Bimota Guy

I ran 3/8" total rear toe when I auto-xed my Z06. I have heard some (at least tried) ran 1/2".

talon95

Another option is to go to a bigger front bar so you don't need as much rear toe. I think quite a few people have had success. It worked pretty good for me.

Dave G.

TedDBere

Everything is a trade off. Too much rear toe-in can make the car harder to steer with the throttle. Often owners will dial in more rear toe to compensate for their over aggressiveness with the throttle on corner exit, rather than adjusting their driving style.

Also a tire sticks better when you're sliding the tire with about a 6-8 degree slip angle (bigger contact patch). When you get fast enough to slide your car in the turns then the rear toe-in can cause the contact patch to reduce because you're already starting with a tuned-in slip angle and now you're forcing the tire to exceed that ideal 6-8 degrees.

So as you get faster you may want to reduce your rear toe-in to aid in car balance in the turns and lose some of the corner exit grip. It's always a trade off.

I know of one past national champion in a Z06 who went with 0 rear toe-in. Others who went with tons. As long as you know what it's doing and are OK with that then fine, enjoy.

TommyBoy72

I'm on the smooth side of things and usually slip more like 3-4 degrees according to the Geezcube. On previous rides 6-8 would have been slower especially on Hoosiers.

tigerdrvr

Good points, we all have to arrive at what feels best. I like to brake deep and get on the throttle early and hard, so a car that's a little more understeer oriented works for me. Only thing I would add is that the Z06 drivers who I've seen have the greatest success really minimize sliding the car, keeping it very tidy. Also, there's enough deflection in the rear bushings that 1/8" toe in will be pretty much negated off turn/on the gas/full squat.

Also, the bigger front bar suggestion has been done with success by a number of guys, including Braun, Salerno etc. when they ran the Z06. The guy to talk to about that setup is probably Sam Strano @ stranoparts.

BTW, Scott, who ran zero toe?

TedDBere

I've made it a point these last two years not to discuss other peoples cars and specific setups unless they've made the information public themselves. In this case I don't think it's public so I'll pass on identifying the driver. If he'd like to pipe up he can. I believe Strano helped him with the setup though.

The point being, make changes with a purpose, ie because of the handling of the car, not because everyone else is doing it.

Mike, I thought you moved to BS this year? Can't keep away from the high HP???

wtknght1

I run virtually zero toe in the back. I like the tires going straight forward which helps eliminate tire scrub down the straights and theoretically should give you the maximum amount of power to the pavement possible. The car seems to handle just fine with that setting too.

TommyBoy72

Interesting. I just know from experience that much toe-in on the rear makes the car push, which is correctable on the Z06 on corner exit easily enough but what about turn-in? I ran progressively less toe every year I was in CS and later CSP. I think you guys have helped quite a bit, I have a baseline and will go from there.

That begs the question which front sway bars are options and what shocks? I'm not going to bother with Double adjustables this time around or even custom valving Koni sports I dont think - so that narrows down the shock options a bit.

TedDBere

The stock bar is pretty good. T1 is too much and the Hotchkis (sp?) is hard to make work well in Autox, but some use them anyway. That leaves you with the Addco 1.25" either hollow or solid. Your driving style and handling characteristics should determine which to go with. Drive the car with the stock 30mm bar for a while and see what you need. If you want some good advice give Sam Strano a call at stranoparts.com.

As far as shocks, if you're not going to upgrade to the DAs or Koni's then stick with the Sach's stock '04s until you feel like shelling out the money. IMHO

wtknght1

I run virtually no toe in the front or back...for road racing. .01 out in front and .01 in for the back - just enough for stability...maximum straight line speed.

As far as sway bars and shocks, etc. There are 1000000.... options. As I have said before though, the T1 kit is awfully good, tested under fire, bulletproof and really fast! Most of the T1 guys just run the SACHS shocks which were designed for the T1 kit. It works very well. Just bolt it all on, set the correct ride height, cornerweight and alignment, and you'll have a fast car. That set up, if driven correctly, will dust 95%+ of the cars out there.

TommyBoy72

Make sense. I was reading about using the C6 Z06 shocks instead of the 04 shocks. Not sure I read a really good comparison of the two but it seems the C6 ones are cheaper if all else is similar.

talon95

Yea, I've got the solid Addco.

Strano likes the Koni's for shocks, I dug up this old post on the SCCAForums. Pretty interesting.

http://sccaforums.com/forums/post/152369.aspx

Dave G.

wtknght1

Two completely different cars...two different spring rates...two different suspensions!!

TommyBoy72

Very interesting. For the price, thats tough to beat and I do like Koni's I just didn't want to bother sending them off. I'll shoot Sam an email.

JRL

I run the 32mm addco front bar with zero toe in back and it feels good, the car has a good balance and generally does exactly what I want it to do.
I ran a bigger front bar on my Camaro SS per Strano's suggestion, really liked it, so we tried on the Z06. Like M Wood said, its all about finding a comfort and confidence level that suits your driving style and works for you.

John L.
'03 Z06

RAFTRACER

I would call Koni NA directly myself and talk to them, they have new stuff coming if it didn't hit the market yet.. 3013's (as the originals have been) are too long and should be shortened somewhat to be optimal even in SS. Additionally the high gas pressures will raise the car ( which isn't a bad thing if you have the long 3013's) . Talk to Gordon Benson on ext 343 or Jay at 334...

I haven't seen or heard recently, but I believe there is a new 3013 already here or directly around the corner and a new FSD (frequency selective dampening). The new 3013 is supposed to be shorter than previous and I believe a valving revision.

TommyBoy72

Thanks RAFT,

So the old 3013 was longer than stock I assume? Does this mean the newer ones are probably stock length to stay stock legal?

off topic, bummer I could never get the 01 I bought to your shop last week thanks to the snow. I've already transported it home now so I have to pray we have a good tech here.

acrace

Two of the four quickest Z06s in Super Stock at the '06 Nationals ran the single adjustable Koni 3013s, although I agree with Raftracer. Lots of gas pressure which raises the car. I tried them and then took them off my car before Nationals last year.

I thought that the "new" single adjustable Konis are also supposed to have the adjuster in an easier to reach position, but that's based on a single conversation over four months ago.

wtknght1 - can't use the complete T1 kit in Solo Super Stock. Shocks are open as well as the front bar. Rear bar needs to be OEM as well as the springs.


Al Chan
03 Z06

trackboss

The new konis are still a few months out according to a distributor I spoke to. Biggest difference I was told is that they will be inverted. Looking myself for dampers and can't really find anything in between some of the low cost factory or factory replacement shocks and the higher end threaded body shocks. I use 3012's on my race car, not a corvette, and they are excellent, but don't want such a high end damper for my corvette as its not a race car. 3013's seem to be the ticket, but feedback I have gotten from someone who is very knowledgable in race car suspensions was not good. Unless of course he was talking about another koni shock for the C5 that I am not aware of. This was over a year ago.

rlsedition

Based on what I'm reading here, the new 3013s would seem to be just the ticket for your car. We developed them on a C5/ZO6 and C6/Z51 and, like the guys said, they will have inverted bodies, mostly to enable easier adjustment window access.
Price will be $700-750 a set and availability by the end of March.