cowboytim

Are Coilovers make a big difference over leaf spring? I did a search and came up empty handed.....I'm a weekend warrior with my daily commuter 2011 C6 1Lt

RicK T

You'll get opinions arguing both sides of that question.

I suggest you state why you think you might want coil overs. Do you have a specific goal for handling that you can't seem to meet with the stock leafs? I think you'll get better answers if you tell us that.

cowboytim

Well to tell you the truth, I took a C7 Z51 for a test drive and loved it.....so your right, I should ask......How can I make my car feel more like that.
With out buying a 60,000 dollar C7 computerized car.

cowboytim

Maybe the T1 GM performance package would be better....?

sccaGT1racer

Your car has soft springs,small sway bars and shocks for ride quality. Its a whole package. To answer your question yes coil overs will change the way your car handles for the better. You will also need bigger sway bars.
The t1 stuff may be to much for you.


http://parsbrorc.com/?page_id=300 check this link for bar size and spring rates

Unreal

Tough question to answer, because there are tons of coilovers, tons of spring rates, tons of setups, and what difference do you want? Coilovers range from $1400-6500+. Nothing wrong with the stock springs for most applications. A good set of shocks for $550-750 does wonders.

cowboytim

Thanks for the input guys.

IansInGarage

All this is good info, but also consider do you have magnetic suspension? If so this changes things entirely. But it's always the same, opinion based. I hope to never trade my magnetic suspension out for anything but OE replacement parts; love the tech.

cowboytim

No I'm not a megnetic ride....It's a 2011 1LT. I'm just trying to decide if I should buy a new computerized car or fix up the one I have. I like the fact that my ride does not totally rely on computers, although not totally apposed either....Is magnetic ride a great option for the track?
Thanks for bringing that up....I forgot about that feature!

zrracer

Better shocks
Better sway bars.
Better brakes.
Adjustable end links.
Better tires (softer) and more aggressive alignment after you do the lowering.
Spending money on coil overs, good ones is not worth it unless you go to road course's lower the car will also help a little also.

AORoads

Frankly, I think you're getting a whole lot of good info and questions. Going the route of 1 thing or another sometimes leads to money spent, but not an appreciable change (or one you really don't want). One of the road racing shop owners that I've spoken to in the past has said much the same as others on this thread like zracer. If you devise a plan for an eventual "package" sometimes you can begin putting on parts from this package and see how things change (or not).

Taking cues from zzr's post, for instance, different tires with more grip. Possibly with different tire pressures (experimenting in small increments so you don't go flying off the fave mountain road!). For instance, adjustable end links (not much change there but provides something later on). Or, instead of adj. end links, different sways.

Just some thoughts.

cowboytim

I see a package by Johnny O'Connell or (Pfadt), sways, shocks and adjustable links.
This look like a good starting point?

http://www.westcoastcorvette.com/p-4...and-sport.aspx

xBoostx

Original suspension is quite good and quiet on the soft side but is hard to beat it's quality.

Coil overs will allow way more room to work on your car way more tune ability infinite ride adjustment pre-loading and balancing four corner weight any way you want for any kind of racing and tire fitment adjustment.

On double adjustable made in USA rebuild-able coil overs ain't going back about $1360,00 set.

xBoostx

Totally agree here factory magnetic suspension is a keeper.

Brad's LS3 Vette

I had lg gt2 coilovers on my 2008 c6. Rode like a go cart. Very stiff, felt ever crack in the road. I tracked the car and felt that the rebound was way to quick. It would make the car unsettled in a rough turns.

By design, you are removing a soft rubber pad that is resting on your lower control arm (Leaf spring) and replacing it with a stiff coilover w/ steel spherical bushings. I was 24 years old and thought they were to rough if that gives you any help.

Now I have a 2012 GS w/ magnetic ride control. Engineers have jobs for a reason. Smooth for the street, flip the switch, and now its stiff on the track.

Brad's LS3 Vette

On a base C6, Zo6 Shocks and Z51 sway bars are your best bang for the buck suspension mods. Transforms the car. For the love of God, don't get coilovers lol. Im 27, 3rd vette, plenty of track days and cruising. Hope this helps you.

Apocolipse

Z06 sways, Z06 springs, DRM shocks.

Done.

Ragtop 99

I have this and the car runs much flatter in turns and stays more planted in the rear when accelerating on less than good roads. The trade-off is the ride is not as comfy, but the front end scrapes less than one I was on the stock shocks.

I didn't see what tires you are running, but a good set of non-runflat summer tires will improve handling, ride, and noise over the factory tires.

mikeCsix

I run this on my GS, the dampers are about as stiff as I would tolerate on city streets. I have yet to get a track day on the upgrade, so all bets are off at the moment.

The JOC sway bars changes the front/rear bias in roll resistance, so you should be very aware of that. The cars are set up to understeer as this is an easier condition to recover from for untrained drivers, than oversteer. With the change in bias, you can change from understeer to oversteer in the same conditions.

The mag ride shocks are expensive, about $1k per shock plus the electronics to run them plus the modified console components to mount the control switch. There are also different mag ride systems for the Corvette as GM changed the system over the years.

I would find Sam Strano and talk to him about what it is you want to achieve. He has a lot of experience and sells all of the components necessary to reach your goal. He is one of the vendors on the forum, search is your friend for all of this and more.

timd38

I have LG coilovers because my Pfadt's broke, I don't see ever going back to the leaf spring.

You have more ride height options and more shock settings that you can get with the leaf spring.