FSAE is cool. When I lived back in Michigan, I went to watch every year from 91 to 99 and then flew back in 2000 and 01 to see it. I love the variety of approaches. It is a very cool event.

I was never a member of any of the engineering teams, but my brother was involved with the first "wing" car from UofMich-AA and designed the "Mac-strut" car from UofMich-Dearborn. No, he's not crazy -- he saw some advantages with the struts and wanted to give them a try.

-Max

 

I thought they had a seperate class for the sucker cars in FSAE? I read about one of them pulling 2g's in the corners with not all that big tires.. :O

 

Matty - try the Bilstein HD's. I swear by the shock and have used R1 shocks & tokico's (crap) on my car, and have driven FD's with Koni's & GAB's. IMO, the Bilstein's beat all of them. They're very stiff, yet soft over big bumps due to the digressive valving. They're monotube and run a decent sized piston. Also, if you are going coilover, they come with the brass cap & dust seal off so the spring perch (solid aluminum) slides right off. You just slide a coilover collar on as opposed to hacking the **** out of the shock like with the GAB's (hammer off brass cap, hammer off spring perch, use dremel to cut steel ring perch was on without cutting into shock). I've never heard anyone complain about the shock, especially since they're $100 each (shox.com).

I run H&R's on mine. Toe & trailing links are another VERY worthwhile upgrade as well as swaybar bracket reinforcements (Mazda Comp. & RB).

 

Bilstein vs. Stock

 

another

 

Amen. Also there are a lot of posts from people who drove their friend's Z06 once and use that as a basis for their evaluation. You need to drive one for a couple of months to get familiar with its real potential.

Also, re the rough ride, the best example of the effect of stiff shocks on ride harshness is the difference in the ride between the R1 and the base or touring versions. The R1 rides like a rock-hard stock car, while the base and touring are more forgiving over the bumps. Only real difference is the firmness of the shocks. Springs and sway bars are the same on all three models.

If you really want a comfortable ride, my neighbor has a Buick Roadmaster for sale.

 

Although u amy have somewhat of a point. There is no doubt that after driving a car for a few hours that you could have an immpression of what the car is about. Note that my original post doesnt go into huge detail...it simply states that the z06 feels more comfortable over bumbs while corners flatter! I have no problem saying that even though i drove it for 3 hours only.

And about your second comment about the buick roadmaster....lets not blow this out of proportion.

 

I'll let you drive my Z06 Don I won't be at Tech Ridge this weekend as we're taking the Rx7 up to the Dallas event, but the next Spokes event the Z06 is at you're welcome to try it out...it's painful to drive on that site though

 

DEAL!!!!

Thanks, Beth!!!!

 

No crying if you don't beat me though
Hee hee

 

Loser washes the track wheels

 

I don't cry ... I multiply! Wait, that didn't make any sense ... dernit.

 

Subjective ride discomfort increases exponentially with ride frequency. The elbow in the curve is at about 1.3 Hz or so. I suspect the Z06 is just under the elbow, and many of our modded FDs are a good bit over.

Good handling and ride comfort are not entirely mutually exclusive. There is definitely a trade-off between the two, but there is a "sweet spot". I suspect the Z-06 was carefully positioned right into this sweet spot.

Having a rear suspension frequency that is about 10% higher than the front is also a good target when ride comfort is the goal. I haven't exactly followed these rules myself , but if someone is trying to build a car to handle well without being uncomfortable, these are some useful limits and guidelines to follow.

-Max

 

that should be "suspension frequency" instead of "ride frequency" in the first sentence.

-Max

 

The Buick is still for sale.

 

i'd still take on any z06 out there regardless of the suspension or body-roll diffs

 

I am not much of an exert but this is my 2cents. Who cares about boddy roll. The Z06 may have less but the question to be imposed is: Which car is most lightly loaded in the corner?

What I mean is, we all saw the back end were almost unloaded on both the 7 and the Z06. What we should be asking is which car can take more lift before the tire becomes airborn. Sure the 7 may overall have more boddy roll but the wheel's lift off at the same time, so it makes no difference.