I have to pop the flag on this. This car's not worn out after 9 years and 40k miles. No way.

I do agree it's good practice to check everything out. It's possible the car was in an accident, or towed incorrectly, or something so some time under it on a lift with someone who knows what they are looking at is a good idea indeed.

 

Ditto at only 40k miles not being enough to wear the suspension out(if something, or someone else did not screw it up instead)/


Go park the car on level ground.

Now break out a tape ruler, and measure from the center lips of the fenders to the ground.

The back fender lips to the ground should be close to 1.3" higher off the ground that the front fenders lips to the ground on a base car.


If someone jacked around with the car by blindly lowering it and set the front and back fender lips to the ground at the same heights, then they screwed the OEM corner balancing of the car all to hell instead.
Also, when the car ride height is touched at all at any of the corners, all four wheels need to be realigned!!!!!

 

I was in the same boat as the OP and didn't want to pay the corvette tax.

what I did:
Eibach Sway bars, Z06 shocks (used), Z51 front leaf spring (used). Around $500 all in and the car is totally transformed.

 

On my base convertible c5, used z05 sways were a great mod and cheap.

OP I didn't focus on the fact that you have a base car. Get some used z51 or z06 sways, either is basically the same, and you'll notice a huge difference. My car has z51 sways so I didn't think about it until theblue posted, and I remember what a HUGE difference it made on my base c5.

 

Some far more learned people on this thread than me , but I am with "el es" on this one. First of all, you have a 10 year old car ('06 possibly built in '05; this is '15). A lot can happen in 10 years compared to a 1 year old car.

Second, as said, this is a car and an OP that we know nothing about---where he lives geographically, how it was taken care of before he got it, how it was driven, etc. And it is not a garage queen with 40K miles on it, even if that's only 4K miles per year.

Third, we also know that cars in the extreme climates like the very hot desert (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas come to mind, even California's desert cities) or very cold climes, especially those left outside a lot, or driven in the white melty stuff (snow), can very easily accelerate wear on suspension components, esp. rubber ones. Like engine mounts, sway bar endlinks, bushings, etc. After all, batteries are said to last shorter in hot weather areas (and I always thought that was only the case in cold climates).

I think the other suggestions about checking the car out and getting some good advice from a reputable shop are good ones.

 

Problem with taking a base up to Z06 suspension specs, you have to get enough tire grip to make it work.

Yes you can just install something like R6's in the base tire sizes to pull that off on the track, but with that much grip, brings up new problems with going through wheel hubs, and brakes instead.

When the race tires are pulled and he goes back to street tires, the problem with lack of tire grip is going to rear it's nasty head instead.

Also to point out, you can pretty much "pan" the car with the suspension too tight'stiff. Not enough working correctly travel and you can get away with it on a smooth low speed track, but on a high speed track or highway speeds with some bad sections in the road, the car is going to be all over the road when it not responding to the road conditions correctly instead.

Time and time again, I see guys write how the stiffened up the car with close to, or even stiffer suspension of the Z06 on base models and how it worked for smoother/slower type racing, but these are not the same guys that are running the cars at 150mph plus on high speed rougher type tracks that requires a softer set up and plenty of working travel instead.

Bluntly, you can T1 the suspension, since all the parts are available.

Is it going to work on the Base model, not by a long shot, since you will lack the needed tire grip to being with, much less the aerodynamics down force to make the much stiffer suspension work correctly. Hence, first entry corner when the front end is not diving correctly to give better front tire bite/grip for your entry in, and you end up in the gravel instead, will be the dead give away that something is wrong in the set up of the car.

If manage to get through the corner, then the car sideways when you hit chop on the straight at over 100 since the tires are not tracking the pavement correctly either, will be the other dead give away as well (that is after you have the chance to change your underwear, after you have soiled them and even the emergency crew gives you a wide birth due to the funk after getting you out of what is left of the car you just yard sale'd).

Corvette yard sale crash,


So again, before you start to go buck wild on the suspension, take it up to a Z51 at most, and learn how to drive/skate the car correctly to begin with through the corners. It already has plenty of power to get from corner to corner, and now you have to learn now to dive it into the corner under braking to weight transfer to the front tires and carry speed, then how to power out of the corner to weight transfer so the car is neutral on the way out to track too under power instead.

Bluntly, a touch of under steer is a good thing in a glide through a corner (that you never drive the car that way anyways), since when you do get on the brakes or gas to solve that problem, the front end is not going to over hook-over steer when the back end start to lightly step out on power out of the corner instead.

Hence you don't end at the outer side of a corner on the way out since that is where you where aiming with the steering wheel to begin with, its where you end up as the car is pushing hard through the corner on throttle and the car lightly skated to the outside line neutrally instead.

