New old F body owner
01-19-2007, 11:33 PM
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New old F body owner Hey,
So I just got a really cherry 02 T/A WS6. Its only got 16.5 K on the clock and its extra clean. I dont know how far I'm going to take this ride as its my daily driver. But I have a few questions though...
1. Best place overall for suspension parts (control arms, torque arms, SFC's...and so on) I want to beef up the whole suspension, I've seen a lot of places with the same stuff and prices all over the place. So far it looks like I might do it all through UMI.
2. Gas Mileage...whats average and what sucks? I drive mostly highway driving to and from work and I'm getting something around 14. Should I be getting better mileage, if so what should I be looking at to fix this?
Thanks
Jerry De Fran
02 T/A WS6
Completely stock...for now
So I just got a really cherry 02 T/A WS6. Its only got 16.5 K on the clock and its extra clean. I dont know how far I'm going to take this ride as its my daily driver. But I have a few questions though...
1. Best place overall for suspension parts (control arms, torque arms, SFC's...and so on) I want to beef up the whole suspension, I've seen a lot of places with the same stuff and prices all over the place. So far it looks like I might do it all through UMI.
2. Gas Mileage...whats average and what sucks? I drive mostly highway driving to and from work and I'm getting something around 14. Should I be getting better mileage, if so what should I be looking at to fix this?
Thanks
Jerry De Fran
02 T/A WS6
Completely stock...for now
01-20-2007, 12:34 AM
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Hey there!
For question number one)
UMI is awesome and you can get everything you need and they will work out really good deals. Check out Kentucky Speed, good people to deal with to. I think the hotchkis strut tower bar is cool and the most resonable price and easy street-a-bull shocks are the koni's, they are a little smoother than the bilstien HDs i hear. Shocks are the best suspension piece to me, however you are low miles, so unless they are busted or high mileage I wouldn't play with them. Ugh lowering your car kind of depends on what kind of exhaust you think you would like or where you live. True duals or some headers make lowering your car abnoxious because you might hit or scrape stuff every now and then. Down here where I live it's not uncommon to mess up your car at highway speeds because the roads just suck. If you do lower or want to run true duals you may have to get some relocation brackets for the pan hard and or control arms to fix geometry of drivetrain or to just get some clearance for the pipes. Alot of these really awesome suspension parts have some really stiff charatceristics so some people say they get lots of vibiration into the cab after tourque arm bar/pan hard bar/control arm upgrades. Combined with poly urethane mounts or a tunnel brace you may get alot of vibration. Some options are to get rid of the tourque arm bar with a ladder bar conversion. Look up G force suspension, they have these complete kits, I've heard good stuff and they claim to help you hook up better. Remember if you are going drag racing stiff front ends aren't always the best, but there are upper and lower control arms that have alot of adjustment and can give you a more predictable feel to your steering, also stiffer front sway bars reduce roll just like the Strut bar, so that is pretty good for the road if you have some good tires, you can also get the tubular K member which can stiffen the front end alot but not so much as just lighten the front end alot, the only other non UMI part i favor is the hotchkis bolt in subframe connectors, they are three points and are real expensive which is why I think unless you are running a crazy amount of horsepower they are a little unecessary, stay with the bolt ins if you go this way first, you can always weld them in later. Personally a minimal amount of suspension parts are cool at first if you have the money but the real focus on first hardcore mods I always believe should go something like this........
get all of the little cosmetic things replaced back to stock, so it feels new...ahhhh feel better?
pick out an exhaust, this site prefers QTP long tube headers with a GMMG or true duals....AHEM right guys?
upgrade clutch/master cylinder or the stall whichever one you need
then get a good cam with the accosiated parts springs etc, it's not worth wasting time with too small of a cam in my opinion and just have a good sound, although that is cool! but get something that performs pretty well like 228-230 or something,
go get a good tune and you have a really good running pretty looking 360hp or so car. Just my two cents.
As far as question 2....I dunno what do you have auto or manual
my car gets about 28 on the highway and about 12 in town with the way I drive!
For question number one)
UMI is awesome and you can get everything you need and they will work out really good deals. Check out Kentucky Speed, good people to deal with to. I think the hotchkis strut tower bar is cool and the most resonable price and easy street-a-bull shocks are the koni's, they are a little smoother than the bilstien HDs i hear. Shocks are the best suspension piece to me, however you are low miles, so unless they are busted or high mileage I wouldn't play with them. Ugh lowering your car kind of depends on what kind of exhaust you think you would like or where you live. True duals or some headers make lowering your car abnoxious because you might hit or scrape stuff every now and then. Down here where I live it's not uncommon to mess up your car at highway speeds because the roads just suck. If you do lower or want to run true duals you may have to get some relocation brackets for the pan hard and or control arms to fix geometry of drivetrain or to just get some clearance for the pipes. Alot of these really awesome suspension parts have some really stiff charatceristics so some people say they get lots of vibiration into the cab after tourque arm bar/pan hard bar/control arm upgrades. Combined with poly urethane mounts or a tunnel brace you may get alot of vibration. Some options are to get rid of the tourque arm bar with a ladder bar conversion. Look up G force suspension, they have these complete kits, I've heard good stuff and they claim to help you hook up better. Remember if you are going drag racing stiff front ends aren't always the best, but there are upper and lower control arms that have alot of adjustment and can give you a more predictable feel to your steering, also stiffer front sway bars reduce roll just like the Strut bar, so that is pretty good for the road if you have some good tires, you can also get the tubular K member which can stiffen the front end alot but not so much as just lighten the front end alot, the only other non UMI part i favor is the hotchkis bolt in subframe connectors, they are three points and are real expensive which is why I think unless you are running a crazy amount of horsepower they are a little unecessary, stay with the bolt ins if you go this way first, you can always weld them in later. Personally a minimal amount of suspension parts are cool at first if you have the money but the real focus on first hardcore mods I always believe should go something like this........
get all of the little cosmetic things replaced back to stock, so it feels new...ahhhh feel better?
pick out an exhaust, this site prefers QTP long tube headers with a GMMG or true duals....AHEM right guys?
upgrade clutch/master cylinder or the stall whichever one you need
then get a good cam with the accosiated parts springs etc, it's not worth wasting time with too small of a cam in my opinion and just have a good sound, although that is cool! but get something that performs pretty well like 228-230 or something,
go get a good tune and you have a really good running pretty looking 360hp or so car. Just my two cents.
