6silver

I have done searches and read multiple threads but wanted to get a few more opinions with my specifics. Fairly new owner of a base 1LT 2006 M6. My first corvette. I wont ever track or autocross the car and dont daily drive it. The car doesn't feel bad at all and I could live with it the way it is happily.

But...I keep reading about how much better/tighter it is with bigger sways and better shocks. I really enjoyed the feel of smaller more tossable cars like my Civic SI and Celica GTS in the past and the Corvette feels a little numb compared to them. I know they are FWD vs RWD so apples to oranges but also drove a C5 Z51 when shopping and it also felt a lot more connected. I did look for a C6 Z51 but got tired of waiting and also got a decent deal on this one.

I have pretty much narrowed it down to Z51 sways and Bilstein HD's if I do anything but keep wondering if I should leave well enough alone. My concerns are (1) it wont make enough of a difference and I will be disappointed or (2) it will make too much of a difference and ruin ride quality. I know its personal opinion for the most part but I cant do my own work so will be paying to have them swapped and if I dont like it paying again to have it swapped back.

Could anyone share personal experiences with this particular upgrade and if they have any regrets?

The car does have Michelin Pilot A/S 3+ ZP's on it now that are fairly new. When they do need replacing I will probably go with non-runflats.

cmonkey713

It really depends on what you want to do with the car. the Z-51 bars and Bilstein HD shocks are a very good starting place. That being said, there are an infinite number of performance combinations that you can do. As with most performance upgrades things can get expensive the deeper you go with the mods. The next thing that you may want to look at would be the brakes. The only limitation here is how deep your pocket are.

jchappies

I did the Z51 OEM swaybars and Bilstein HD shocks and it made a huge difference in the way the car handles. For the 700 bucks or so you'll have into it IMO it's well worth it.

Exact1

Did this upgrade on my 2013 1LT and it made a very noticeable difference. Add some Michelins and yours will ride and handle better than most drivers (me included) can ever use to it's full potential.

acroy

DRM Bilsteins + tires of your choice, and make sure your endlinks etc are good. Do this before changing sways. The Bilsteins have really good low-speed compression damping (vs stock which seems to have none) and adds some perceptible roll control.
here is a sway bar stiffness comparison chart. for some reason C6 base is missing.

wayback

I have the Z51 sways and Z06 shocks. Personally I like this combo. It is a bit stiffer of a ride but not intolerable at all. My car is lowered on stock bolts so shocks weaken quicker.

Had the Z06 rear sway bar for a while. Gave the car a much stronger center bias and took more input to change direction....also gave zero advanced warning the back was about to let go. Do not recommend the rear Z06 on a base car.

Cockroach

Interesting ^

I'm leaving my base LT1 alone, roads suck here and I need the softer ride.

myredhead1

I put Z06 sways, shocks and the rear leaf spring on my base and also lowered on stock bolts. I then changed to the corbeau A4 seats, Z06 brakes and Michelin pilot super sport 4s. Car feels glued to the road now, but I did give up a bit of comfort. When going over rough roads, I long for my old set up, lol.

Dutch08

That's exactly what I'm looking for as well.

IMHO, I think the answer is lighter faster steering. The C6 Corvette is very tossable (AH and Traction off), but it requires much more steering effort. I have a 05 z51 Mn6 with non-run flats so the only thing that seems slow to respond (ie. "tossable) is the steering. I've had a number of "small" tossable sports cars and the Corvette is much better with the exception the steering seems to be slow.

That's my response. Please keep this thread up to date and let us know what changes you make. I'll do the same.

6silver

I appreciate the replies so far.

I had read the DRM's are designed specifically for the stiffer Z06 springs and that for a base it would be better to go with the B6's.

I have a feeling what I term tossable was a combination of lighter weight( celica was 2500 lbs the civic was 2800) and the fwd torque steer. The vette is going to be much more planted due to a much wider body and lower center of gravity than those cars have. Plus all the push comes from the rear. I would like a little more road feel though...would have loved a Z51 but they are few and far between and a lot pricier than what I spent on my base.

If I do anything it will be the Z51 sways with the B6's just wanted to see if anybody who went that route had regretted it for any reason.

The only other mod I might do would be a MGW shifter to tighten the shifting up. Had a short shifter in a prior mustang and once I got used to it I loved it.

SixAddict

Just curious 6silver. What made you choose the B6 over the B8 I'm in the middle of replacing my shocks on my 09 base and am leaning to the B8 with GS or Z06 sway bars, some in our club have done this setup and seem happy with it.
Thanks.

Exact1

B6, Z51 sways, MGW shifter. This is my setup in my base C6 and, with Michelins, it is a much improved driving experience.

B8 seems to be better for lowered cars, if I've read the forum posts correctly.

SixAddict

I read those accounts also but I also read some that are running these on non lowered vettes? Guess I'll research a little more. Thanks.

6silver

I am actually still sitting on the stock suspension. It does what I need it to for now.

As far as the B6 vs B8 shocks and Z06 vs Z51 bars. The majority opinion that I could find was the B8 are a fair bit stiffer and are a better match for the stiffer Z06 springs and ride very rough on the base springs. I had also read they will make a non-lowered car with base springs ride higher. As far as the sways the Z06 and GS bars are designed for the wider wheels on the wide-body cars. The feedback I saw was that on base cars with stock wheels and tires they will make the car unpredictable if not dangerous due to over-steer.

