z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

Just felt like making a topic on this. I was considering making use of my stock springs which are sitting around in my basement. I drive my camaro mostly in the summer, but occasionally in the winter too. Does anyone do a coilover swap between seasons like you would with your wheels tires?

I was considering getting a set of decent shocks to pair with stock springs. I heard Sam mention Tokico HP blue's being his highest recommended shock over the latest HD set if you rule out revalves, konis, and any other more expensive set. Getting the coilover assembly out of the car wasn't a hassle at all compared to getting the springs swapped. If I had separate shock/coil assemblies that I could just pull out and put in then the car would probably be better in the crappy weather and bad roads to just drive around in.

I'm wondering what hardware I need other than the shocks and springs to complete a full front swap like this where I can take out my Koni/Strano, throw it in my basement, and toss in a Tokico/Stock combo? I need the top shock mount piece obviously... what else do I need?

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

I threw snow tires on my 2002 Z28 and left everything (right down to the settings on my Koni DA's) as it was for autocross use and just drove it. I never had a problem. It was a daily driver in Ohio and I had no problems at all.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Sure you can do that... you'd also need the indexing rings that sit on the front spring perch. But, I'm with Trackbird, not sure you need to. The current snow tires are amazing for traction. I don't think you'd gain much by changing the springs (realizing the shock change to is make things easy). And remember with an 1-1.25" ride height change you'll need an aligment too.

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

Thanks for the info. The idea came to mind because I had driven my friend's stock TA and personally it felt more comfortable than my car. Maybe it's not just the shocks/springs that I should also take into account.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Well, a stock car of course feels softer. The springs are, it's likely on the stock 16's have have more sidewall, and the sidewalls aren't as stiff anyway. And when it gets cold the rubber in the tires, and the oil in the shocks both get stiffer.

I don't know if you have winter tires, probably not. But they are so much softer that the ride will get a lot softer, and you'd gain grip in the cold. There are high performance type winter tires that won't completely wreck the car's ability when it's just cold and dry.

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

I ran Michelin Arctic Alpins, Dunlop Graspic DS2's and one of the offerings from Yokohama (I forget which). None of the tires I ran were speed rated and most of them were pretty "mushy" in the dry. But, when it got ugly out, I went places some SUV's didn't seem to want to go. Once, I was driving through from Ohio to the Summit Point area (in the mountains around Morgantown, WV and such) in a winter storm and I caught a line of traffic doing about 35 mph (I had been running about 45 safely and comfortably). So, I pulled over into the passing lane that was not plowed and managed to work my way past about a mile of traffic. It took me about a half hour, but I drove by the whole group of traffic (probably over a mile of cars all lined up afraid to try the other lane) while making my own path in 2-4" of snow/slush (running up and down 8% grades). I'm not saying you should go out and "do 90 in the snow", but the cars are good performers in snow with the right tires on them. Just be careful and you'll be amazed where you can go.

dailydriver

^^^ I agree with Kevin. Although he had the softer/'mushier' Q rated snows which allowed him even MORE snow/slush/ice grip than the H or V rated winter rubber that Sam was referring to being OK in the dry/cold.
That being said, I've had NO PROBLEMS with a VERY stiff road race/autocross/handling type suspension setup while using the higher dry/cold performance winter tires (Pirelli 240s, Michelin Pilot Alpins).
Your idea is somewhat sound, as the suspension setups/settings that WRC rally drivers/engineers use for the snow/ice rallies is radically different from their warm/dry & wet tarmac rally setups/settings. But we are not trying to go ***** out at 100+ mph in the snow/ice, so we really don't need to be that specialized.