[Sam Strano]

I was just pondering what things I've done that were the same old, same old in terms of my business and car setup stuff. I'm tired of hearing that I'm out only sell parts, and will do so by any means necessary. I'm tired of having quotes laid at my feet that are taken completely out of context. And I've been called a liar (just recently in a thread about the A-Sedan cars at the Runoffs).

So I've thought about it, and I'm posting a response.

First let me address the notion that I think in this little tiny box and don't try things. Here's a breif list of things I've tried and have WORKED with regards to the f-body, particularly the 4th gen:

1. The T2R. How many ran the T2R before I showed up? Very few. How many even realized how important a LSD that works is to the handling as well as the traction of the car? Next to none.

2. Large front swaybars as well as "intermediate" rear bars in combination. Before me everyone used a 32mm front bar. Some stayed 19, some went 21 rear. A very few who were never fast went to big bars at both ends. I ran a 35/21 combo first (and did it before SLP did, starting in late '99).

3. Started the education on shock valving... Before me you had HD's and SLP's and Koni's. Only the Koni's capable of damping the spring most of us run, but most folks were cheap, didn't know any better, or fell for a sales pitch that HD's are just fine. Even some folks who are now selling "trick" shocks were on the phone with me as little as 2 years ago wanting to know why HD's weren't up to the job.

4. Showed that removal of the rear bumpstops can cause shock failure, and proved it more than once. And I stuck with it despite being shouted down a few times....

5. Showed that the evil bumpstop is really more of a bump rubber that does eventually act as a stop, but that with proper shock tuning it works simply as supplemental spring, but one that does NOT return energy like a spring does. You might disagree, but there are plenty of points proving the STOP doesn't spike you spring rate, and even a cool video Rushman took that showed that rear axle never bangs into them (of course he has good shocks, a decent ride height and good spring rates).


These are some of what I've done that worked. I've tired a number of things that have not worked, and because they aren't made very public it's assumed I haven't tried them. That's simply ignorant, and sadly ignorance can be contagious. :stupid:

Here's an example.... I made drop PHB brackets way back in '99-2000. In an effort to calm the tail of the cars (and folks on this board have seen them, they aren't vaporware). While messing with designs to get the strength I wanted/need from the, I stumbled across a few things that were at the time outside the box ideas that did the job I was seeking. So the re-engineering of the wheel I was going to do, wasn't necessary IMHO. Some think it is, and that's fine. But if you don't know me, and haven't been privy to conversations with me, you really should not assume you know all the details of my life and business. And when I say the Tom Aquilante Racing A-Sedan cars at the Runoffs, *I* was the one who checked them out. Not anyone else here, and when I found what I found what I did, I was abused for it because it happend to pretty closely resemble that tact I take. You can bet if it had been the "other" ideas I'd have been driving into the ground about that. Damned if I do, damned if I don't with some people here. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/banghead.gif)

I just wanted to take the time to clear my head of some of this stuff. There are somethings going on in my life right now that make me wonder why I pour my heart into my work and my hobby like I do when I'm attacked for giving my opinion and have the gall to try and back up my claims. And it sucks.

The other thing that makes me differnet, and I've think I've been kind of a pioneer of is the way I recommend parts. I look around at the different boards and never, NEVER see anyone else saying "I don't feel you need this part" or some such example. I call a spade a spade, often to the extent of making smaller and sometimes NO SALE. And I'm that turns me into the slick used car salesman type. That's truly sad, and very dis-heartening.

Unless this thread is deleted, I'm going to bookmark it. That way the next time I hear about how selfish I am, or how I just push a prepackaged setup with the inference that it wasn't worked on and worked on very hard, etc. I can just put in the link... Much like I've had to do with the link to the Bilstein catalog into to dispell some of the rampant misinformation some folks spread about Bilstein HD's being so great for lowering springs.

EDIT: I want to add this in no way is to say that other opinions are not valid. Much like I thought out of the box, others are now doing. The point is simply there are very few truly new ideas in the world, and a number of the ideas out there now are not only not new, but have been tried many times before. This is not a statement on what works or doesn't in theory, or even what can be made to work, well or otherwise.

This post has been edited by Sam Strano: Nov 14 2005, 03:42 PM

[Tony99SS]

It's certainly tiresome and unrewarding to get up and do it again, day after day, when one drives home left with the notion that he is unappreciated, misunderstood, perhaps even something of a whipping boy. I guess I'm lucky that my sense of self worth (at least that part of it which identifies with my vocation) hinges almost solely on my own very critical eye. I am, by far, my own harshest critic. It rarely matters one iota to me what my coworkers or even my supervisors think of how well I do my job. I KNOW I am doing the best I can. Moreover, I know I am doing it better than nearly all of them could do. If they disagree, I will invite them to try on my size 12 steel toed boots for a day while I sit back and learn whatever they think they can teach.

Naturally, this 'attitude' earns me the reputation as arrogant, even something of a snob (I work in the oilfield, surrounded by roughnecks and rednecks.) And I grant you it can be lonely. It must be even more so in Sam's situation, where a mans livelihood and his passion are so intertwined. I mean, he can't exactly escape the injustices of the office through his automotive hobby, can he?

I've observed these pissing matches quietly, all the time wishing the participants could see themselves from where I stand. It could actually be the source of a great deal of humor here if everyone weren't taking themselves so seriously. This is supposed to be FUN!! A certain PoliSci professor of mine would have said " we're just going to have to agree to disagree on that." He was SO intense and dynamic! But as passionate as he may have been, and as vehemently as he would debate, he would never digress to undermining his opponent's dignity. No matter how wrong they were.

There is room here for dissent, divergent theories, and incompatible philosophies, but it is too small a space for disrespect. You guy's have all done your time. You all have the credentials to back up the public profile. You all have something to say (within this context at least) worth hearing. So agree to disagree. And lighten the hell up on each other.

Tony