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The Corvette C8 is a great street car out of the box and after driving it we knew that it would make for a great road race platform as well!
After taking the car to its first track day at Road Atlanta in completely stock form we quickly realized there were some areas we could make simple improvements with drastically better results.
The first main area that we wanted to address was the suspension system in the car. While the car does maintain a lot of mechanical grip from the factory the driving characteristics were not the most confidence inspiring to the driver.
We set out to create a system that would alleviate these characteristics with the help of our good friends at MCS (Motion Control Suspension) and the results were very impressive!
Within the first few sessions on the new suspension system the owner, John, was able shave off 7 seconds from his lap time. On a shorter track like Road Atlanta this is a massive gain and when asked how he was liking the changes we made his response was “This is the best car ever!!!”, considering before this upgrade he was thinking about selling the car due to the driving characteristics on track, we would say this was a huge success!
We are super proud to release our Track Day Suspension package for the C8 knowing that it will bring smiles, driver confidence and most important faster lap times to anyone who uses them!
The Trackday package is a complete drop in system and is very easy to set up and make adjustments.
If you have any questions about the Trackday System reach out to sales@cicioperformance.com or call us at 678-297-7770!
Was the car on track alignment before and after the suspension modification? That alone seems to be a huge factor.
in any case, thank you for all the work you guys are doing for the C8, It’s a huge market and opportunity, and you guys surely seem to have taken it on.
The white car that he didn't like on track was a base car or Z51 car ?
Car is a 1LT Z51 car. I drove it on track stock with stock alignment, and on track stock with the track alignment... the car was equally terrible in each configuration. When you arent used to a car that rolls as much as the stock C8 does in the corners it really takes the fun away from driving it. The car is capable stock of some decent lap times if you are able to manipulate the weight and be patient in the car; I just wasnt able to and I just never felt comfortable in the car stock. Now with all the development i have cracked off some mid 1:35 lap times, which is decently quick. Hoping to squeeze some more out of it next time as we continue to refine the car.
Picture of the car in its current configuration. I will also add that a proper seat in the car was critical, i had the competition seats in the car and wasnt impressed.
It was an option on the 1LT.
I'd like to know his opinion on the FE4 suspension (Mag ride on a Z51).
John's car was not Mag Ride but I have tested several of both and frankly as someone who drives A LOT of cars... they were both equally as bad. Lap times on mag ride equipped cars vs John's non stock for stock were within tenths and the driving characteristics changed almost none when pushed hard.
John's car was not Mag Ride but I have tested several of both and frankly as someone who drives A LOT of cars... they were both equally as bad. Lap times on mag ride equipped cars vs John's non stock for stock were within tenths and the driving characteristics changed almost none when pushed hard.
~N. Cicio
So what is solution for a 3LT Z51 MR car with lift option ?
1. Are these the 1-way adjustable non-remotes?
2. What springs (assuming linear) and rates have you guys choosen? (maybe looks like Swift springs?)
3. What is the total range of height adjustment?
4. In your application on that guys C8, were the coils set at the heights as shown on those 2 installed pics above? If so, what height is the car at versus lowest height setting on the stock Z51 non-MR?
So what is solution for a 3LT Z51 MR car with lift option ?
tia
The car "works" on track with the stock setup. I wouldn't want to say that you need a solution per say. But if you want the car to be more planted, faster, and more confidence inspiring then the only solution is an aftermarket shock. Whether that be our MCS version or something else.
1. Are these the 1-way adjustable non-remotes?
2. What springs (assuming linear) and rates have you guys choosen? (maybe looks like Swift springs?)
3. What is the total range of height adjustment?
4. In your application on that guys C8, were the coils set at the heights as shown on those 2 installed pics above? If so, what height is the car at versus lowest height setting on the stock Z51 non-MR?
All great questions
1. They are 2-way non-remotes
2. They are Swift springs that we custom tailor depending on the customers tire/goal. Thankfully we have tried a very wide range of options and for sure know the window for each setup we have tried so far with multiple tires.
3. I will have to get back to you to get this exact but it is vast < 2.5 inches
4. I'm not sure exactly what you mean but there was plenty of adjustment to lower the car if we wanted but didn't feel that would put the chassis or the shock in optimal range. We also had well over an inch to raise the car if needed. The 18" tire makes it kinda hard to get your head around when looking at a picture.
1. They are 2-way non-remotes
2. They are Swift springs that we custom tailor depending on the customers tire/goal. Thankfully we have tried a very wide range of options and for sure know the window for each setup we have tried so far with multiple tires.
3. I will have to get back to you to get this exact but it is vast < 2.5 inches
4. I'm not sure exactly what you mean but there was plenty of adjustment to lower the car if we wanted but didn't feel that would put the chassis or the shock in optimal range. We also had well over an inch to raise the car if needed. The 18" tire makes it kinda hard to get your head around when looking at a picture.
Kinda disappointed they are 2-way as this takes away the ability for the normal guy to set without the need for a full corner balancing... But given you're marketing these as a legit track setup, I get it.
You can ignore my #3 as the range looks beefy with plenty of body threads to go up and down.