As far as question 2....I dunno what do you have auto or manual
my car gets about 28 on the highway and about 12 in town with the way I drive!
01-20-2007, 02:03 AM
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wow sapper had to take a short break from that long post. But good advice, BMR also makes great suspension prices and if money does not matter KOOKS is probably the best headers you can get.
"12 in town with the way I drive!" hahaha I probably get 10, hell if I could I would do 90 out of the driveway......stupid short *** driveway.
"12 in town with the way I drive!" hahaha I probably get 10, hell if I could I would do 90 out of the driveway......stupid short *** driveway.
01-20-2007, 12:28 PM
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Originally Posted by ICEMAN 31
hell if I could I would do 90 out of the driveway......stupid short *** driveway.
Yes ICEMAN is right though BMR and KOOKS are great products, I just wasn't going to mention those...uuuuhhh
i guess between UMI and BMR stuff it would be a toss up of who was running a special or if one or the other had a deal you just couldn't pass up.
the same with QTP, I would buy either actually, if one was on sale 150 cheaper for instance, I would buy the one on sale. Anyway, good luck and let us know what you are bolting on to that bird of yours!
01-23-2007, 10:52 PM
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hey im a new f-body owner too, nobody mentioned granatelli suspension parts...why? my car has all of their stuff already, and it was installed by J.R. Granatelli himself. is it all junk?
i have gotten 22 mpg, but i do a lot of city/freeway combo driving i average about 16-18 mpg.
i have gotten 22 mpg, but i do a lot of city/freeway combo driving i average about 16-18 mpg.
01-23-2007, 11:42 PM
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Well no one's aftermarket stuff is junk, people have different levels of success and they are hard to measure based on what people type. Man I don't know a thing about Granatelli suspension. I know they do intake stuff. Does someone else make Granatelli's suspension stuff?
I answered that question in all seriousness, I'm not sure if you were making fun of my original post or not....but I wasn't insinuating that anyone's stuff was junk, in any case.....
I looked at your car domain site Dave, you have a really unique one off car, in my opinion, but you probably know that already, probably one of the cleanest looking cars I've seen in my opinion!
I answered that question in all seriousness, I'm not sure if you were making fun of my original post or not....but I wasn't insinuating that anyone's stuff was junk, in any case.....
I looked at your car domain site Dave, you have a really unique one off car, in my opinion, but you probably know that already, probably one of the cleanest looking cars I've seen in my opinion!
Originally Posted by fast01z28
hey im a new f-body owner too, nobody mentioned granatelli suspension parts...why? my car has all of their stuff already, and it was installed by J.R. Granatelli himself. is it all junk?
i have gotten 22 mpg, but i do a lot of city/freeway combo driving i average about 16-18 mpg.
i have gotten 22 mpg, but i do a lot of city/freeway combo driving i average about 16-18 mpg.
Last edited by sapper_daddy; 01-23-2007 at 11:51 PM.
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01-24-2007, 01:12 AM
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Enjoy the car replace what you want. Lots of advice about how to spend your money is availible.
The mileage is bad news. My average is 21.9 for 35k miles of driving. If I just look at trips of mostly highway that average goes up. A normal 200 mile trip mostly highway would average 26 mpg with speeds in excess of 90.
I think the best place to start would be the history of the car. There may have been some mods not readily visible. If not, I think there is something wrong with the car.
Fix it and enjoy the car. I sure enjoy my mine!
Welcome to LS1tech.
The mileage is bad news. My average is 21.9 for 35k miles of driving. If I just look at trips of mostly highway that average goes up. A normal 200 mile trip mostly highway would average 26 mpg with speeds in excess of 90.
I think the best place to start would be the history of the car. There may have been some mods not readily visible. If not, I think there is something wrong with the car.
Fix it and enjoy the car. I sure enjoy my mine!
Welcome to LS1tech.
01-24-2007, 03:44 PM
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im gettin 22 23ish on highway with an a4 and 3.73s.Sounds as if the car has been sittin alot withthose miles.id do a full tune up and the mpg should get better.now for in town maybe 10mpg
01-24-2007, 09:49 PM
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Originally Posted by sapper_daddy
Well no one's aftermarket stuff is junk, people have different levels of success and they are hard to measure based on what people type. Man I don't know a thing about Granatelli suspension. I know they do intake stuff. Does someone else make Granatelli's suspension stuff?
I answered that question in all seriousness, I'm not sure if you were making fun of my original post or not....but I wasn't insinuating that anyone's stuff was junk, in any case.....
I looked at your car domain site Dave, you have a really unique one off car, in my opinion, but you probably know that already, probably one of the cleanest looking cars I've seen in my opinion!
I answered that question in all seriousness, I'm not sure if you were making fun of my original post or not....but I wasn't insinuating that anyone's stuff was junk, in any case.....
I looked at your car domain site Dave, you have a really unique one off car, in my opinion, but you probably know that already, probably one of the cleanest looking cars I've seen in my opinion!
