I have been building my current 93 firehawk for a long time now, I have gone thru soooo many threads on here and have learned a lot along the way. I have spent probably like 1 or more hours a day reading about different things on this site for a very long time now. I am rebuilding and/or replacing basically everything on the car. I don't have the time to be involved in a certain class and keep myself legal and competitive. I plan on mainly hitting up some local autox events and a few open track days a couple times a year. I know that my car would probably be forced inito a pretty high class that I wouldnt be ready for in all reality. But I am building my car for me. I have built most of the car in a road racing fasion, but have also done many things that most "race only" cars wouldnt (show car stuff). Build the car into what ever you want, but if you want to be legal and competitve you are going to need the rule book to whatever class you may enter. As for wheels, many will run the ZR1 wheels in 17x11 all around with 315-35-17. As the link stats, Running the same size tires front and rear has many advantages. FWIW, my car will be running 17x11 OEWheelsLLC Deep Dish ZR1 Replicas all around, with 315's because they are cheap and plentiful which isnt really a bad thing.

I have NO idea which shells would be the most comfortable for a long distance drive, and then a long event, but some on here do endurance races, maybe they could chime in as to which seats they are using??

A 17x9.5 with a 285/40-17 all around would not be a bad setup, and would NOT require mangling your fenders/wheelwells.etc. (I don't think there are too many 200 t.w. donuts in this size though. There are MANY in 275/40-17.)

With the right offsets/backspacing you might even be able to go 18x10 with a 295/35-18 all around without the 'massaging' of said fenders/etc., but it might require spacers. (But this size has VERY limited tire availability. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) )

But basically, the ONLY setup which will fit (albeit requiring fender rolling, wheelwell 'modding', AND spacers) and give MAXIMUM handling capabilities (especially with being limited to a 200 t.w. tire) is the 17x11s with 315/30-17s ALL AROUND, as most on here have said.

How big of a difference between running a 295/35 R18 vs 315/35 R17 if you are limited to a mimimum treadwear of 200? I planned to run a brake kit that pretty much necessitates an 18" wheel (thinking 18x10.5 with custom backspacing). With all the uncertainty of will 315's fit, won't they fit, gotta run a spacer, some don't, rolling fenders, BFH mods etc, I figured going 295, would help me keep running to a minimum...although i plan on doing some of the above mentioned modifications, the less the better for my novice level of knowledge on body/mechanic work. I just don't want to leave alot of handling on the table by going with the smaller size, especially since the wheels (while not forgeline prices) are somewhat expensive (think weld RTS or Forgestar). I had thought about running ZR1's or C5Z06, but finding actual wheels vs the heavier Repo's...I didnt' figure availability near BFE Kentucky would be likely (but if anyone has reliable sourcing for affordable $$ I'd love to hear it).

I had the GC coilovers many years ago, felt they were too light duty for a 4th gen, sold them and got the Global West coilovers. The cars that I've built get either the GW coilovers on Koni or Bilstein shocks, or the Unbalanced Engineering race Bilstein or Penske threaded shock body setups.

I don't think Global West updates their website very often, dunno what happened to the coilovers but they do make the coilover kit. This one was delivered to me last week, is going to be installed on Koni DA's and shipped out to a customer later this week. Global West has added some nice features, making the higher price easier to sell: They now include tender springs and locators, so the upper perch won't flop around at full droop. And, they now include the radial roller thrust bearing, which make it much easier to adjust the ride height.

One big problem is that they only offer the street setup, with 600# springs. To get higher rate springs from them would cost more than buying the higher rate springs new and throwing away the 600#ers. So, I've supplied the 850# springs pictured, and have the 600# in the classified section.

(IMG:http://www.blainefabrication.com/projects/2012_07_30/IMG_5271-001.JPG)

(IMG:http://www.blainefabrication.com/projects/2012_07_30/IMG_5273.JPG)

Cool man. If I hadn't already bought strano's with Koni's I would definitely get something like that. Maybe down the road I will go with the Penske's, I've heard good things about those. I think corner weighing the car will also be useful once I get a little more experience...to help guide spring rates etc

Alan;

Does GW offer a weight jacker/tender spring/roller bearing plate setup for the REAR, stock location, spring mounts on 4th gens (NON-coilovers)??

That spring fall-out at full droop (because NO ONE offered a tender/keeper spring for these) is why I got rid of my GC weight jacker/short SSS rear spring setup, and went to Sam's full height Vogtlands. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

No, they don't.

I'm trying to carve out some time to fab up axle travel limiters that will keep a little tension on the rear springs at full droop, without causing other problems. IMO keeping the rear springs in their perches is essential for getting the most out of crossweight adjustments.

The cars you want to compete with are not REALLY street cars.

The cars I competed against earlier this year in Arlington were full blown race cars on 200 treadwear tires, some even on race fuel. The car that won overall? LG's ZR1 Vette.

Have no illusions as to what you are up against, the Ultimate "Streetcar" Faceoff is a misnomer, streetcars my ass. Cars with gutted interiors, on race fuel, race brakes, no a/c and a wing off a Cessna is what is in the running for these events.

I did the Long Haul this year on the Power Tour and competed on 300 tread wear tires, as I was loading all the trip crap back in my car to drive 400+ miles home, the top 10 cars there were being loaded into Nascar style haulers to go home.


You would be WAY ahead of the game with a C5 Z06, WAY ahead.

Man, I know your trying to help out here but understand I AM NOT BUYING A VETTE. I don't expect to win, I'm just doing this for fun and to try to make this camaro the best that IT can be. I love Fbodies, I never have cared for vettes. Would I take one if someone gave it to me, Yes, but other than that I'm not going there. I have been to the events and seen what kind of cars run. They have $100k in them minimum, some are $250K +. The top 10 may be glorified race cars, but there are also just some guys with regular stuff out there just wanting to have fun. I have enough competition in other aspects of my life to worry about being competitive at this. This is suppose to be a release from the stress of work. I just want to get my car together, learn how to drive better, and enjoy hanging out with other car guys...racing, instead of sitting next to my car in a chair at a car show. If I improve and suprise some of the faster cars, so be it. But I'm not gonna lose sleep over it. My main goal is try not to break anything.

I am in the same boat pharmd.