what to do to improve handling of a F55 car
 

been thinking of ways to improve the ahndling of my F55 car. I am considering starting with at least a bigger front sway bar. As for shocks, is there anything available without loosing the dual ride?
Does anyone have a chart of spring rates for the C6?

Many on the forum put on C6 Z51 Sways front and back:rock:

The rheomagnetic shocks are the F55 suspension. What many of us F55 owners have longed for is an electronic tuning capability like those for LS engines and A6 transmissions.

how about z51 springs?

If you are looking for a bit of flatter cornering with little compromise to ride, switch to Z51 sway bars.

I found a place that sells them, they offer either the Z51 or the Z06. Which would be the better choice?

I forgot to ask, what year is your car?

Under normal circumstances, my prediction would be that you will be happier with the Z51.

Here is a table of the spring rates and sway bar diameters. The Z51 will neutralize the understeer to adding a slight bit of oversteer. The Z06 bars with the F55 shocks will add a fair bit more oversteer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...gs_comp-vi.jpg

Just a suggestion: A better investment for the long term would be your attendance at a good driving school. You may find that improving your driving skill may trump throwing money at suspension parts.

That said, many C6 owners have installed Z51 sways, front and rear. Do both, since just doing the front will result in a bit too much oversteer.

I have the F55 with Z51 sway bars (front & rear). A very worthwhile mod if you ask me. :yesnod:

As others already mentioned .. a set of Z51 Sway bars :thumbs:
It depends on how serious you want to get, but I also have F55 suspension and put a set of Z51 Sway bars on.
IMO, it's a Great balanced, all around setup, especially for the street. :cheers:

My 07 F55 coupe has Z06 sways front & rear....Z06 wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sports....& a sturdy insulated tunnel plate. No complaints!

:cheers:

Thanks for the answers,
SanDiegoBert, do you even know my driving skill? I am asking about other's experience with mods to improve the handling of the car so I go in the correct direction. I have been to driving schools and attended 2 years of autoX. I am just new with this particular 2006 vette.

Yup.... I'm going to be doing this soon.

Obviously, I don't. That's why I said it was just a suggestion. I didn't consult your profile. That info is in your profile, right?

I know some guys who keep adding equipment to make them "a better driver". It might make the car handle better, but a driving school graduates better drivers

Relax, man. It was just a suggestion.

I don't think we have any good data on this yet. It is questionable whether the F55 shock can control the Z51 spring. With Z51 sways the F55 is a pretty good autocross car. I have run my car the last 2 years with this setup and have been happy. On a road course though the weak front spring is really bad, to much nose dive to the point IMO of being dangerous. I just had my right front shock fail over the winter and am putting on coil overs instead.

Since the Z51 front spring is much stiffer than the base/F55, it might be easier to "control".
Imagine you had a spring so stiff that it would only move 1/10" even when hitting a huge pothole. Any oscillations would be less than 1/10", and hardly noticable. A wimpy shock might not stop the oscillations immediately, but I think that would work better than the same wimpy shock trying to control a very soft spring that moves 6" every time it hits a little bump.

I have the Z51 suspension on our 2009, but installed base model shocks to soften the ride over the frost-heave-every-thirty-feet roads of Illinois. Of course, the suspension moves around more than with the factory Z51 shocks, but it seems like less movement than on the cars I have driven with the complete base suspension. I'm pretty happy with this combination.

An interesting line of discussion, but perhaps we are hijacking the thread...

Jim I think dampening would be fine I would worry about rebound. But midlifecrisis(?) is getting ready to do just that. Soon we will have some real world experience.

This!

Perhaps overkill for many, but I tore off all my z51 suspension stuff, sold it. Removed leaf springs. Added adjustable coil overs, G1 (heavy as he'll) sway bars/HD adjustable endlinks, bump steer kit etc. It is such a night and day difference. Gone are the high speed wallows reverberating back and forth. No more nose dives upon braking. The car is way more settled and complient. The only downside is on bumpy roads it can be harsh if you run heavy springs. Smooth roads/canyons and the track is ideal for this set up.

The only other set-up (with leaf springs) I found that was remotely close is a friends C6 with Phadt inverted sport shocks and Phadt light weight adjustable sway bars.

I thought F55 Magnetic Ride was like the top of the line. I am looking to get that option on my next Corvette for the safety/road hugging benefit. Are you saying F55 is basically the Base suspension with the Magnetic Shocks/System? Please comment, thanks.

Trade it for a GS?