I just got a set of Z51 sway bars for a 2012 C6 Convertible with the base suspension (non-F55 car). Would it be worth while to upgrade the shocks as well? I am looking to improve the handling a bit, but this car is mostly a long distance cruiser so I don't want to compromise the smooth ride quality. I live in an area with rough roads.

Any opinions? Any suggestions on shocks, or just stick with stock?

 

Hmmm, long distance cruiser and you don't want to give up comfort. Rough roads as well, in your area... I can relate;

I swapped out the smooth riding, ill-handling, base shocks a few months ago for a set of DRM Bilstein's. I no longer have a comfortable long distance cruiser, every road is jarring now and I somewhat regret the upgrade. On the positive side, the car handles much better and feels much more planted. Which was the goal.

Seems there's no free lunch. It's a tough choice. Do you want an ill-handling cruiser or a jarring race car?

Now, if I want a comfortable ride, I drive my Jeep Wrangler JKU. MUCH smoother!

 

Everything is a compromise!

 

I don't think the shocks would be a good idea if you live in a rough-road area. The bars would be fine, only adding a very little bit of stiffening of ride---not much tho.

Here's the guy to talk to about it: Gearhead Jim. He also lives in a rough road area AND he's changed shocks more than once. Let him advise you--I know he has the knowledge, first-hand to do it. I am sure Jim will also like to read Al gumby's post, too.

 

Just happened to wander past the door here...


Vette_1963-
Our car is a 2009 with the Z51 suspension, our third Z51 Corvette.
For the first two, I was happy with the Z51. Handling was great and I didn't mind the stiffer ride. But the ever-worsening roads of the Midwest and the Z51 finally started annoying my back. Over the mis-matched expansion joints and frost heaves (even in summer!), the quick and frequent jolts made it feel like the suspension was welded in place.

I replaced the Z51 shocks with base model shocks. That made the ride a lot nicer, and the decrease in real-road handling was not great. But after almost 40k miles on the base shocks, they were feeling too soft for me.
So I had Bilstein Heavy Duty (not Sport) shocks installed recently. I only drove a couple of hundred miles before winter closed in, but my impression was that the Bilstein HD were modestly firmer than the base shocks, but far more comfortable than the factory Z51 shocks. For me, I think they'll be a good choice.

As for other shocks that the you might consider:
Lots of people rave about the Koni FSD (Frequency Selective Damping) shocks, which are supposed to be soft over the bumps but stiff around the curves; a great idea.
But Bill (AORoads above) put them on his Z51 car and said they felt just as stiff as the factory Z51 shocks. I was able to meet with him and we did a back-to-back comparison of our two cars (both Z51 suspension, both Michelin PS2 runflat tires, him FSDs and me Base shocks) on a modestly bumpy road. That was enough to convince me that I did not want the FSDs for the Midwest.

Another choice is the Bilstein Sport, we replaced the Z51 shocks on our C5 with the Sports and they felt just as stiff as the factory. So probably not a good choice for you, and Al Gumby's experience with the DRM (re-valved) Sports doesn't sound a lot better.

Every maker of shock absorbers claims his product will improve your handling, improve your ride, give better gas mileage, and cure world hunger.
Me, I think that for most of us driving on the street, it's just a matter of how much stiffness (discomfort) you want to put up with, to get a better measure of handling.
Of the shocks I've driven, I would just put them into three categories (by Corvette standards):
Soft: Base
Medium: Bilstein HD
Stiff: Z51/GS/Z06 factory, Bilstein Sports, Koni FSD.

One other thing, if you still have the Goodyear runflats on your car, you can get a noticeable ride improvement by going to Michelin runflats. Their PS2 runflats are good, the newer Super Sport runflats are said to be even nicer for street driving. Some people claim non-runflats are even better, but if you're doing long road trips then I think runflats are the better bet. Personal experience here...
And one guy I knew who ran the identical tires (Michelin PS2) on his C6, switching from non-runflats to runflats, said they felt the same to him.

Good luck with your choice, feel free to PM me if you have more questions.



EDIT:
Although I have not tried the same car with base sways and Z51 sways, virtually everyone here who has put the Z51 sways on a base suspension, has been happy with the results both in ride (minimal harshness) and in handling (big improvement). In theory, they will give less understeer or even some oversteer. A few have complained about that but most are quite happy. If you put on the Z51 bars, run some autocross courses or just push it hard in a big open parking lot, to see how they work for you.

Also, you can change shocks without messing with the sways, and vice versa. Do the sways first, then the shocks; etc.

 

I did both; z51 sways first and then added Bilstein sports months later. my advice--save your money on shocks. Sways made noticeable, positive impact on handling characteristics with no ride consequence. Shocks made no noticeable difference to me in handling or ride...simply can't distinguish a difference good or bad. I've left them on (did it last spring).

 

OP: If you wanted to pick up some shocks take a look at these - http://dougrippie.com/products/c6-co...hocks-for-c6z/ you can add bushings if you would like. He is also a forum vendor and does group buys.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...it-s-back.html

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...randy-drm.html

 

Straight upgrade would be Z51 shocks, but the rebound dampering on them is just wrong in so many ways.

