jim spitzer

My car is a 2017 2lt vert. Looking under the car in the rear I can see the spot where the sway bar mounts, empty bolt holes. I only drive my car to breakfast and short trips to the store when my truck is not needed.
My question is would it be worth having the Z-51 sway bars put on the car. Mainly in the back so it dont look like its missing a part.

iclick

I wouldn't buy a rear bar just to fill a cosmetic void under the car where likely only you will notice. You could add only a Z51 rear bar without causing any adverse handling issues. I did it on my 2015 and there's a recent discussion of this topic here.

The ride will be a bit stiffer in the rear, but handling will be snappier, body roll decreased, and understeer at the limit reduced. The dealer likely won't do the job for you since there are liability issues involved for suspension mods that are not strictly in accordance with factory specs, so you'll probably have to get the parts and DIY or go to an indy for the service work. I would leave it alone unless you find the handling prowess of the car lacking.

toolking

After our trip home from Museum delivery (12 Days 3500 miles) I had Z51 bars installed on our Lt2 coupe for all the reasons mentioned above. The over-steer was particularly noticeable when the rear storage area was fully loaded. Just finished a 3700 mile road trip and the difference was easily noticeable particularly when in touring mode. Its a great compromise between touring and sport, with the softer ride of touring.

LIStingray

I wouldn't do it just for the cosmetics.
I also wouldn't add just the rear Z51 bar - that is a recipe for disaster if you aren't comfortable with oversteer.
The C7, in every configuration (base, Z51, GS & Z06) is set up to understeer just a little - which is generally regarded as the safest set-up for non-experienced racers (and just ordinary folks).
The base car goes from a car that understeers a fair bit without bars to neutral with the front & rear Z51 bars added. If you add just the rear bar from the Z51, the car will oversteer, which can result in spins.
Btw - the feeling of sway in the rear that many on this forum advocating for just adding the Z51 rear bar feel is not oversteer, which you can only feel as you get to the actual limit of control (car dances) and confirm after you exceed the limit and the car breaks free - is nothing more than what it is - rear sway.
Also, keep in mind the car was tuned with nothing in the rear trunk/storage area, so if you add weight there, the back end will feel heavier.

iclick

My 2015 did not manifest oversteer as long as you didn't induce it with a heavy application of throttle, so I'm not sure what evidence you reference with this statement. You can induce power oversteer in any stock C7 configuration, but what we should be concerned with is unexpected non-power oversteer, which can be dangerous in the wrong hands. That's why most (all?) car manufacturers engineer understeer in all their car models as a safety measure.

Read the thread I cited earlier and you'll find another owner who did some extensive experimenting with different bars, including two rear-only setups, and found all to understeer. He even tried an MSRC rear bar only, which is even larger, and still wasn't happy with the result. He finally ended up buying an adjustable aftermarket brand.

If you have some empirical evidence that shows that a stock Stingray with an added Z51 non-MSRC rear bar added will produce non-power oversteer I'd like to see it.

Trihawk

I upgraded my base car with front and back z51 sways immediately after autocrossing in the base configuration: the amount of body roll and understeer (base) sucked all the fun out of it. With ordinary driving I can not tell the difference; the ride certainly is NOT harsher. There is noticeably less roll when cornering on/off ramps which is nice. Personally I do not want to experience under/oversteer situations on the street, sounds like with your type of driving it will not be an issue either. I will be autocrossing in a couple of weeks and am eager to see how things go with the new sway bars.
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stevebz06

I think this answer is closest to what you should listen to. If you're going to put a Z51 sway bar on the rear, then I would probably put one on the front, as well.

I wouldn't really recommend making a lot of changes to the car's suspension unless you have experience tuning chassis, or at least a big skidpad where you can test. Pick up a book from Carroll Smith called "Tune to Win."

jim spitzer

The way I drive my car I will just not mess with it. but I may put a couple bolts in the bolt holes under the car just so it dont look like a missing part, (sounds like I have to much time on my hands , right)

TEXHAWK0

Only install sway bars in matching pairs. Different shocks will probably do more for the handling than changing sway bars.

Gene Culley

We sell the Z51 front & rear kit. You can checkout the thread here on the forum below.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...rformance.html

mtaxman

I think any Chev dealer will install BOTH the Z51 bars on your base - mine did.
Overall a worthy upgrade as seems to be the consensus.

CRABBYJ

My dealer did too, along with a suggested four wheel alignment which was out only on the right rear.

iclick

When did you have your work done? I recall reading some time back that dealers were instructed by GM not to do suspension changes unless stock parts are used. When I bought my rear bar the dealer (gmpartsdirect.com) told me the only way they would sell it to me was if I provided a VIN with the Z51 option. I went on-line, found a dealer who posted VINs, and used one of those. That was in Feb. 2016.

falconhulk

I think you are confused. What were you carrying in the back? 500lb weights that were sloshing side to side while you hit 1g corners? Installing z51 sway bars should not fix an oversteer problem on a stock c7.