Dirk Miller

Anyone out there change your F55 (magnetic shocks) on a C6 for coil overs? How do they compare on the track? The ZR1 and I think the current ZO6 come with computer driven F55-like shocks. My car has
F55. I am wondering how much I am missing out on?

david9962000

The coilovers gives you more Feedback and road feel. I also find them more stable at higher speeds. I have KW's on my 2010 Z06.

Dirk Miller

Did your '10 come with magnetic shocks?

vette6aut0x

2010 z06 corvettes do not have the magnetic shocks option. The zr1(standard on the zr1) and c6 do.

gkmccready

Stiffening & softening the shocks electronically is pretty cool, but the thing to remember about coilovers is that they also change the springs (& spring rates). Same goes for folks going to stiffer leaf springs and adding adjustable shocks... your F55 suspension can, at best, provide half of that equation. And I have no idea if you could upgrade springs and have the `valving' on the F55 remain in its sweet spot.

naschmitz

My 2006 was an F55 car. That setup worked fine with street tires, even at airport autocrosses. But R888s on a road course with elevation changes and you will be running the tires into the fender wells at all four corners. The F55 spring rates are just too soft

Upgrading to the Penske double adjustable Hardbar setup with the dual rate springs was a much better solution for me. The dual rate springs are soft enough for the street but tighten up with additional suspension travel. And the Penske's have about twice the adjustment range of other shocks so the softest setting is very different than the firmest settings.

Coil overs should have been the first modification I made to the car.

Dirk Miller

Interesting about running the tires into the wheel wells. What track were you on and what sway bars were you using when this happened?

AU N EGL

Tires flex on high g corners. Shocks travel to both extremes, tight corners in the paddock. all tires rub fenders some way.

naschmitz

F55 springs and sway bars with Toyo R888 tires. At Summit Point Shenandoah, Le Circuit Mont Tremblant, and NHMS there were sections of the track where elevation changes and sticky tires could compress the suspension enough to rub the tops of all four tires in the fender wells. I've got pictures of the car on track with the front air dam in contact with the road along it's entire width of the car, sweeping the track.

Not only that, at Summit Point Shen and NHMS, the car was on it's bump stops in the carousel turns. That is not a fast set up!

Gearhead Jim

Are those Toyos any bigger or wider than the stock tires?
Had the car been lowered, or still stock ride height?

Enquiring minds want to know!

naschmitz

Stock ride height. 275/35/18 and 305/30/19.

Having the car run on the bump stops is the worst thing a car can do for handling. The stock F55 springs were just way too soft for track use. The suspension would just collapse in the Karussel at Summit Point Shen and the T6 bowl at NHMS and bounce off the bump stop rubber.

Gearhead Jim

Thanks for the info!

D B Miller

I guess you are not sure which sway bars you were using then?

naschmitz

I ran the F55 base coupe sway bars (like i already said) and the C6Z51 sway bars. But sway bars don't prevent suspension compression in banked turns or elevation changes.

To track an F55 car you have to change the springs or you will be slow.

Wayne O

I sincerely believe the F55 suspension is the best 'all-around' suspension offered by Corvette so it was with some reluctance I changed to the LGM coil-overs. My car, however, was being used almost exclusively on the track so performance and fast lap times became the priority. Previously, I used the F55 both on the street and the track with various wheel, tire and anti-sway bar combinations (along with many other modifications). While I think the F55 suspension performs better on a track than most people think it does, there's no question IMO coil-overs are superior for track use. A true four-corner independent suspension has advantages over the transverse leaf springs for road feel and responsive handling. The increase in 'firmness' is significant.

How much of an improvement changing to coil-overs will be for you at the track IMO depends on how aggressively you attack a road course. You'll benefit most when you really push the envelope...using wider, sticky track tires and beefier sway bars are a must. If you're still using street tires, stock sway bars and driving on the conservative side I'd suggest you stay with the F55 suspension until you naturally progress a bit more at the track (and not just driving skill). Get some track tires on the car...use Z06 sway bars with the F55 suspension and see how it goes.

If the car is a daily driver coil-overs will give you a severely harsher ride. It's so firm I'd guess a majority of Corvette owners would find it objectionable for daily street use. As a side note I opted for the non-adjustable LGM coil-overs (they do allow ride height adjustment though). While these may not be 100% perfect for every track on average they seem to be setup quite well...especially coupled with the T1 sway bars. I also like the Hypercoil springs LGM uses. I'm no suspension engineer. I see multi-million dollar race teams with dedicated engineers struggling to find the perfect setup for a given track (in days of testing) so I rather doubt I have the time or expertise to find the golden setup myself...especially when I track my car a couple weekends each month. I've got enough other things to worry about. I want to hit the track with a more than decent suspension and not worry about it. In one of the groups I run in I'd have more time to play with the suspension beforehand but in time trials I typically have 20 minute sessions to get my fast lap in. Virtually all the Corvette racers I know with adjustable coil-overs seem to leave them alone anyway...they rarely, if ever, adjust them after they're set initially.

IMO changing to coil-overs will not magically improve your peformance on the track. If, however, you're on sticky tires and driving to the limit of the F55 suspension IMO coil-overs can make a difference.

gkmccready

This isn't coil-overs -- this is spring rates and somewhat shock valving. The LGs use springs 700+ front and 600+ rear. Pfadt uses 425 front, 575 rear. Others are similar or in-between. Some are even heavier/stiffer.

I just don't want everybody to think coil-overs means unable to daily drive. I drive my DRM coilovers every time I grab the C6... which is as close to daily as possible. The whir of the R888s is way worse/more annoying than the stiffness of the suspension. :-)

And somebody could easily go to a softer spring on the coilovers to make them even more streetable when you compare wheel rates of the coilovers versus the leafs... the lightest coilovers are running wheel rates that are higher than T1 springs.

The HardbarUSA dual-rate springs actually give you the best of both worlds. Some initial travel at a lower spring rate to soak up the little bumps, and then the spring rate ramps up...