Z28Bill

I have severe traction issues in my 02 M6 and I was wondering what was the single best upgrade to get to reduce wheel spin.

mcflyz28

Slicks, or Drag radials if you must drive on the streets

LT1 Guy

Control arms, an anti-roll bar, or a torque arm work as well too. Depends on what you have on your car.

Viper

iTrader: (6)

T2R - single best improvement for me.

TomQ

LCAs will do the trick

BigDaddyZ28

'Lighter Shoes' was the only thing that worked for me!

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

He beat me...I was about to suggest a block under the gas pedal.....

Have fun!

DVST8OR

iTrader: (7)

huh?




Viper - what is a T2R?

Technoman64

iTrader: (6)

A T2R is the heavy duty Torsen differential. After reading up on it I think I will be putting one in my car along with a set of 4.10 gears.

http://www.torsen.com/products/T-2R.htm

Tom L. Busby

Do you have the 16" wheels? I had the same Z28 problems/questions and so, over time, I changed the torque arm to a non-trans mount arm, then put the battery in the back and then went to 17" wheels w/ 275 tires. If the sum of these parts is graded and totaled to 4 points, the torque arm was a .5, the battery in the back was a 1, and the 17" wheels was 2.5.

So, the battery in the back was twice as good as the torque arm, but the bigger wheels were more than twice the improvment as moving the battery in the back.

Softer tires are another fix but I always wanted to stay in a practical tire for street use, IMO.

It's hard to quantify these things but I hope this helps. I am writing about rear wheel tire spin.

skippytheloon

iTrader: (14)

About how much difference traction wise does 1" wider/taller tire show?
ex...16x8(Z28) vs 17x9(SS)
or same height but 1" wider...17x9 vs 17x10

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

The factory tires on a 16x8 and 17x9 rim are the same height (or within a few decimal points). It is strictly a differnce in width.

98DroptopSS

iTrader: (2)

Let off the throttle?

LCA's, PHR will help for sure

Larry

iTrader: (4)

Assuming you have the wheel hop problems solved then the two items to cure your traction problems are tires and a strong anti-rear sway bar. Got to have a good rear bar to keep the weight closer to even on both rear tires. If he drivers side lifts and loses traction then you are depending on only the passenger rear tire for traction.

Danny2tek

iTrader: (1)

how about turning on the TCS?

onehardmaro

If your not into drag racing put in some 3.23 gears. If your loosing traction during racing try some of the stuff mentioned above.

jimmyblue

iTrader: (11)

Taller tires effectively cut pavement thrust (same
torque, longer moment arm). Going to higher rear end
ratio will work against your traction. T-2R or some
other center section will work better for drag type
launching, at least you will spin both tires. The stock
Torsen only gives 2X the spinning tire's torque to the
side that stays stuck while the T-2R gives like 3.5:1
and has spring preload so you really get up to 3.5X
(spinning side torque + preload breakaway)?

A limited slip (speed split, not torque split) diff is better
for the straight line but the Torsen is better for curves
and wet (situations where you would rather have one
wheel stick under power, than both slide).

Working with the stock Torsen, you need to drive it like
you would an open diff; no jerks to break loose the
passenger's side, try to keep both planted and let the
torque split make any "oops" that much better, but
don't depend on it. Axle torque reaction wants to lift
the passenger's side, the rear sway bar and maybe a
drag bag fight this somewhat. Torque arm and LCAs
and especially relo brackets help control the torque
reaction in the pitch plane (squat / lift) but not
axle roll, which is what loses you the passenger's side
before the driver's. Of course the sum of lift & roll is
what ends up subtracting down force. Jerk reactions
lose you more traction than just the basic axle torque
against springs and once traction is lost you have to
back way off to regain it. Be a smoooooth pimp on
that clutch and learn to stay just under the breakaway
limit. Of course I drive an automatic, so whadda I know?
But just like in the old days before ABS, people used to
practive threshold braking, you might oughtta practice
threshold clutch/throttle work until it comes naturally.
If you have a cheapo G-meter you can use this as an
immediate feedback to help you see where the launch
acceleration is maximized, relative to style.

Less nose weight helps during all acceleration - less mass
to move, and more of it, relatively, contributing traction.
Transient weight transfer like front drag shocks,
disconnecting front sway, etc. can help on the first hit to
the tires but once the fronts have fully dropped and the
nose has fully risen, that's all you get. Of course, doing
wheelies in the curves is not recommended; as usual there
is a compromise involved.

I8Your03Cobra

LCA's, Drag Radials , Adjustable shock's,Drag springs in the rear

99-LS1-SS

Let me see if I understand this correctly. If I have a stock set-up and all I do is replace the rear sway-bar for a stiffer one, my traction should improve? Are you saying that, with the stock set-up, when I floor it the right tire gets some of the pressure taken off of it because of the torque of the driveshaft. By this reduction in friction it makes the left tire handle more power. Thus overwhelming the tires because the majority weight is on one tire as opposed to being equally distributed between both tires.
If this is true and I understand it correctly. Then DAMN it was like a light bulb going off in my head.

Larry

iTrader: (4)

You got it!

The rear bar will not eliminate wheel hop though. It will distribute the load more evenly on both rear tires.