Quickin

Money, no object?

What will it need?

Curious.

skatinjay27

all suspension components and great shock but yes you could make it better than a z06

Cummins

iTrader: (2)

IRS!

DirtyBird222

iTrader: (7)

Could you put a GTO or Corvette's IRS into a F-body?

jargan04

iTrader: (1)

If you did get one in. The cost would be so much, you would be better off with a vette.

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

If money is no object, buy a Z06. The F-body can be made "very good" (even extremely good), but a Corvette it's not.

DONAIMIAN

iTrader: (18)

Handle like a Z06, yes. Ride like a Z06, no.

Ferocity02

iTrader: (60)

Yes, an F-body with great suspension can out handle a Z06, but a few suspension mods to a Z06 and it will out handle any F-body.

Quickin

Like what mods, and how much $$$ to do it, approximately?

jargan04

iTrader: (1)

To do it right. Springs, Shocks(Coil Overs would be better) Sway Bars, Panhard, LCA's, TQ, LCA relocation, SFC's. STB is up to you. Some say yes, some say no. Look and price from LG and UMI. They both make great products.

fa63

There are just too many variables to consider. Even with mods, the live axle will not handle as good as an IRS on bumpy tracks, for example. But assuming a theoretical case where both cars have the exact same horsepower, exact same race weight, same aerodynamics, same gearing, drivers of exact same capabilities etc. (you get my drift), you may not need very fancy mods to keep up with a Z06 on a smooth race track. Some good shocks (such as Konis), decent springs, 315s all around with good tires, as much negative camber as you can get, a T2R differential to get power out of the corners, a nice panhard rod and good swaybars should be enough to keep up with a Z06 (assuming brakes are up to par on the F-body), and actually such a car on race tires will probably be faster than a Z06 on stock tires.

However, although it may be as fast, the F-body will never handle like a Z06 due to fundemental design differences in suspension, suspension geometry etc..

Houdini

iTrader: (2)

Give Sam Strano a call he will square you away with what you need. I'm sure he will "chime-in" on this thread anyways. I will be going through him in the spring to set up my Trans Am.

www.stranoparts.com

BULLET99Z28

iTrader: (9)

word on the Strano comment,I think i'll be going thru him as well, but the guy above was right- Vette supension and design is superior to our lowly F-bods

spy2520

iTrader: (3)

wheres all the frrax.com guys? i'm sure they would know what the capabilites of the f-body handling-wise would be.

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

Over on frrax?.....

The Corvette is lighter, makes more power (stock for stock) has a better suspension design (before any mods are made) and is a better design. The F-body can be made to run "close" to a stock Z06, but as soon as you modify both cars, the F-body won't catch the Corvette. The Corvette has some advantages as far as weight, CG height (I don't remember where they both are, but the Corvette is considerably lower as I remember) and suspension geometry. Now, remember, I'm talking about the same driver in both cars (and a professional one) on the same track. On the street, you can get the limits of both cars high enough that you'll likely be driver limited or limited by common sense ("gee, doing 135 mph around this exit ramp seems kinda dangerous") and you'd be able to keep up with the Z06 in most cases since neither of you are running the car 110% (or you shouldn't be). It's a matter of degrees, both cars are, or can be, competent handling vehicles, but an F-body is not a Corvette and you can throw a ton of money at it trying to prove otherwise, but it just isn't so.

Can you build a rocket ship out of an F-body (in the handling department)? Sure can. There are several of them on this board and on frrax. My car is very well sorted, but I'd still like to have a Z06 (I've considered selling my car and buying a Corvette).

I often beat the Z06's times with my car at autocross events, but that's a function of the Z06 drivers and not a reflection of their cars. When a well built and well driven Z06 shows up, I get killed.

Quickin

So as far as street use ONLY, what else do I need to consider my F-Body maxed out for the street? All I have is whats in my sig.

I'm getting either big Wilwood 6 caliper brakes or the Brembos, so I'll be fine there.

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

I'd swap your Hal's for Koni's, add a 35mm front sway bar and look for some 17x11" wheels. You already have good springs, a STB, SFC's, a good PHB and LCA's (if they have poly/poly ends, I'd ditch them).

Quickin

I'm getting either CCW or HRE rims.

18" x 11" or 18 x 11.5" rear

17" x 9" front

I don't think CCW will make a 17" rim so it'll have to be HRE. I don't have poly ends.

Are the Koni's way better than the Hals, because if its not a huge difference I'd rather keep them. What sway bar is good?

Cal

iTrader: (1)

I took the driver factor out of the picture once by having a national level autoX Z06 driver take a couple runs in my car. He was nearly as fast in my modified SS as in his stock Z06. With some more practice, I'm sure he could have at least equaled if not bettered his own times in the Z06.

As noted above, a modified Camaro will not ride as smoothly as a Z06 for the same performance level. As long as you are comparing a modified Camaro to a stock Z06, it's easy to get the weight of the Camaro down to less than that of the Z06, but the interior will not be pretty! The IRS does help the Z06 ride better and handle better on bumpy surfaces, but the difference would hardly be worth trying to fit one in a fbody. It's one thing to get an IRS installed, but another to have it work efficiently. It could easily wind up handling worse with the adapted IRS; the Mustang Cobra is a good example of this. An fbody may never be a 'Vette, but it sure makes a cheap but effective race car.

Cal

iTrader: (1)

Forget 18" wheels, they will make your car handle worse, not better. CCW does make 17" rims; I would get a set of four 17x11's.

Comparing Koni's to Hals for cornering is like comparing a Ferrari to a Fiat. Both are red I guess . . .

For a front sway bar, Stano 35mm hollow or Hotchkiss 36.5mm hollow.

If you want to out-handle any street car by changing only the tires and wheels, there is always the cheatin' way to do it: A set of 12" Goodyear road race slicks on 16x12 Real race wheels Not street legal, but I guarantee you this will out handle anything else on the road! The point is, tires do more than anything else when it comes to cornering.