It seems common that there is a lot of focus on powertrain mods as the first enhancements that are done to a C6.

Even coming from a 500rwhp Mustang, my LS2 has really never let me down as far as power is concerned. Maybe its because I have an FE1 car, but it seems the most urgent attention needs to be directed to the suspension. The FE1 is not a complete failure, it rides nice and is capable of achiving high levels of grip, but in the relm of high speed body control, improvements should be made if performance driving is on the menu.

To me a high performance car is all about balance. As delivered (bone stock FE1/LS2) my C6 seems like the acceleration and and even the braking for that matter, are a level above the overall handling. Everybody likes more power, but is it counterproductive to focus on power mods, when there is already enough power to overwhelm the chassis/suspension?

Lotus Elise and Mazda Miata owners should focus on power mods. Us corvette owners are blessed with one of the most powerful, simplest and durable powertrains out there. Thanks GM!

Obviously drag racers, F55 and Z51 owners may have a different perspective, to each his own.

Share your thoughts...

 

To each his own, but I have the F-55 suspension package and I am pretty happy with it.

I modded the look of the car, and the drivetrain. Every time I do a mod it feels like a new car all over again. I would love to take it to the track, for sure. On the street, I am doing 30-45 most of the time, so one would think the added power is a little wasteful.

Maybe I should buy that Prius???

 

For me, the focus should start on modding the driver. I would rather spend my money on track time than mods. Someday I hope to be as good as the car but that is a long way off. Modding seems pointless if I can't use what I already have.

 

My biggest problem is with people that have 400, 500, 600rwhp but still run around on stock tires.

Dont you want to USE that power?

 

I bought a Z51. The stiffer suspension and gearing were the major considerations. I did power and now have done some suspension upgrades. I have more opportunities to use the power than to push the car to its cornering limits.

 

I agree to a certain extent. In the early years of the C6 the aftermarket was more focused on making power vs suspension components. What coil overs etc that were available were limited and expensive for the most part. Then co's like LG, Phadt etc finished development and started marketing thier components to the public. This brought the prices, convinience and quality that is available today.

In addition there is far more CF members that build for straight line performance vs cornering ability. I prefer both personally.

Once you track the car on a road course with any factory available suspension and brakes you will see it's limitations. Especially compared to the Porsche's etc. However, a decent coilover, tires, brake upgrade and sway bars make the playing field much more even.

With the current availability of additional suspension/steering components now easily available to the gen public (non competition RR crowd) it's within reach for your typical canyon carver or occasional track day warrior to dial the car in to run some seriously decent lap times. But its not cheap by any means.

 

Exactly, even if you are a straight line guy, a good set of stickier tires like RE11s, would be a benifit to both acceleration and handling. At about 55 degrees my bone stock LS2 will blow the stock tires off through second gear. I don't need any more power without addressing traction/handling.

I learned a long time ago there is only so much power a usable and drivable street car can have before the enjoyment level goes way down.

 

Meh. If a person wants to add more power to their car, so be it/good for them. They can make it like they want it. To me, not any different than appearance mods.

 

Your comments are correct for the average Corvette owner. Most who focus on 500 or 600 or 1000 hp cars are in it for the bragging rights as they sit behind their cars in the Walmart parking lot.

However, for those of us adrenaline junkies who actually race and don't own a bottle of zaino, we are always stiving for the holy grail of the 650 hp N/A car that we can beat on every weekend and not have to rebuild for 5 years.

We keep trying new things, and blowing up old things. That's what keeps the aftermarket in business.

But, as mentioned previously, HP is only one part of the equation.

 

My comments apply less when you get to the extreme end of the scale. Dedicated track cars (strip or road course) are focused on a different kind of balance.

I guess what I am saying is a performance car is only as good as it's weakest trait. The power, drivetrain, brakes, chassis and suspension should all be as close as possible to an equal level of performance.

For me the FE1 suspension and then the tires are the first changes since they represent the weakest part of the equation (to me).

