Street gear

I am close to buying the Callaway’s because I like their concept of leaving the factory spring in place but I also notice a large number use Pfadt. I like the price of the Pfadt which by the way seems like a nice product. Which do you think is better? I use my car mostly for the street and maybe 5% track. Also any have installed the Pfadt street bars? Are there any issues with fitment or anything else?

0C_Williams@RPM

I would add LG's to the mix. Great product as well.

FJPA

I've installed pfadt coilovers 6 months ago. No issues till now. The best mod I have ever made.

Wilddr805

What is so good about this mod??? Does the ride get better or worse and are you lowering this beast more???? It already scrapes in the city. I would think a softer setting would make this car handle like a boat....

Street gear

Coilovers are supposed to be one of the best mods one can do to improve handling. Regarding how it rides it depends on how you set it up that is the beauty of coilovers unlimited adjustments for your driving style.

02HREBlue

I have talked to Katech and Pfadt about doing this mod-coilovers- so give us some input on why you say this is the best mod you have made please. Handling, ride, lack of bumpsteer, ride height, etc. Many people here would appreciate it.

DOMSCOM

I too have the complete Phadt suspension system, coilovers and street swaybars. On Thursday, I will be installing Phadt competition swaybar pillowblocks and poly bushing kits. I do not track the car, but am looking for a very precise,razor sharp handling vehicle. I had the opportunity of driving a stock Z-06 yesterday, back to back to my car. The stock car felt soft and spongy by comparison. The coilovers allow you to adjust, lower your ride height, without sacrificing performance from the springs or shocks. They are set independently of ride height. The ride can be adjusted to anyone of 16 settings from softer to race hard. I started at setting 6 and now am at 12. If you don't track the car, you probably will just do as I do, you find the comfort and handling zone you like best and set it and forget it. The swaybars make a huge difference from stock. There are two offered, Street and "Phatty Bars" which are larger. If I had to do again, I would go with the Phattys. But that is just me. The car corners much flatter. They too are adjustable so that you can have over, under, or neutral steer depending on how you wish to set your car up.The Stock suspension is a compromise. The Phadt system allows you to tune your suspension to your own needs and driving preference. With the installation of the poly bushing kits, I expect whatever play was in the steering to be eliminated as these bushings replace the soft rubber compounds of the A-Arms and swaybars. I problably will have some minor noise. But this is to be expected, as the poly bushings have very little to no give. The bushings do come with lubricant. I am told I am worrying about nothing. We shall see. In addition to all of this, you need to have the car properly aligned. Aaron has suggested settings on line. I had my car aligned to the street/track settings...Major difference in handling. Hope this helps. Dominic

stano

So, what did Jason say?

What did Aaron say?

Don't keep us hanging here....

vetracer

What about the Motons? How do they compare?

Street gear

I Talked to Aaron on the phone about the nicest guy you can talk to. Pfadt is very helpful and needless the say they highly recommend this mod.

Street gear

Jason has Motons and I am sure he loves them based on some other threads I had read. The only thing with Motons they are a caddy way more expensive and I am not sure the benefits over the others are worth the price.

FJPA

First I would like to say that handling is very personal and subjective. What is soft for someone, perhaps it's stiff for others. Fist time I drove my vette I felt a little disappointed with the general soft feeling of the suspension, the bumpsteer at high speed, and lack of chassis feedback.

I decided to install the pfadt coilovers, pfatty sways and pillow blocks. Now the car is totally different. Bumpsteer is over. I can change the car setup very easily, from a soft to a quite stiff configuration. Under hard braking, the nose goes down very little. Under hard acceleration the nose does not move at all.

The car now is more responsive to the steering inputs (transitions are really fast). I recieve a lot of more feedback, and the car in general is more easy to control. I have performed many times 1.20g in corners with the stock tires (maximun is 1.26g till now). The behavior of the car on bumps is perfect. It does not upset at all. With the stock setup, the suspension was moving all the time, so It was diffcult to feel what was going on.

