I can deal with the stiff suspension. The thumps seem just a bit excessive though....these are the Bilsteins used in the factory SS Camaros and I somehow doubt they sold them making these horrible thump sounds from the ass end. I'm thinking I may need to change out the bump stops and see if that can solve the issue.
They're not. I'll give it a thousand miles or so and maybe swap the rears out with Koni adjustables. I like the ride, the car feels great, t just can't stand rattling noises.
I've never been so happy to be mistaken. I drove my usual 50 mile commute today and HOLY SHIT! The fun factor on the car went up several notches. As an unintended bonus the car is actually a bit quicker.....it's not wasting all that energy with weight transfer during acceleration, it just stays level and goes. In spite of the clunking going on towards the ass end over every bump in the road, it's all worth it. If I can quiet down the clunks, I'll just be that much happier.
Nice! It really is amazing what a reasonable suspension can do... never mind a good set of tires. With the old Porsches we used to drive/race/etc, one issue we ran into was that the tires were basically too sticky because of modern chemistry... and the suspension wasn't designed or built to handle some of the new, higher forces it was seeing because of the hugely increased grip. As a result we had to upgrade a few components to help with that.
Thankfully I'm not dealing with race car tech or really even adding new tech to the car....I know how tricky that can get and it's way over my pay grade. I still have to replace my rear sway bar bushings and end links, but I'm not sure if that's going to help the noise issue since the only replacements available were poly. Then again, I was going to keep putting off the front bushings and end links until I wandered out in the shop when they had my front end apart with the strut replacement and I saw how worn the bushings were. I had the parts in my back seat and told them to replace them...they looked like hell. So maybe..... I've got to replace them anyways, so with any luck that'll clear up the issue. Also, something I haven't mentioned....as much as I've sunk into the Z (To much), it's about to be retired from daily driver status. I'm looking for a new daily driver (The Z will be going into the garage) and at the moment I'm leaning towards a 2011 or so V6 Mustang. The damn things are 300 horse and if I can find one with a 6 speed at a decent price I'd be happy as a clam. Then again I may end up buying something completely stupid like a Z06 Corvette, a TT 300ZX, a 3000GT VR4, a Ford Lightning, a 5th gen Camaro SS, a Hemi Challenger or maybe a 2005 or so Shelby. Or Roush. Or Saleen. It's going to be an absolute crap shoot as far as what I end up with. At the moment I hope I buy something sensible, but I also know sensible gets lost somewhere when it's me and cars. Maybe a Maxima? That might be sensible and probably much cheaper then my target range. Anyways...$20-30K, fun to drive....any suggestions? And no, I won't buy a new car....I refuse to eat the depreciation.
Just ordered a set of factory OEM bump stops. It was another $140 sunk into the car, but if it quiets down the clunking it's well worth it. Judging by how fuckerd up my other suspension pieces appeared before replacing them, I'm sure my stock bump stops are equally fucked up. I'll find out soon if they solve the issue. Hey @GTE...was your Z06 a C5? I'm kind of eyeballing them right now. I much prefer the hatchback body, but the Z06's performance makes it much more interesting. I know there is an issue with them sucking valves, is there anything else I should look out for with them? I'm kind of leaning towards picking up a 3000GT VR4....everyone knows about TT Supras, TT RX7s, and TT 300ZXs, but everyone seems to have forgotten about the VR4s. Not only were they also TT, but they were AWD and 4 wheel steering. And if I'm not mistaken the 320 horse the '94 and up models put out were the highest horsepower of the Japanese super cars of that time frame.
yea the vr4's are sexy. even thou the dodge stealth was a copy of the 3000gt, the dodge's looked ugly because of were they placed the spoiler.
I'd buy a TT Stealth in a heart beat. I'm still kicking myself for letting one though my fingers a few years back. They are cooler then the 3000GT's simply because of the badging on the doors.
The Japanese used to make some no-shit sports cars. I still vividly remember the time in 2002 Discount Tire must have hired someone they didn't deserve, who put a new set of tires on my SVT Contour. Holy. Fucking. Shit. The steering felt razor sharp. When I'd shift into second at high RPM, rather than break traction like I was used to the car would instantly grab and I'd get this power surge. When winter came, these tires were great in the snow too. There had to be some downside, which turned out to be that they didn't last me very long.
Yes, it was a C5. IMO there is nothing else out there for the price range that will touch it in performance. I remember years ago Car & Driver did a 4 cylinder tuner comparo and the Comptech Honda S2000 won. It had all their suspension, supercharger, tune, brakes etc. They then took a bone stock C5 Z06 and it beat the Honda by FOUR seconds on a road course. Jesus. Even today it'll run with anything $60k and less. I don't remember much about the 3000GT as it was always in the shadows of the other Japanese super cars but I remember people saying it was heavy and that's why the other cars outperformed it even with their HP disadvantages.
Thanks. A car like that would probably be wasted on me. I do a bit of "Spirited" driving every now and then, but probably nothing that would even make a Z06 flinch. Now I'm eyeballing street rods. Like I said before, it's a complete crap shoot what I'll end up with, but sooner or later something will tickle my fancy just enough to pull the trigger.
Toytoy, do you mean to tell me that you just sunk over $8K on a car, and decided out of the blue to park it? I'm not criticizing your judgement, I'm just trying to understand it. Anyway, if you're asking for advice, I'd recommend against a 5th generation Camaro; rear visibility is fucking horrible, and if your third brake light ever goes out, you're looking at a 2+ hour repair bill, PLUS the cost of the part (LED brake lights aren't cheap). When you say "street rod," what exactly do you mean?
Actually I'm somewhere around $12-15K into the Z28, now the question is does it become a garage toy or do I keep it as a daily driver? I'm torn on that question. As far as "Street Rod"...something pre '48 that's been updated, and there is something local that just piqued my interest.... I dig the color and the stance, I just don't dig the $24K asking price....if the car was right, I'd have no problem with the price, but there is one HUGE issue with the car. The front clip is '74 Camaro, so it is an independent front end....I'd rather rack and pinion, but this is fine. The rear is also '74 Camaro. Extra cool points for being a 5 speed manual with A/C. The problem is the engine. It's an '83 inline 6. I don't care how much they dressed it up, that is a big no.....which gives me a whole lot of room to negotiate the price down. This car needs a SBC, it's just wrong any other way. It doesn't need a fire breather, but it does need something with a lumpy cam and a low growl. I figure, at a minimum, having someone else do the work for me is going to be around $10K and that's assuming all the previous work was done correctly. Basically I need to pick the car up for about $16K for me to be happy with pulling the trigger. We'll see what happens...
I need to order some parts for my truck and I don't know what they're called. They're the little rubber things that look like beehives, that keep the leaf springs(?) from rubbing against the axle when the bed is loaded. Google is not helping me. (2004 Chevy Silverado)
Do you guys have a recommendation for a commuter car that isn't super boring? I just got a job with a bit of a drive and really don't want to spend all that time in a Honda Accord. My budget is about $10K and it has to be a four-door.
Do you guys have a recommendation for a commuter car that isn't super boring? So you are looking for an oxymoron. I would look smaller, Honda Civic, Mazda 3, still four door but smaller and lighter, can have more fun with it. I have a 02 Civic.