C6 Tech/Performance LS2, LS3, LS7, LS9 Corvette Technical Info, Internal Engine, External Engine, Tech Topics, Basic Tech, Maintenance, How to Remove & Replace
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:

Coilovers?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jul 8, 2005 | 12:39 PM
  #61  
shopdog's Avatar
shopdog
Race Director
10 Year Member
 
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 10,089
Likes: 14
Default

Originally Posted by GoodbyeC6
Shopdog:

Thanks for all the info.

I was referring to the Chassis stiffener (looks just like a harness bar) made by Doug Rippie. It attaches only behind the seats so I am not sure how much it can do to stiffen the chassis as it does not tie into the front at all.

Doug Rippie and others offer Bilsteins as shocks and coil overs for the C5 and C6, I do not know if they are C5 shocks sold for C6 or specifically for the C6

I may try the Bilsteins and see if they improve the Washboard handling. I'll let you know if I do.

Happy Motoring! and thanks again
I don't think a harness bar would do much for stiffening the car.

C5 shocks should not be used on a C6. Suspension travel is different, C6 has more, so you'd run the risk of topping or bottoming the shocks, and they'd quickly fail. Bilstein is supposed to be coming out with a shock specifically for the C6. I don't know if it has hit the market yet. When it is available, play with the bound and rebound settings to find a ratio that works on your roads. It won't necessarily be the full hard settings.
Reply
Old Jul 9, 2005 | 01:18 AM
  #62  
LG Motorsports's Avatar
LG Motorsports
Premium Supporting Vendor
 
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 8,392
Likes: 572
From: Dallas Tx
St. Jude Vendor Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11
Default

I would point out that the C6 on the skid pad displays some impressive numbers , I also know that the real world roads are not smooth like the skid pad. Maybe I don't drive my Corvette has hard as some of you but I have never been disappointed in the handling of my C5 or C6. I took a ride up in the hill country and on the curves that said 40mph I took them at 90mph and the G-meter only registered .52g's, I know I could have taken the curves much faster, and this was on a narrow two lane country road that was not smooth. I guess there will always be people that no matter how the cars are built will demand more, and that is okay, it keeps the after market companies in business. But I think for the majority of the Corvette owners the cars capabilities are far greater than most would care to explore.
Anyway, that is my 2 cents.

[/QUOTE]

We have data in our C6 World Challenge race car (with coil over shocks by LG Motorsports) and we register 1.62 G's with no spikes.

More fun than we should be allowed to have.

Our C6 Coil over shocks are already available. direct bolt up and very effective.

thanks guys.

LG
Reply
Old Jul 10, 2005 | 01:11 AM
  #63  
TTRotary's Avatar
TTRotary
Race Director
 
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 12,375
Likes: 406
From: Florida
Default

Originally Posted by GoodbyeC6


I think I may be expecting too much from this car. It does have a perimeter frame, not a unibody or monocoque structure. As far as the cowl shake issue, the Vette chassis is stiff but not nearly as stiff as my Z3 M-Coupe or my M3 sedan where (both similar to the Vette in weight, size, mission and weight distribution). The handling of the Vette is remarkable, you can easily exceed posted speeds for turns by a factor of 2 or 3 (as is proper for any sports car) - unless the road is a washboard, in that case use caution! It is this unpredictable nature of the car I find troubling.
OK, let's clear up a few things. First, the C5 and C6 chassis is THE stiffest of any road car on the market, particularly so in torsion. It substantially outperforms steel monocoques for one simple reason: the monocoques are formed from hunders of steel stampings assembled with thousands of spot welds, each of which flexes. The C5/C6 chassis is hydroformed from a single tube: no welds, no flex. It's frequency exceeds 23Hz. Second up in rigidity goes to the Lotus, then to the 93-95 Mazda RX-7 (21Hz). The M Coupe is nowhere close: 19Hz. Go sideways into a steep driveway: the Vette does not budge, but both my E46 -chassis cars creak a bit. If your Vette creaks, return it because it is defective.

The buttoned-down ride you like in the BMWs (I have two of 'em myself) is the shocks, specifically the OEM Boge shock and more generally the Boge and Bilstein monotubes, which cannot be beat. The stock Corvette shock (Sachs) is junk, no matter how much Nurburgring testing they throw at it. So step one is swap to Bilsteins.

Step two is to change tires. The bump-skip is a feature of the very stiff sidewall on runflat tires. The newer Gen GY is better, but cannot approach the compliance of a non-runflat tire. So you will have to trade mobility for feel. This is less of a problem on other runflats because the higher aspect-ratio introduces additional compliance which masks the problem, but it is still a major headache on the thin-sidewall tires worn by the Vette and the Viper.

Finally, all SLA (double-wishbone) suspensions suffer from one major drawback: they are super-sensitive to toe settings. If toe is correct, they perform like nothing else. If they are off or cross-toe is excessive, they get nasty: they skip, skitter, and stumble over bumps, and feel generally squirrely and unpleasant. The Vette rear suspensions are pareticularly susceptible to going out of alignment. This is the first place I would look, because most Vettes come from the factory with screwed-up settings. Spend 100 bucks on a computer alignment and you will probably notice a major difference.

That said, I am highly amused you are suspicious of Vette handling, coming from the king of snap-oversteer, the M-Coupe and Roadster. (Thank god they finally added DSC to the 2001 models!!!) and the terminally-understeering E46 cars. Why BMW insists on using that junky McPherson setup on the front end is beyond me. I agree the Corvette skip is unsettling, but the car will stick way beyond this point and is predictable at the limit, unlike the BMWs. It will also bury the BMW when it is time to get serious in the twisties. Then again, the cars are designed for a large margin of error and are thusly reassuring. You should stick with BMW if that's the feel you prefer.

Last edited by TTRotary; Jul 10, 2005 at 01:42 AM.
Reply




All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:44 AM.

story-0
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!

Slideshow: How to Protect A Convertible Top: 10 DOs & DON'Ts

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-03 00:00:00


VIEW MORE
story-1
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!

Slideshow: The 10 most explosive Corvettes ever built based on power-to-weight ratio.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-20 07:23:03


VIEW MORE
story-2
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter

Slideshow: From C1 to C8 we compare every Corvette generation by the numbers.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-12 16:54:12


VIEW MORE
story-3
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time

Slideshow: Some Corvette pace cars became collectible legends, while others perfectly captured the look and attitude of their era.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-11 09:50:51


VIEW MORE
story-4
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)

Slideshow: Ranking the top 10 Corvette engines by torque output.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-05 11:58:09


VIEW MORE
story-5
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!

Slideshow: A Corvette pace car nearly matching IndyCar speeds sounds exaggerated, until you look at the numbers.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-04 20:03:36


VIEW MORE
story-6
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!

Among a rather large group of them.

By Brett Foote | 2026-05-04 13:56:44


VIEW MORE
story-7
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!

Slideshow: the top 10 things Corvette owners want in the C9 Corvette

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-30 12:41:15


VIEW MORE
story-8
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know

Slideshow: 10 Important Corvette 'firsts' that every fan should know.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-29 17:02:16


VIEW MORE
story-9
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2

Slideshow: Should you buy a 2020-2026 Corvette or wait for 2027?

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-22 10:08:58


VIEW MORE