2000 M6 98k FE1 code

The suspension on my car is the original. By the way it handles I am pretty sure most of the components, save the invincible monosprings, are obliterated. There is so much bump steer I need like 8 cups of coffee to stay alive in the rain. The dampeners are no doubt dried up and I am not sure the sway bar end links, or the bar itself for that matter, even exist anymore. My goal is to fix these problems and to enhance handling as well as safety for a daily driver.

Replacement parts I have fallen on are as follows:

Hotchkis sway bars w/greased poly mounts. I understand these bars lean toward understeer, the wheels are stock with nitto g2's. The bar is adjustable and I am pretty sure it will be okay but someone please warn me if it won't be.

​​​​​Moog end links. From what I have gathered, adjustable end links are better for the track than daily driving. I don't have enough feel or experience to be able to tell if they are keeping the car neutral or not and tune them effectively.

Bilstein HD struts/shocks. These seem to be universally liked by most of the DD folk. My real question about these is are the Doug Rippie versions significantly better?

Z06 Springs. Found a used set for a good price, from what I have read this is a good swap.


Here is where I am having some difficulty getting a reliable idea on what to to. Maybe I have not looked hard enough.

Tie rod ends? I can't tell if anything outperforms the factory units and if they do what the benefits are. What brand do folks find work well? Do I need to change the rear units as well? Will this require me to have a shop align the wheels? Is my bump steer caused by the tie rod ends or dead shocks and struts which, if I understood properly, causes the suspension to ride on the springs and sag into something that looks like negative camber. Visually it appears I have a bit of negative camber, in the front at least, the rear does not seem as pronounced; will these upgrades affect this?


Elite Engine engineering tunnel plate. I feel like this is low on the list of priorities. Is there really much added benefit to running this? I have read people like how it blocks a lot of heat from the exhaust and some have claimed it reduces the squeaks and creeks while stiffening the chassis. On that note, I am aware that running too stiff is detrimental to handling.

Thank you for taking your personal time to read this! This place has helped me a great deal.

Forgot to add, if there is anything else you guys think I should do while I am doing all this please do not hesitate to let me know.

 

I don't have answers, but I do have a 2000 coupe with a ton of miles. So I'd like to hear feedback so I can make some similar decisions for my car. I will say, I've seen people say the C6 Z06 shocks are really good and super cheap, I think?

 

What would be recommended is to establish what is your end goal--drag racing, autocrossing, HPDE, boulevard cruising, etc. I would caution you about just throwing parts on the car and not have what you really need. The suspension is a balancing act between the springs, sway bars, shocks, bushings, ride height, and corner balance. A great autocross car can be street driven but a harsher ride, while a great cruiser might be painful at a drag race, etc. For example the DRM Bilstein shock are good for autocrossing and HPDE, I could be overkill for the street.

 

I have heard this as well. My attraction towards the Bilsteins is the fact they can be rebuilt and I have read, in a comparison article, that with some effort, can be fitted with an external valve allowing you to lower or raise pressures depending on what you intend to use the car for that day. I doubt I will ever do this and am probably just thinking it would be "neat" to be able to do this, which is poor justification for the decision.

That being said in my reply to AgentLongWood, I have no current intention of drag racing, autocrossing or competing in HPDE, nor do I have any real intention of tuning the suspension in this regard, given my limited experience... one day though. My interest in the DRM Bilsteins is probably more emotional than it is objective, and from what you are telling me they would be uncomfortable for daily driving, which is what this car is for, so I will cross them off the list. However, I definitely enjoy responsive steering and cornering and unlike most folks on the road, I prefer to engage with and understand my car as opposed to casually rolling down the road just to get from point to point. I got the car when it had only 30k on it and still had Eagle F1 runflats on it. The runflats seemed to be a harsh element with their robust sidewall and I feel like the rest of the suspension was made softer to dampen the feedback from them, trading handling for convenience. I will say the steering response from the F1s was much better than the non-runflats that have replaced them since. BF Goodrich Comp 2s(awesome) were what replaced the F1s at the time and I noticed immediately less feedback and a lagging steering response, but they at least held as well in cornering and straight line acceleration was obviously better. I don't know how far you can take the suspension or what other trims of corvette feel like which makes it a little hard to find a basis of comparison. I just dislike the squishy unresponsive feel I currently have. The FE1 was the softest setup of any generation if I remember correctly and it always felt like it was meant just for casual cruising with tons of body roll. I hope my disjointed writing was enough to communicate what I am trying to do.

 

DRM-valved Bilsteins are NOT uncomfortable for any kind of driving. I just swapped them in with Z06 springs on my coupe and it drives better than before.

 

Could you describe as best you can the ride and feel of them?

 

I've been researching the same since this is what I will be tackling next after I address my current fluid leak.
Is there any reason you didn't want to go with the c6 z06 shocks and c6 z51 sway bars? That seemed to be a really popular option when I was reading around and what I had planned to buy.

 

The C6 Z06 shocks are not much cheaper than the Bilsteins and I get the feeling the Bilsteins are better crafted, but I have no hard evidence to support that. They also come with a warranty.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...r-upgrade.html

The Hotchkis rear bar can be easily adjusted to be close to a c6 Z51 or all the way up to a zr1. The front bar is basically equivalent to the zr1. I think I will like being able adjust the stiffness especially when this car is no longer a DD and it starts getting stuff like flared rear fenders and fatter tires. It will be useful to combat understeer when traction and power mods start making it apparent.