MEGATRONSS

iTrader: (2)

Just shocks and springs? A arms?

What are the best mods for comfortability at high speed? That BMW feeling like when 90 feels like 60

UMI Sales

iTrader: (1)

Caster, good dampers aka shocks, and a strong, taut suspension. Good bushings and strong arms keep everything in line.

http://www.gmhightechperformance.com...ion/index.html

ramey

bayer-z28

iTrader: (14)

^ Maybe new wheel bearings too??

Re-balance the driveshaft with the u joints and yokes.

A quality set of wheels on a computerized wheel balancer.

Freshly built and balanced rear.

Some of these may be a bit excessive..... But hey, it's over 140, leave nothing to chance. If something happens, you could be a goner. I wonder how people balance stuff on their TX mile cars.

roy

What do you consider high speed?

MEGATRONSS

iTrader: (2)

90 plus?

roy

My stock suspension was adequate for cruising at speeds up to 150 mph.

spy2520

iTrader: (3)

it doesnt start floating til 130 or so. In comparison a ford taurus will float and brakes become useless above 90. Believe me i tried.

MEGATRONSS

iTrader: (2)

Yes, but adequate and the feeling of a Beemer are two different things. And I've felt mine start to float at around 100 before but my stance was off then from my rear springs being lower than the fronts

spy2520

iTrader: (3)

I dont want to be a downer but some of that feel is just because its a bimmer. The stance is lower from the factory, which means alot more engineering went into that ride than what went into dropping an F-body 1.5" or so, and even the alignment on a bimmer calls for a decent amount of negative camber which helps straight line stability at speed, most call for -1.5 or more in the back which we CANNOT do with solid axles, and our camber spec in the front is positive which still baffles me.

That being said i'm sure there is lots of room for improvement and parts are available to serve that purpose. Just gotta keep realistic goals. You can make a good handling camaro which could possibly equal a bad handling bimmer.

bayer-z28

iTrader: (14)

Call this crazy, but when I was living out west we would have these LONG cruises (~80 miles) to go hang out at the next town. A buddy had his 02 SLP SS and I had my Z28. We both had Eibach/Bilstien setup, but he had 3pt SFC's. So almost identical. We would holt it at around 110 on the HW (Wide open with no traffic.) I would stay about two car lengths behind him and maybe get a little closer (There'd be NO reason for him to hit the brakes)...

Anyway, when I was behind him my steering felt a little more "loose." And when I moved over into the left lane out into clean air the front end would almost instantly tense up and get a little tighter and you could feel the car sink down about maybe a half an inch or more. It was a REALLY cool experiment. Talk about drafting! We'd do that up to around 120-130 sometimes.... So the aerodynamics of these cars IS improved with lowering springs, just be sure everything is balanced properly.

And for those who have NO idea what it's like out there; Here's a video..... I miss it out there terribly.

This wasn't as near as close as we'd get with the Camaros. Was my buddy's GTO. And I was almost stock at the time.
http://s96.photobucket.com/albums/l1...t=P1040534.mp4

JD_AMG

shocks shocks shocks shocks shocks.
Floating = lack of dampening.
Disconnected feeling = lack of dampening.
Unbalanced/unpredictable/snap oversteer = lack of dampening (for our cars).
When you hear that good shocks are the #1 mod to these cars its not an over exaggeration, they are simply the biggest improvement you can make to your (decarbon shock equipped) suspension, period.
What you are feeling is your shitty shocks not being able to do their job, get some Koni SA's and you will be amazed.




Nope.
Not just a "bimmer" but the combination of things, the main one being good shock dampening.

While camber helps handling it not the solution to the floaty loose feeling while going strait on the highway, thats all shocks right there.
Our camber spec in front is positive likely because GM wanted these cars to understeer from the factory to be safer.

A good handling, properly setup Camaro will leave a factory BMW (and other good handling cars) in its rear view mirror. You don't know what you're missing...
Heres Sam Strano driving his Fstock prepped Camaro (consist of koni shocks/strano springs/strano swaybars/fays2 wattslink suspension-wise, then blank rotors + good pads + good R compound tires). Simple bolt on stuff, no cutting or welding, no chassis mods. You see him here passing a $100,000+ Porsche GT2 driven by a track instructor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDxe1lHIxuE

Ive had my Koni/strano setup up to 140 and it was rock solid like going 70 (where as stock it was floating doing 90...)

spy2520

iTrader: (3)

I agree with you on many points. I'm just not sure that a combo that leaves $100k porsches in the dust driven (both cars driven by pros) translates to "comfortability at high speed" and "BMW feeling".

Maybe i was incorrect in saying a good handling camaro is worse than a bmw, thats not what i mean, what i'm saying is the "feel" may never match.

I have koni's on my car too along with a k-member/controls arms/etc and I'm sure you would agree that while the car handles great at speed nothing about it feels comfortable like a bimmer even if it could be pushed harder than a bimmer and handle better.

82cetuner

iTrader: (9)

now im getting all giggly because I have a strano/koni setup going into my car cant wait till i get back from deployment

nascarnate326

iTrader: (1)

Shocks, springs but most important...CHECK THE BASICS!!!

Rear end fluid, trans fluid, coolant, power steering fluid, good tires rated for the speed that your going, bearings, balanced DS, wheels, etc.

Take all the crap out of your car, much easier to do when your not hauling an extra hundred pounds of junk.

I know you asked about suspension but just making sure the basic stuff is covered makes it easier/safter to start with.

meine96ws6

iTrader: (4)

Why are we comparing apples to oranges? European cars are built mostly for comfort. They also have a lot more research and development compared to our simple platforms.

supersexy

I have had mine going 155+mph and the only weak link was the brakes. I have Koni SA's, UMI sways F/R, UMI 3-point sfc's, UMI adj. lower control arms, UMI tunnel mount trq arm, UMI adj. phb, and Strano springs. I am assuming I was going 165-170 because it was still pulling rpm's after the speedo stopped. Not one of my best moments but those pesky GT500's won't leave me alone!!! My SS felt really tight and not much floating.

TruBloodTransAm

iTrader: (24)

That sounds very similar to my new setup.

z_speedfreak

iTrader: (3)

lots of good pointers posted. one thing I would suggest if your going to be traveling at sustained high speeds would be a diff cooler as high temps is a good way to kill your rear end. I developed a leak, a whine and now the posi doesn't work as well after going from Calais ME to Boston MA cruising at 140...(long story involving a license complication)

One thing I wonder about is a splitter, perhaps sam could chime in on its effectiveness if hes not sitting back shaking his head at me lol. I would like to reduce the lift, 140 isn't so bad but after 160 I'm barely touching the ground. can anyone post about their set up? lowering springs is 1st on my list in this department and plan on picking up a set of sam's springs. but back to the splitter, im on the fence between 6LE's splitter or an all out race style splitter.

and fyi I'm done speeding around on the streets. my car is just sitting in my garage until when ever I'm satisfied with it to go run the Maine Mile, which requires quite a bit of expensive safety equipment, but after my last extremely expensive and crazy dangerous run in with johnny law I learned my lesson.

keep it off the streets people! ^that night could of been allot worse!!!!!

6LITEREATER

iTrader: (56)

When we first started selling them people kept internet/arm chair debating our splitter effectiveness... Well, 3 years later and about 5 independent magazine tests (on everything from Camaro splitters to GTO splitters) and they work like we said, lol.

You could always go with our custom (wider) splitter that matches are front canards for it but that is more for rolling resistance against the tires... Or just go with our full bumper. It has a built in splitter and is wider in the front to stop rolling resistance.