 

I agree...I am trying to build a well ballanced car (check signature) that does everything well. I'm done with the power mods. A well driven, balanced car will suprise a lot of people with how fast it can be.

 

wrong thread opps

 

I seriously believe they should have never offered the FE1 and only offered the FE3 and up suspensions. However, the FE1 can do quite well on the track. I have ridden with several students that had FE1 Corvettes and the cars were far above their capabilities when they showed up and after two days of driver improvement were still capable of more than they could do.

Despite all of the complaints the EMTs actually do well on a road course. Yes, people can blow them away by tromping on the throttle in the lower gears but once they have learned how to roll into the throttle and not stomp on it they find the tires have grip and really can generate some nice cornering G's.

Bill

 

This is the constant battle in racing: You are ALWAYS identifying the weakest link in the chain, and then attempting to improve it, which leads to the next weak link. It's a (seemingly) never ending battle.

There does come a point where (unless you are a professional racer) the incremental changes no longer are cost effective and you recognize that, all things being equal, the car with the best tires wins.

 

I strongly disagree with your statements about the FE1 suspension. There are many more Corvette owners that do not track their cars then those that do. GM offered the FE1 suspension to fill that requirement. GM also offered other suspension packages along with higher horsepower models to fill the need of those that wanted something other then the base suspension or the base horsepower.

Just because you don't have a need for a base suspension C6 or base horsepower Corvette, doesn't mean that a large number of Corvette owners should have to purchase a Corvette to suit you instead of a Corvette that suits them.

That's like the ZR1 owner saying GM shouldn't offer any Corvette other then the ZR1 because that's what they have.

When the GS was released, several friends were interested in trading their base C6's in for a GS, but were hesitant because they feared they would end up with a buckboard with the stiffer suspension making the car not enjoyable to drive. Not everyone is interested in driving their Corvettes at 10/10 on the track(or the street).

 

My focus has been and will continue to be the suspension. My only problem I bought the F55 and will not swap out for coilovers. So far Z51 sways and poly bushings everywhere. For track and autocross I am running R888's as they allow me to make the to track and back. I would like to move up to A6's but that will have to wait until I can afford a trailer. This winter I will had a camber kit as I can't dial enough camber to make the R888's happy let alone A6's. Also this will allow me to run 3 compounds in the future. I still run RF for everyday driving and wet tracks.

 

How I drive my car on the street relates very little to my quest for more power. Even my tune is almost exclusively dialed in to WOT for dragstrip running.

I have the F55 plus Z51 sways that serve me more than sufficiently for my off track driving, yet still provide an slight edge on the launch.

I believe it's more important to know your own limitations and desires before you mod the vehicle in any performance direction.

 

FYI, with my first car ( before I got bit with the racing bug) I put Z06 sway bars on it with the F55. I found that it worked well at the track.

However, there is no comparison to a good set of coil overs.

 

Thanks for the info. I would love to put the car back to stock and get a full time race car. Not enough of a budget for that though. I have been thinking about the Johnny O'Connell Sway Bars. But maybe the Z06 sways would be good enough.

 

Not saying anything like that. The reason I have been making that statement for 14 years is the ride between the two is not that different. You take a person for a ride in two different Vettes across the same roads with one having the Z51 and the other the base suspension it will be very hard for the person to tell the difference between the two. In the early C4 era the Z51 suspension had a bone jarring ride but by the time the C5 era started there wasn't much difference in ride but the Z51 still had better handling.

A C5 Z51 didn't ride any worse than a Ford Contour. I had a 97 Z51 for 6 years and I also spent a lot of time in Contour rental cars making 4 hour drives to and from Long Island during the same time period so have direct knowledge of the ride.

Having two suspensions raises costs since from an engineering stand point they have to maintain double the part numbers and split volume over close to double the part numbers. Since the vast majority of owners couldn't tell the difference in ride why not give that better handling to everybody and reduce cost at the same time? The Customers wouldn't be able to detect the difference in ride and a lot wouldn't have been able to use the extra capability but it wouldn't have hurt them either.

Bill