I wasnt looking for a slot car ride just a bit of improvement over what I had and was worried about overdoing it and ending up with a rougher ride than I would be comfortable with. The B6's and Z51 sways seemed like a happy medium and I haven't seen anybody who regretted it. I will likely still go that route in the near future but for now I am just enjoying the car the way it is.

Jetstream 08

Totally do the MGW shifter. I just got my first Vette (2008 F55) a few weeks ago and even at 14k miles the shifter felt all worn out. The MGW is AMAZING! I posted about similar things except I have the MAG ride. When I would change the dial I felt ZERO difference in ride. Come to find out, while I was doing the shifter and replacing the garbage BOSE NAV system that the dial was disconnected underneath the console! Now it seems like Tour mode rides smoother to me when hitting bumps. I think it may have been stuck in Sport mode the entire time. I will say this though, I just came from a 2018 Civic Si and feel your pain. You sound exactly like me in how the Si has a much better feel in the corners. The steering feels much more connected and the Vette feels "Floaty". I do not understand how a car that weighs just a bit more and has a better 50/50'ish weight distro feels like it does. Its probably due to the wider wheels/tires as you know they are there in the steering feel. I told my buddy that had a C5 that it feels like I am driving a Modified at times. I want to do the Z51 sway bars next and then later the B6's. I daily drive mine, so I cannot get too crazy (wife already insta-hated the car when I got it). Even though I praise the Si handling, it does not compare to the utter power of the Vette. It totally makes for all the fun. The first time I got on it in 2nd and pulled to redline......nothing short of AMAZING. This is coming from someone that had a few Mustangs/Challengers/Camaros/etc AND a V8 swapped Miata. Though the 2015 Mustang GT PP I had before was no slouch either. LOL I am interested when you make the changes to your suspension and see how you like it. I think I am stuck with the Mag ride until they start leaking.

VETYGUD

I put Z06/GS (31 mm) anti-sway bar on the front and Z51 (25.4 mm) on the rear along with poly bushings on my 2009 base vert. I added the Bilstein B8 because they are matched for the Z06/Z51 suspension. It tightened everything up and planted to the road great. The only problem I had was that when I would decelerate or brake rapidly prior to a curve the front end would nose dive and scrape. I replaced the base front spring with a Z06/Z51 which was heavier, stiffer and flatter which stopped the nose dive. I left the stock base rear spring. This combination works great for me and I wouldn't change a thing now. My anti-sway bars and front spring were take offs, so I saved over half on cost. The Bilstein HD B6 will give a harsher ride but are designed to work with the stock base springs. The B8s are designed for Z06/Z51 springs and the rebound rate is different which gives a decent ride with extremely good road feel and feed back. This combination works great for touring with weight in the trunk and the occasional track day. I run Pilot SS run flats and turned back the aggressive alignment to save the inside of the front tires.
Just replacing the anti-sways and shocks will help, but addressing the springs will dial in the suspension response that you want.

VETYGUD

This is a misconception that the B8 are stiffer than the B6. The B6 are a heavy duty shock that are valved to be heavy on compression and rebound. The heavier compression helps for the lack of a stiffer spring. The base springs are thinner and curve more with more travel. As a result the ride will be harsher. I experienced this on my C5 coupe with stock springs, heavier sways and Bilstein HD B6 shocks. The B8 valving, which are designed for Z51/Z06 thicker, flatter and stiffer springs, has less compression pressure because the springs handle the compression better but have stronger rebound. The Z51/Z06 springs do not travel as far as a stock base spring with the same amount of force. Heavier, stiffer and flatter springs enable the Z06 and Z51 to have a lower ride height. The B8 shock would not effect ride height and if anything would cause it to be less because it has less compression, but the spring ride height bolts have the ability to adjust the desired ride height set from the factory or for personal preference.

Prewoz

I recently put on the DRM spec Bilsteins w/ poly bushings. Already had the Z51 package. Also upgraded the end links to the PFADT heavy duty end links. Did the PFADT recommended street spec alignment.

Road feedback is is very nice. Car feels extremely planted. I am very happy with my setup. Also running with michelin pilot SS’s

wildunko

After driving my c6 base model around for a couple of months (38000 miles). I didn't like how loose the rear of car felt after doing a speed run, looser than I liked. I found a used set of z51 sway bars and I also changed the shocks to c6 z06 shocks. After cleaning up I took my Vette for a test run, what an improvement. The car has an overall Planted feeling, much more stable at speed and an improvement on cornering flatness. I kept the Base springs and I'm pretty happy with that decision. I like how the car squats just enough when I accelerate hard and the ride isn't that much harsher with the sway bars and shocks.

RonNSoCal

I also went with Bilsteins and Z06 anti sway bars. I read the Z06 bars are the same as the Z51s and cannot recall which model of shocks I got but they were recommended for street use. I feel the car handles a tad better with no deterioration in ride quality, and actually think my car may even ride a little better now. I am not sure how much the sway bars improved anything, but feel the shocks are certainly better. Then again, they are newer too.