[Smitty2919]

Well from the first time I took a ride in my brother in law's 87 road race prepped Vette, I was hooked. I had a 03 Mach 1 5spd at the time and WANTED to race it. For one reason or another I didn't and was too nervous to break something. Next car was a 04 GTO M6 that was good for nothing but straight lines and cruising in comfort, plus being $$$ to modify other than engine and trans related. At this point I got the itch BAD and on a drive home from being at Mid-Ohio with by mother/father in law doing ride-alongs. I said to my wife "man I'd really love to do that someday". Her comment "Well why don't you? Do something about it." Which basically meant "Put Up or Shut Up" in a nice way...

That night the GTO went up for sale. 2 weeks go by until I traded for a 99 Cobra 5spd plus cash to get a cheaper platform that I knew and beat on that...well at 110K mi and the less than desirable 99 IRS...that took a hike for a 95 Z28 M6 with 60k mi. I should have for a F-Body a LONG time ago. The driving position vs the Mustangs are much better, the feel of the car is much better as well.

What I started with:
(IMG:https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1.0-9/1472860_732816749223_689502629_n.jpg)

(IMG:https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t1.0-9/1469840_732816829063_989692030_n.jpg)

60K mi
B&M Shifter
Pacesetter L/T's and catless mids
Borla Adjustable catback
Front strut brace
K&N CAI
Bolt in SFC's
Adj PHB
Staggered ZR1's 17x9.5 17x11
Stock shocks/springs and boxed rear LCA's.

Since then I have done the following:
Custom CAI (because I can and wanted to something "different")
Square setup on factory SS wheels with Nitto NT555's 275/40/17
Added catch can
Added PS cooler
Removed borla muffler and tips and replaced with Hooker Max Flow muffler with hidden tip
LS1 front brake swap and SS braided lines (front only)
Added Oil Pressure and Water Temp gaues on A pillar
Dyno Tune made 311/346 at the wheels

How it sits now:
(IMG:https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1.0-9/10003279_760355072203_7413266042514964638_n.jpg)

(IMG:https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1.0-9/10151865_760007892953_1485670537_n.jpg)

Making that stock suspension do work!
(IMG:https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1.0-9/10153803_760008421893_979298018_n.jpg)

(IMG:https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1.0-9/10155001_760008681373_1513999466_n.jpg)

(IMG:https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1.0-9/10003964_760007738263_1893165921_n.jpg)

I had a great time and learned a lot about car control. Saturday was a Test and Tune, Sunday was first official points event. Saturday I got about 6 or so runs and Sunday only got 3 in my heat. Had Zero car issues, weather was nice except for damn wind and was able to take my wife for a run. Good times!

BUT now I have a big problem...I made a large "wish list" for car goodies (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

This post has been edited by Smitty2919: Apr 7 2014, 04:57 PM

[Smitty2919]

So to sum it up...

Seat time seat time seat time lol
Spring/Single Shocks
Brake Pads (I thought maybe HAWK HPS or HP+)
Rear LCA's

Only reason I said seat/harness was so I could put less effort into keeping my left knee pinned against the drivers door to keep me in the seat lol.

I came across a AEM data logger that has a built in GPS tracking unit and accelerometer. Having an engineering mind, I would LOVE this thing since it would draw the course for you and
also record braking and acceleration. That way you can analyze each run to see if you are braking too soon/late accelerating too soon/late etc.

Can make overlays similar to Google Maps how it shows green sections of road for being clear and red/yellow sections for being traffic. Green would be acceleration, red would be braking. You can see if you are still braking while turning etc. Then couple that with a GoPro video.

I'm positive that's too much technology for my driving level, but it would be neat to play with. I'm sure they sell much more expensive data acquisition units...but I have other things to buy first LOL.

[trackbird]

So to sum it up...

Seat time seat time seat time lol
Sway bars
Quality PHB
Spring/Single Shocks
Brake Pads (I thought maybe HAWK HPS or HP+)

Only reason I said seat/harness was so I could put less effort into keeping my left knee pinned against the drivers door to keep me in the seat lol.

If you have a 4th gen, google "CG Lock" and buy one. That fixes the harness issues. I ran one forever.

Now, look at my list above (and know that it's after "seat time, seat time, seat time, seat time, etc). Sway bars are reasonably inexpensive and they make a HUGE difference. These cars lose camber during body roll (the upper control arm is pushed out towards the contact patch), reducing roll allows for much better handling due to keeping the contact patch flatter on the ground. The rear bar balances the front. Buy a 35mm solid front or the 36 to 36.5mm hollow front bars that are available. Add a 21mm solid rear or a 22mm hollow rear once you get comfortable with the car. A bar is cheap and you can do it in a weekend. Put it first on the list (or on the list with a quality PHB, 1,2 or 2,1, whatever but make those first). I'm not saying to get a watts link. I'm saying you can go real fast on an aftermarket phb at stock height. I'm not a national level driver, but I won a local championship in SM2 (just to avoid all the turbo cars in SM) using stock LCA's and 315/35-17's and a rod/rod phb at stock height (springs, swaybars and koni's with global west front upper control arms). You can drive that setup for years and get very fast on it. Once you're really at the limit (which is about 2 years after you think you've reached it in most cases...based on the law of averages), go for watts links and other such stuff. But you can build a super capable car without spending as much money.


My car was:

Koni DA's (SA's work very well 99% of the benefit for far less cost)
Springs (H&R 600 in lb fronts, Ground control 150 in lb rears)
Global West front upper control arms with Del-a-lum bushings
Hotpart Rod/Rod phb
STB (I think it takes some cowl shake out of the car, not sure it really does much else)
SLP SFC's
Stock rear LCA's
B&M Ripper shifter
17x11 ZR1's with 315/35-17 tires

Stock exhaust, stock tune, never had a valve cover off of the car. I just drove it.