I'm currently using the car for road driving, it's may daily drive. For me is like having a total different car. I'm so confident with the feedback of the car, that it seems to me I'm going slower than before. Now I'm running 14 cliks at front and 10 at rear (from a total of 16, being 1 the softest), perhaps to stiff for a DD but ok for me!!!.

427Z

i think someone said it best on another thread. its a give and take with suspension mods.

you want better handeling? you're going to have to give up somethings to do that. its going to cost you money, time, harsher ride, some twichiness, ect..

its going to give you somethings you might be looking for.

to me, the Z is a capable enough car not to have to go thru the trouble of converting pieces

Wilddr805

I would like to know if the softest setting on the Pfadt coilover rides less harsh than stock. Is the swaybar also a must??? I want to be able to drive long distances on a soft setting but have the option of turning them up if need be. You guys like to mess with ride hight too???

DOMSCOM

Wilddr805, I thought the #6 setting was softer than the stock set-up over bumps and potholes. The #1 setting should be really soft. I personally never tried it, but I am sure the ride would be very compliant.

John Shiels

there should be no comparison, in performance or price!

z06vin

The Callaway allows independent adjustment of compression & rebound. The Pfadt varies both with one **** in a predetermined curve which makes it less "adjustable".

Personally I would try the Callaways with factory springs and change the coilover springs to higher rates and dump factory leafs if original setup unsatisfactory. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1893707 bowmanized has a great price including FULL COILOVER CONVERSION)

Im still running factory setup on my Z06 but was spoilt by the high end double adjustable suspension on my autocross only BMW. Price shouldnt be a deciding factor - you are driving a $70k car

Katech_Zach

You guys are right. Handling is so subjective and a matter of personal taste. So here are my personal opinions. Any coilover system that eliminates the factory spring is going to be better (again subjective) than the factory system. I get in stock Z06s now and I feel like I'm driving a boat. The factory suspension feels high and soft. Coilover cars are more nimble and responsive.

Although we mostly sell Moton, we are a dealer for all three. Moton, Callaway, and Pfadt. I've driven cars with all three, so I think I'm allowed to make a fair comparison.

First I think you need to think about what direction you want to go with the car and what is the core reason you feel you need coilovers. It could be handling, ride quality, adjustability, weight, etc..

Callaway
If you want a little more adjustability and the ability to go softer than stock ride quality, this may be the set for you. Priced surprisingly inexpensive, and very complete.

Pfadt
If you want to do some club racing, reduce some weight, and have an additional amount of adjustability, these may be the set for you. They are also very reasonably priced. Aaron Pfadt is very knowledgable and his products are developed through his first-hand racing.

Moton
To me, theres no choice but the Moton. Everything I put on the Z06 is inspired through, or used in professional motorsports. I have a Katech engine, Brembo brakes, Moton Suspension...the list goes on. Moton shocks just scream motorsports. Moton is involed in all kinds of Motorsports, from C5-Rs in Europe, to World Challenge Porsches and Acuras. They know shocks like Katech knows engines and compete on the world stage. I love having canisters mounted on my radiator. I just dial in the compression whenever I want. They're also a great conversation piece. Motons are the only set of coilovers I've really put through the paces. The Pfadt and Callaway I've just driven on the street. The Moton shocks really plant the power out of the corners. I also noticed they significantly reduce, if not eliminate wheel hop. The downside to Moton is they are more expensive and springs are sold seperately, adding to the cost. Installation is not as user-friendly either.

LG Motorsports
One of the cars we worked on came in with LG coilovers. I did get a chance to briefly drive it on the street. I can say that it had excellent street manners and was comfortable to drive. I didn't push the car at all so I can't really comment on the handling. Just like Moton, LG's coilovers are race-derived. I know that Lou's 30+ years of professional racecar driving plays a role in the tuning of the coilovers and the quality components selected in their build.


MYTH: I think there is a misconception that coilover shocks drastically reduce ride quality. Maybe its just my 26-year-old mentality, but in my personal opinion, thats really not the case. I have NO PROBLEM driving my Z06 to work every day over the awful Michigan roads. I drove my Z06 12 hours non-stop to Memphis, Tennessee and it was not uncomfortable in the least.


