98vettered

I took it to the dealer a couple days ago. They said that the switch was working.
So I am thinking from what others have said here that there may be different degrees of how much it goes into the sport mode.

HOXXOH

The switch is just black and white. There are no shades of grey.

The change is in the speed that the shocks react. Slow change (tour) is perceived by your butt as soft, while quick change (sport) feels more firm.

How the car is driven and how your butt feels the difference in modes, will vary from driver to driver and butt to butt.

phileaglesfan

Find a road with expansion joints. In NJ I grew up around RT 70 which became annoying in any car. I had it on my 08. I was worried about my 11 GS Vert not having it but to be honest I haven't felt the need to switch it to tour mode if I had it. I drove my 08 in sport mode 99% of the time because tour mode felt too floaty for me in corners.

98vettered

Thanks for all help and advice.
I realize all I am going by is just what I feel by seat of the pants feel.
I have had my Grand Sport now since April 25 and have put on a good 7500 miles.
Since then I have switched it from tour to sport on all different kinds and types of roads;ran it at all different speeds as well.
I have autocrossed the car as well and switched it back and forth.
With this car I honestly can not feel any difference whatsoever between the two.
I suppose that it is possible that it is working and I could not feel the difference but that seems unlikely to me.
I would sure like to talk with an engineer who could explain this option better to me.

GREENTAHOE

I am curious if the Grand Sports wide body comes into play with so many saying they feel little difference. In my 05 the difference is night and day. It's in sport for 99% of the time I drive, but when I get onto bumpy uneven broken road surfaces the tour mode is totally different and 1000 times better. No teeth jarring bumps, just a relatively smooth ride. When I hit that type of road in sport mode I immediately know it.

98vettered

GreenTahoe I can agree with what you are saying and that was my experience to when I drove the dealer's new GrandSport last year.
That is why I question my GrandSport now.
There is no difference to me between the sport and tour modes in my GrandSport.

rpm462

I don't notice any difference between modes in my 2008 with the F55 either and am always wondering whether it is actually working or not. In my 2003 C5 I notice a big difference when I switch back and forth. Sure wish there was a definitive way to test it.

GOLD72

I can feel the difference with both my 07 vert and the ZR1. Touring is too soft for me with the vert for most road surfaces and the Sport Setting is too stiff for me on the ZR1. Of course the F55 is programmed differently between the two models but I can certainly feel the difference in settings.

frankgtb

is there a test procedure for f55 in the helms "factory" manual?????

TLK

I switch to sport mode when going over those rolling speed bumps they have on some residential streets like near parks that are supposed to help enforce the 25 MPH speed limit.

In sport mode, you just go right over the bump like the car is contouring it. In tour, the car will heave just like the minivan you are following that just went over the bump and bucked as the back end went over. Although it's harsher in sport mode, you can actually go faster over the bump than in tour.

Also in driveways or when hitting the lip of something, the front end will sink more in tour and scrape the lip spoiler, while in sport you can get away without scraping or go faster without scraping.

These are non-performance driving things you can test out anywhere around in your neighborhood. Try speed bumps in tour and sport and see if you can detect the difference.

fnbrowning

It would be very interesting to learn how the DRM Bilsteins or Johnny O'Connell shocks performed around that very corner with very very rough broken pavement, or similar rough pavement, vs. the F55.

frankgtb

i wasnt talking about zr1 f55 or zr1 crossdrilled rotors

i was talking about base c6 and z51 f55 and crossdrilled

z51 implies a performance upgrade yet z51 crossdrilled rotors are
1 more unsprung weight
2- more rotating mass
3-more cracking
4-same braking performance before cracking

Gearhead Jim

Someone posted that several years ago, GM presented a technical paper about some of their research showing that drilled rotors had more stopping power than similar non-drilled rotors. If anyone can find that, please post a link here.

If you use the same materials in rotors, more mass also gives the ability to absorb more heat. No such thing as a free lunch.

rpm462

I've tried that with my C6 and don't notice any difference, in my C5 it's very obvious. Think I remember reading somewhere a while back that if it does start malfunctioning it defaults to the Sport mode. I just have a feeling that it's not working the in the C6.

MisterMidlifeCrisis

Not very noticeable in my 2011 at slow speeds, but take it up to about 30 MPH and swing the car back and forth hard like you're doing a slalom and the differences are significant and easily noticeable.

Not so with yours?

Jahan

The dampers that come with the F55 option are semi-active, in that they are electronically controlled to react to road and driver inputs. They constantly adjust for conditions all the time, whether in sport mode or touring mode. Any time you're driving your car, the shocks are working their magic, and they are not gimmicks. The problem is that the average driver has no idea what's going on under him, so the only way to make the driver feel like he got his money's worth is to put the switch on the dash. This could be seen as a gimmick.

I'm a chassis tuning engineer and a trained vehicle evaluator. In the F55 cars I've driven, the difference between sport and touring is noticeable, but the difference is mostly in body control. Depending on the road, the average driver may not feel the difference.

bearman95

I can tell you this about f55. We have f55 on our 11 GS vert. It has a much, much, smoother ride than our 09 coupe with z51 did. Never tried the sport mode though, always leave in touring, no reason for anything else.

frankgtb

are you trying to say f55 is more like active suspension and not just a shock stiffener like the shock switch on porsche 911????

frankgtb

these are some videos thats sold me on f55

i want my money back




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNUBA6rMCWI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48m1_otpD9c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSi6J...eature=related

Jahan

Yes, although I can't confirm your comparison to the 911; I'm not familiar with that system.