What I mean with #4 is I would want exactly what you said, to run a height near what you guys set yours at given your dampers should be valved for optimal operation at that compression/droop ratio. I wouldn't want to stray too far away from the optimal travel range but I also want my C8 to be set lower than the OEM coils can go. My assumption is that your height settings used so far are still somewhere lower than OEM will go, I just want to confirm this. In other words, I wouldnt want to install this setup at set my height at, say, 1/2" lower than the OEM will go only to find out that height puts me far out of the dampers optimal travel ratio.
Kinda disappointed they are 2-way as this takes away the ability for the normal guy to set without the need for a full corner balancing... But given you're marketing these as a legit track setup, I get it.
You can ignore my #3 as the range looks beefy with plenty of body threads to go up and down.
What I mean with #4 is I would want exactly what you said, to run a height near what you guys set yours at given your dampers should be valved for optimal operation at that compression/droop ratio. I wouldn't want to stray too far away from the optimal travel range but I also want my C8 to be set lower than the OEM coils can go. My assumption is that your height settings used so far are still somewhere lower than OEM will go, I just want to confirm this. In other words, I wouldnt want to install this setup at set my height at, say, 1/2" lower than the OEM will go only to find out that height puts me far out of the dampers optimal travel ratio.
Morning sir!
I'm a bit confused about your initial comment. There is no difference between a two way shock vs a fixed compression or rebound shock when it comes to setup or corner balancing. A two way adjustable shock simply allows you to adjust compression independently of rebound. The ride height and corner balancing are the same on both setups. We also offer full tuning support with each set of shocks so we can help even trackside on a weekend to get it dialed in. Although our base settings given our testing are very close.
I totally understand what you mean by your question #4. However the MCS shock being a motorsports grade shock is not position sensitive in its valving control. It is only velocity sensitive. Which means that as long as you have the appropriate bump stop engagement combined with the correct spring rate, it doesn't matter what you do with ride hight the shock will have the same control. Of course if you slam the car so that the shock only has 10mm of optional travel then you would decrease that travel so much that the shock would no longer have control. The way that the MCS is designed is in such a way that you could bottom the coilover threads out and still have plenty of shock control/travel. So you have no concerns there.
Let me know if that makes sense and feel free to come back at me with any questions you may have.
What I mean is, 1-way singles are far more forgiving as the compression and rebound are always automatically complimenting of each other no matter what setting is chosen. This is a much more forgiving and easier setup for an end user to play with, specifically on the fly, without the need for a full on corner balance.
with 2-ways, it’s very easy to mess up and be left with bad settings for end users who may not want to full on corner balance the car and attempt to set themselves.
What I mean is, 1-way singles are far more forgiving as the compression and rebound are always automatically complimenting of each other no matter what setting is chosen. This is a much more forgiving and easier setup for an end user to play with, specifically on the fly, without the need for a full on corner balance.
with 2-ways, it’s very easy to mess up and be left with bad settings for end users who may not want to full on corner balance the car and attempt to set themselves.
jope that makes sense
You are correct in the fact that 1 way adjustable shocks are a little easier for the end user but I do believe some more information is needed here.
Single adjustable coilovers almost always adjust rebound only. Compression is a set valving which is application specific. It does not adjust them both with one ****.
As for corner balancing I believe there is some confusion here too. Shock adjustability has nothing to do with corner balancing. Corner balancing is a ride height specific action that has to do with distributing the physical weight of the car. ie. Lower the front and put more weight on the nose for better front grip and so on. That should be done with absolutely any coilover setup no matter if they are 1-way or 4-way shocks. If however by "corner balancing" you are talking about balancing the adjustment of the shock then I can understand. That said the non-remote 2-way MCS shocks are very easy to dial in both the rebound and compression. Matching the front corners and alike the rear corners is obviously very easy. However the individual adjustability of compression vs. rebound is very simple and extremely powerful especially on bumpy tracks.
Once again, we are here to help with that and honestly once you get into it, it isn't near as hard or complicated as one might think.
Now, going up to a true motorsports 3 or 4-way shock... that gets interesting. Then you are adjusting both high speed and low speed compression as well as rebound and the overall level of each... that is when the end user would be kinda scratching their heads
Not to highjack the discussion but it looks like its taking a turn towards ease of use of the 2way shock. I think one of the things that makes the shock so approachable from the everyday trackday guy is the ease of adjustability. It hasnt been touched on in this topic but the 2-Way MCS shock allows rebound and compression adjustment with the same ****. the **** has an 'up' position for compression and a 'down' position for rebound. Gone are the days of crawling under your car to get to the adjustment **** and having to guess... The MCS have nice defined clicks, and each click makes a noticeable change. Even as a casual user i could tell the difference of a 2-click change. I'm as far from an expert as you can get but felt that the ease of use made the entire system more approachable for me.
Regular, magride wasnt available on the 1LT in 2020
It was available, I have it on my 1LT. I'm very happy with the turn in on Track mode. An entirely different driving line and throttle application is definitely needed over my little racecar, but it's still impressive what it can do in a stock configuration.
C8 Track Development @ Cicio Performance
