to get everything possible out of a set of serious tires and that includes R compound tires too.

Most folks out there really don't know how to tune a car's suspension. They simply throw parts at the car and don't know what they do or why. Getting the car properly set up AND BALANCED is the key to having a safe fast canyon carver or fast track day car.

It used to be that you could drastically improve the handling of most cars by changing the bars and the shocks. Those days are long gone. The setup of the C5Z was optimized by John Hirenicy and other serious racers at GM, and within the confines of a street car you aren't going to improve it very much. To improve it at all, you really need to have a test site, a half a truckload of tires and a lot of time and money. By the time they did the 04Z shocks, the car was about as good as a car that you can still drive on the street gets.

You can go out and buy sway bars from Hotchkiss, and springs from someone else, and then even buy a good set of shocks, and unless you have some adjustability in the bars and shocks and know how to tune the car, more than likely the car will be evil at the real limit. Today's cars are so fast that if you lose it on the street or track you can end up crashing big time because you are going really fast. If you don't have the experience, time and money to do some serious testing you aren't going to improve on the Z setup by buying parts and trying them.

I can't tell you how many times I've instructed at autocross and track events and was asked by a student to drive the car that they had "set up". Invariably the car handled like a pig, most of the time it had more oversteer than was conducive to a long life on the track or on the street. Most folks that don't race confuse too much oversteer with good handling because the car is trying to turn a lot.

It's not that I'm slamming the aftermarket, but unless you buy a complete package (which is expensive), you most likely will end up with a strange handling car, and it's not going to be as fast as a properly aligned and tired stock Z that was developed by some of the best racers and chassis tuners out there. If you don't want to spend a lot of time and money getting it sorted out, just go with what works and is properly balanced from the get go.

 

Alright well I'm going to go with that, C6z06 shocks, z06 springs and the sways. Might look into the adjustable dampening koni shocks. More than likely I'll go with the C6Z though for a solid setup that is cost effective.

Thanks for your help! I'll definitely be going with the Z setup, seems like it can't be beat for the price and for my amount of use it should be perfect. Thanks again Solofast! I'll probably be hearing from you again about something else eventually as I learn more and more about my car!