To sum it up, since you are asking the question of suspension set up, and complaining how the car is slightly under steering now. This screams that your track time is very limited at all, and would dare to guess have never come through the ranks in any racing form at as well. Bluntly, your now playing in a H production car, and with such, there is a learning curve when stepping up from even lesser class car as well.

So driving school, driving school, and even some more driving school. As you learn how to race the H class car, you will learn how to set the car up so it drives better along the way, and the parts that will suit your diving style as well. Short of this, then better have bank saved as you drive over your head/set the car up wrong, and total the car/possible your self as well.

 

YES! I am most of the time BUT the OP said he knew about suspension and tuning, and had ALL kinds of fancy cars, but he bought a base model and apparently did no research because the first thing you'd have done a base model in put Z51 sways on bilsteins on it and then maybe ask where to go from there.

 

Cmy_six your constant overview of my posts and not actually reading what i say is hindering your ability for intelligent helpful responses.

I have not owned and super cars i however have driven many.... I also don't expect a 30k 10yr old car to handle like one but i was hoping it would handle better than my 20k import........

Also I'am very much into suspension. Learing about it and rebuild suspension and engines at the age of 9 on rc cars. I was learning about the affects of rebound and dampening. A few years later i got into mountain biking and studying endlessly the affects of changes and rebuilding them and constantly improving.... After that i moved into motorcycle suspension and engines/transmissions rebuilding and tuning....this was on and off road motorcycles. Then i moved into building engines and transmissions on cars its a passion and i love it. However this is be first time I've had a road car to play with and enhance and make better....

 

One thing about this forum....there is always that guy that thinks everyone else is a dumbass but himself.

liquidtrends....I'd say get yourself into a quality set of coilovers and sways...then have at it. Not only will you notice a serious improvement in the handling of these cars, but it will make you want to push it even further. And if you're like me...that likes to tinker....adjusting these things is half the fun. Seeing what it can do is the other half.

 

Do whatever you want to the car, just take it easy and relearn how to drive it with the new setup.

For me personally, I have a 2006 Base car, with magnetic ride shocks. I have installed an LG World Challenge Carbon Fiber vented hood, APR front splitter (no undertray since the base model is a bottom breather), Katech rear spoiler, PFADT Light Rate racing sway bars, Z06 Leaf Springs both front and rear. Stock brake calipers with Carbotech XP12/10 pads.

On the track, I've only used Nitto Invo's so far becuase they came with the used wheels I bought (LG world challenge wheels), with 275's up front and 305's in the rear.

My only upgrade for my next Track Day will be putting on Nitto NT01 tires, since my Invo's are 8 years old and now very slippery with my stiffer suspension. The NT01's will now let me take full advantage of the stiffer suspension and brake pads.

Not that I will drive the car much faster overall than I did with the Invo's, more of a safety factor in braking/cornering than anything else for me. I just do HPDE's for fun 1 time per year....I do not set lap records.

 

Getting an alignment with a little camber this week will see what it does. after that im going to upgrade the sway bars in a month or two and then move on from there instead of starting off with coilovers i just dont want to be riding around to stiff.

 

I just bought an '08 Z51 with a lot of suspension mods. Coilovers, end links, sway bars, mini-tub, corner balanced. The rear tires are 345 SuperSports on forged wheels and the fronts are 275s. It was set up for the track but never saw a day of usage. Everything is fresh as the car only had 12k miles when I picked it up.
I also have an alignment sheet saying they gave it -1 degree up front and about -.75 in the rear. Is this enough negative camber for such a sticky tire for track days at a high level? I don't think it is but know nothing about Vettes.
I ran -2.5 F & -1.5 R on my Genesis coupe when I tracked it and that was pretty ideal and resulted in even wear too.
Please advise.

 

Lost Me her, since how was the suspension final tuned, if it was not track tested to finalize the suspension for/on any given track??? At best, the suspension is only set to recommended starting set up points, and nothing more.

As for alignment, it's needs are determined by final tuning to get the tires to grip correctly for the track that is going to be run on, with the suspension final tune as well (suspension set up for a give track, and the alignment for that track go hand in hand).

If all you are doing is just DD the car, then Pfad's alignment set flat would be a better alignment instead.

Bluntly, the harder you are pushing the car in the corners, the more you are putting the weight of the car on the outer tread sides of the tread. If the alignment set up is flat, then the outsides of the tires will wear faster than the insides instead (meaning less grip in the corners).

If you are not pushing the car hard in the corners with track alignment, then what happens is you end up just wearing the inside of the tire treads faster instead.