EDIT: Added 4th review.

Street gear

Jason:

Nice write-up so what would you go with Pfadt or Callaway’s if those were the only choices. I like the weight savings for the pfadt's however the Callaway’s sells theirs by suggesting it is a better system by not putting all the weight of the car on the shock supports. I am also a little concern with Aaron spring rate probably the lightest of all coilovers about 400 front I believe and about 500 for the rears which is even less than factory for the "Z". I know others are way up there in comparison. Also Pfadt adjustability only one control compare to 2 for the others.

LG Motorsports

Hi Guys,

I must not do a very good job of marketing and getting the word out about our LG Coil Over shocks using Aluminum Bilstein Shocks.

Bilstein is at the top of the heap in shock technology world wide. Their nitrogen filled seperate chamber technology has been the standard of the shock industry for years. It was only a short time ago that the technology was allowed to be duplicated.

We have used these Aluminum Body Bilstein Shocks as the core of our Coil Over package for years now. the valving was dialed in by me and a Bilstein shock engineer on track and on the street.

We Built valving for street cars and for the race car. Of course most of you know the success that we had on track with the bilstein/LG Coil over package, winning races against some tough teams and drivers.

Our Coil over package that we have been building for over 8 years for the Corvette uses the best and highest quality Hypercoil springs. I know that the Corvette Market would accept nothing less than the best, so Hypercoil was our choice.

Combine the Bilstein Aluminum Nitrogen Filled Coil OVer shock with the Hypercoil Springs and we have a premium coil over package that is race tested, race winning and street proven.

Our Pricing is less than 1/2 of a similar Moton or Penske package with equal performance as shown on the Race track. And our pricing is only slightly higher than the heavier steel coil overs. And for the street, we appologize for giveing you more than you need. But at LG Motorsports we consider that "Value".

Here are some questions that you should ask when getting any Coil over package:

1. What material is the shock made of? Is is heavy steel or aluminum?

2. Is it Gas filled with a seperate gas chamber? Because if it is not seperate, the shock oil will trap air bubbles and reduce and change the effectiveness of the shock with each stroke of the shock.

3. What Brand of spring is being used? Hypercoil, Eibach, or some off brand with no name. The no name springs will sag and take a set, where the Hypercoil springs do not. They are "Pre Stressed" and blanchard ground top quality wire to insure that their installed height does not change.

4. Does the shock length cause it to bottom out when it is loaded in a corner? We took the time to have Bilstein build our LG Shock to our custom length so there is no chance of the shock bottoming under loading. If a shock bottoms, the effective spring rate goes to infinity and the tire is now the only "shock" absorber in the suspension. Obviously this is not a good thing.

5. Adjustability? Adjustable shocks work well for Drag racing because you need a 90/10 shock for the front and a 50/50 for the rear to promote weight transfer. But for all other applications, you need a tuned and balanced shock spring package that work in harmony. The ***** on the shock work well when you change your spring rate but if your springs are already correct for the shock then you will take the shock out of the range of the spring if you are just turning *****.

In other words: The rebound of the shock IS determined by the spring rate. The rebound rate is what is acting against the spring pressure. If you change the spring rate, you MUST change the rebound rate of the shock because a heavier spring rate will push the shock open quicker or similarly a lighter spring will not be able to over come the rebound in the shock and tend to "hang" the wheel up and reduce the tire contact time. So they both work together, and if you just change the shock rate with a **** without changing the springs to match the shock change, then you have just taken your shock/spring package out of "harmony" and it will not work as designed.

Our Shock/Spring package was developed by me at LG Motorsports in conjunction with the highly skilled engineers from Bilstein. It is not "what" you know, it is "Who" you know in the racing world that can make the difference in what a company developes as a final product. We at LG Motorsports have nurtured our racing contacts to be able to carry that technology into the street products that we build.

Our LG Coil Over Package is just one of our products that has benefited.

Feel free to give me a call any time and discuss your Suspension needs, either for the street or the track.

We look forward to working with you and your Corvette.

Thanks
Lou Gigliotti
LGM
972-429-1963