Moving to the Z06, going to be a brutal ride for DD (shocks just too stiff, and not sold on the factory settings either)

The DRM's are great shocks to pound on (what the z06 shocks should have been), but they have a slight DD flaw, and that is sucking up small road chop.

So for a upgrade over the base/z51 shocks, Koni FSD's. The ticket on these shocks, love to be pounded on, damper is very close to being right for a DD/sunday racer, and due to the valving design of the shock itself, sucks up light road chatter without transferring it to the car; no problems.

 

I have this set up, base car with Z51 sways and the Koni FSD's.

Love it.

 

Thanks for all the replies so far. Maybe I should wait until the sways are installed this spring, and then decided if the shocks are a necessary upgrade. It sounds like maybe the Bilstein HD's would be a viable option if I do choose to upgrade. The car only has about 5000 miles on it now, so the shocks aren't worn. It would simply be done for an upgrade.

 

The DRM's are correctly valved Bilstein shock for the vet, so if you are going to go with Bilstein's, then go with the DRM shocks instead.

http://dougrippie.com/products/c6-co...hocks-for-c6z/

But if the car is going to spend most of its life as a DD, then you will better off with the Koni's. The huge positive on the Koni's, due to the dampering design on them, the suck up small chatter in the road during DD driving without transferring it back through the car.

Hence the Konis will pound just like the DRM;s for hard driving, but its the small movement dampening of the Koni's that just makes them a better DD shock for every day driving that you can still pound on when needed.

 

Take a look at RideTech smooth body shocks.

http://www.ridetech.com/store/muscle...ures_hash=V367

Pm me for a price.

 

I went from stock (Z51) to Bilstein Sports to Pfadt coilovers to LG Bilstein coilovers.

My wife says that the Pafdt coilovers provide the best ride. The bad news is that one of the Pfadts broke, so I replaced with LG's and the LG's make the car handle better.

 

The theory behind the FSD shocks is great, and some people are very happy with them.

OTOH, AORoads said his seem just as stiff as his factory Z51 shocks; he drove a long distance to the shop on his Z51 shocks and the same roads home that day on the FSDs, that's a pretty direct comparison. It's been several years since I exchanged the Z51 shocks on our car for base shocks , but driving his car (FSD shocks on Z51 car) and mine (base shocks on Z51 car) back to back on the same road, I can tell you the FSDs were a lot stiffer on a moderately bumpy road than my base shocks and felt about the same as I remember the Z51 shocks.

Not a back-to-back comparison, but my Bilstein HD seem noticeably smoother than the FSD; about 1/2 of the way from base to FSD/Z51 in stiffness.

Of course, if you drive on smooth roads then it makes little difference.
For anything else, I'd try to bum a ride in the combination I'm looking to get.

 

There is a trade off!

For me, I want my Z51 optioned Corvette to be a G-machine type. But that involves compromises from the initial Z51 option design.

My initial Bilstein Sports improved the oem harshness edge over any bump. Hotchkis was dramatic in corners.

Now, my new DRM Bilstein Sports response is quicker than the base Sports in damping. What most would consider that as "harsh".

In a nut shell for me, base Sports is great to improve Z51 original and improved comfort, but I will keep the DRM for shear performance.

 

DRM Valved Bilsteins for me. (Coming from Z51 and car see track use as well as cruising). This is the best compromise. Stiffer when required and more compliant for cruising.

 

Went from base shocks to Z06 and my wife couldn't tell a difference until I pointed it out. I put 12,000 miles on them last year and have no complaints.

 

good to know... I purchased some to put in once spring gets here.

 

I saw something in this thread that isn't quite right.

First, I owned a 2008 Z-51 for a couple of years and did several hpde's with it. Nice handling car, ride a bit harsh.

After a couple of years I sold it and bought a 2012 Grand Sport. Another nice handling car along with a better ride.

In the spec's I've seen, the shocks for the GS are GS specific while the mono spring rates are the same. The stabilizer bar for the GS is also larger and I believe it may be larger than what I had on the Z-51. When I first drove the GS after trading the Z-51, the first thing I noticed is how much flatter the GS turned corners. The second difference I noticed was the 'softer' ride.

I replaced the shocks this winter with a set of DRM Bilstein's, the ride seems firmer but not harsh. When I replaced the shocks I also replaced the bushings on the stud end with Delrin bushings. I expected more road noise and harshness by doing so, but that didn't happen as there are still rubber bushings on the bottom end of the shock. The Delrin worked to take out some of the shock movement-before-activation but not all.

I replaced the shocks to try to limit a jounce problem I have at a specific track where at the bottom of a hill, the front air dam scrapes on the track surface. This characteristic has yet to be tested.

The GS shocks may be a nice compromise between the harshness of the Z-51 and the plushness of the base model. Personally, I like the Bilstein's. So far they seem to work well on the street but the jury is still out until I can get a track day. Reports I have received from other GS-track oriented cars is the DRM Bilstein's are an upgrade from the stock GS shocks.

 

Victor,

Just returned last Friday from Oahu. Had a great time and the weather could not have been better. If you like pulled pork barbeque, there is a gal with a kitchenette trailer over at Makapu'u beach selling the best I've had.