jerrycecco

I got my V back today
and I took the long way home...and it was a blast

I need to find more twisty roads in the DFW area, did they make any in DFW?

The car drove very very smooth firm without being harsh and no noise

If want you like a test ride, pls PM me, but I'm going to limit drives to the DFW area
........UNLESS you want to pay my way to Laguna Seca....

lubelizard

iTrader: (5)

How long have the heim joint ends lasted in street driving?

What research was done to make sure the rear upper and lower shock mounts can handle the additional strain of springs, since those areas weren't designed with that intended purpose?

Will the dampers be revalved for whatever reasonable spring rate the customer would like to run?

Thanks.

DrSpeed

iTrader: (4)

Interested in the type of coating on the shock body.

It doesn't look like the bright coating on Bilstein's website:

http://www.bilsteinus.com/technology...chnologyr.html

Any type of testing done to test against corrosion/rust?

jerrycecco

Drove the V alot on Saturday afternoon
uneven side streets, stops lights, freeways, on ramps!!
It's ALL good, still no noise, no vibrations.

Ride quality: the Caddy softness is gone and replaced with firmness.
trying to find the right words.
I took a friend out for a test and nailed a few corners, very little body roll
......I have Hotchkis sway bars.......

wife ride along test is later today....

Jwool15

Hey Jerry I am in the DFW area myself. I live in the southlake grapevine area and theres tons of twisty windy roads around here i'd be happy to show you. Look up 114 and Solana Blvd and that's right about where I am. I can take you on a bunch of windy roads where you can let loose and really try things out.

jerrycecco

the wife passenger ride along test results:
My wife said she did not feel a difference in ride quailty
.......we were on side streets and on the freeway....but no high G's corners

--Jerry

EdmundGTP

This is a very good question. Just the other day I was thinking about my current setup with the H&R springs and MM spacers and wondering just how much force those upper strut mount locations can handle, and in turn was also wondering about the ultimate strength of the MM spacer setup. But then I realized that a majority of the vehicles weight is being supported by the SPRINGS and NOT by the struts at those locations. This set-up transfers ALL of the back half of the vehicles weight to the upper strut mount locations. Something which I don't believe has been done before.

DamnYankee

iTrader: (22)

Typically depends on the type of roads and the use of the car, usually replace them due to noise, when they get noisey 20-40k miles. We have never had a failure of the heim.


The design of the rear shock mounts are very capable of holding the spring. A high stress shock load over a large bump will have more force than the same area with no shock, and just a spring. We are only using a 4xx lb/in spring rate. Bump travel is upwards of 1.5-2".
Absolutely. If you move out of the designed valving range, we will re-valve for the springs being used.


Bilstein makes many types of shocks. This is their take-a-part aluminum version that we helped develop for the vettes from germany.

The shafts are coated and heat treated. We have never had a shaft rust.

Hope that helps, feel free to fire away any other questions.

Darkman

iTrader: (2)

What is the expected life (in hours of operation) between rebuilds?

Can these be adjusted to maintain stock ride height?

Darkman

iTrader: (2)

Bump..still need answers.

jerrycecco

I don't know expected life....I'll ask Louis tomorrow.

I don't know total range, but I just measured: Front inside fendor lip is 27" from ground
and rear is 27.5"... I can place my two fingers in between the top of tire to inside fendor.
.....I'm running the stock size 245 tires all around.
............I don't know what size height is.. I did not measure before change.

Tomorrow/Tuesday I going back in for a corner balancing so height MAY change.

--Jerry

lubelizard

iTrader: (5)

With the added strain of springs on the shock towers, perhaps LG coming up with a rear shock tower bar would be a good idea. I'd trust something from LG being he has probably forgotten more about chassis and suspension dynamics than most people know.

Darkman

iTrader: (2)

Maybe he knew the answers to my questions and forgot.

Brackets

Too funny Darkman! Funniest thing I've read in a while pard.

jerrycecco

I had the Louis corner balance the car on Tuesday.
V now is a littler lower now than stock (next week Im going to ask to lower it a little more)
BUT today, this is what I measurements I have:
front: 26.75" from ground to inside edge of wheel opening
rear: 27.50" from ground to inside edge of wheel opening

How close is that to close height?
...I did not measure stock height..

--Jerry

jerrycecco

ECR was alot of fun
but it was hotter than I hoped, air temps in the high 90's
....past June track day was optional due to the high temps
The V performed well but tires were singing ALOT!!!!

Brakes with DTC-30 had much more grip than the HP+, a noticeable difference

The coilovers suspension felt great, firm but what stocked me were the tires AD08s felt greasy and tires howled most corners.
I need to talk to Louis about these howling tires
......I need to track tires

--Jerry

whisler151

I thought you had Direzza Star Spec tires? What size are you running in the AD08? I'm assuming the tires were broken in before you hit the track?

jweymar

iTrader: (3)

Lious never responded to my last PM, I was trying to get him to recommend spring rates for my ride height, could you ask him to let me know?

jerrycecco

yes, I had Star Spec but two months ago was the last track day on them
so I got some AD08's straight from Yoko rep 245-45-18

Last track event they were ok, this time BIG difference.
I wonder if the temp difference played a major role in the difference
or was it the coilovers now asked the tires to do more?

--Jerry

Darkman

iTrader: (2)

The conventional maeasurement, which eliminates differences between tire sizes on a particular vehicle, is the distance between the fender (bottom lip) and the center of the wheel. On mine, that current measure is 15 inches both front and rear. The rear, of course, can vary a little depending on where the load leveling shocks (still on mine) settle out when parked.