michaelkrelina

I use R888, 295F and 315R now and plan to move up to Housiers A6 and probably wider than the above. I like the idea of the sway bars being adjustable. On a tight technical course the car pushes with the standard sway bars.

I am considering the Pfadt Street Bars but am concerned that I may need a bigger bar in the back to control the understeer. Would the Pfatty Bars be more appropriate (at least the back one for autoX only) ?

Thanks for your help.

MK

JRL

MK

I put on a 32mm addco bar which induced some understeer. I changed the rear toe from toe in to the about zero toe in back and now its neutral and has good balance for autox. So, you can dial out understeer with rear toe adjustment if you need to.

Hope that helps,
John L.

Solo2GS

Hotchkis seem to be the choice of many SCCA national champions including Gary Thomason.

I run GM T1 bars front and rear on my ASP Corvette with stock springs. More so because I have them from when I used to do more track time then auto-x, but I believe they are too stiff as do many others I have asked advice of.

If you look at the Pfadt sway bar graph the Pfatty setup is even stiffer then the T1. In comparison when I asked Josh @ Pfadt which bar compares to the Hotchkis he said their street bars do.

A few have told me the addco 35mm front is comparable to the Hotchkis.

I wish I could tell you which is best, but am still working on it myself!

Z06Fix

I plan on going with the PFADT street bars next year. I just think the COMP's are going to be to stiff especially for the stock springs.

waktasz

What sort of alignment are you running?

Solo2GS

-2.2 front camber
-1.2 rear camber
can't remember the exact toe settings.
Running 315's on all 4 corners.

waktasz

I was sort of addressing the original post , but that's about what my alignment is too. If his car is pushing on tight courses I was just wondering what his settings were.

JRL, did you get your setup advice from a certain reigning national autox champ?

michaelkrelina

-1.3 front camber
-0.8 rear camber
toe 0, front and back
caster, minimum factory setting, I don't remember the number
tires R888 295F, 315R

considering increasing to: -2.0 front camber, -1.2 rear camber and probably going to Housier A6 next year

MK

JRL

waktsz,

Yep, strano set me up about 2 years ago, haven't had to change anything but tires ever since. Now i've moved on to hpde's and time trials, setup still works but I need to tweak it some.

Cheers,
John L.

0JoshS

MK,

Both the Street and Competition, aka: Pfatty, bars are very balanced. Also, because they have such a wide range of adjustment you are able to tune to your specific car and driving style.

I also noticed some talk about the Competition bars being too stiff for stock springs. I would argue that because you are still using stock springs that you would benefit more from the Competition bars. Because increasing your spring rate also increases your roll stiffness you don't need as stiff of sway bars to control body roll. So, conversely, if you are running soft springs you would benefit from high rate sway bars to control body motion.

In an autocross event I would consider the Competition bars because they will quickly control the body roll and allow for faster transitions from corner to corner.

Please let me know if ther is anything else that I can help you with!

michaelkrelina

Will the competition bars fit in with the brake ducts? Do the ducts need to be relocated or removed?
MK

Solo2GS

Are you referring to front or rear? I have GM T1 bars which are huge and do not affect any of my brake air ducting...

mountainbiker2

Your C5 Z06 has great suspension right out of the box. I can take a autocross SS Z06 and come within a second of my highly modified SM2 Corvette. Keep in mind it takes money and the right parts to make it handle better. First I would start with your alignment. More neg. camber in the front. 2.3 More castor. 0-1/8" total toe out. Rear 1.2 to 1.4 neg. camber is great for autocross. No more. 1/8 to 1/4" total toe in.

What ever size tires you decide on, get the widest rim you can get.

Buy the best adjustable shocks you can. I believe shocks will make the most difference.

32mm or 35mm for the front sway bar.

The smallest rear sway bar you can get away with. Z06 or Hotchkis.

Be willing to try different alignments. Mostly toe settings.

Ride height? Stock Z06 springs. Lowered all the way down on stock bolts. Again be willing to try different heights. Mostly rear.

There is no easy answer. I have raised and lowered my car, different alignments, different shocks, and all sorts of sway bars. Always with the same results. You win some, you lose some.

Have fun.

Steve

michaelkrelina

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Pfaadt Competition Bars do not fit in with the brake ducts. Is it true?

MK

michaelkrelina

Thanks for the suggestions
What kind of sway bar is in the 32-35 mm range? Is that about the T1 size?
Mike

Z06Fix

Addco makes bars in those sizes. I believe the T1 front bar is something like a 38mm.

Solo2GS

Want to read a good thread amongst the many about sway bars? Check this one out!

I believe the T1 front size is 38.4, great for road racing!

Hotchkis is 32mm and Addco makes a 32 or 35mm, and I imagine Pfadt street bars are right around there too. Key point is the stiffness increase over stock I would think.

Hotchkis:
The hollow tube bars measure 1.25-inches in front and 1 -inches in the rear, and are 115% stiffer than stock Z51 in front and are adjustable from +60% to 150% stiffer in the rear.

Pfadt Street:
Our street bars are designed to be an upgrade to the stock packages and offer 1 ½ to 2 times more stiffness than C5 Z06 sway bars.

Addco:
Hard to find any data on them short of they offer a 32 & 35mm front hollow bar that are failry inexpensive. The rear bar is 3/4" or 1" solid bar.

0JoshS

Some aftermarket brake ducts had a clearance issue if they were installed too low. The new generation 3 sway bars have much better clearance.

If there is interference it can be corrected by moving the duct or by taking a heat gun and heating the problem area and deforming it out of the way. I have had customers use both methods with great success.

Please let me know if there is anything else that I can help with!

Z06Fix

I'm very tempted by the PFADT SS front bar. My car tends to oversteer quite a bit and this would settle it down. Not really sure a rear bar is needed in autox. Alot of the top guys are running fronts only, even in ASP

The only reason I have not jumped is that it would be nice to have a rear bar on the car for HPDE use. I may end up going with the street bars and just leaving the rear as close the stock setting as I can for autox use.

redtopz

I have T1 bars on my c5 zo6. I have found that using my stock rear bar for auto x and the T1 rear bar for hpde works well for me. The pfadt street bars would provide the same function without having to swap rear bars. I've never tried running with no rear bar in auto-x.