A Tein flex coilover kit is definitely more "handling" oriented then you want. The springs are too stiff to perform well in drag racing. Stock suspension isn't bad...but if you want to make the car handle better and not lose straight line traction, then go with a good set of sway bars and leave the rest of the suspension stock to aid in weight transfer at the strip.

The thing is...with a compromising setup you will always be giving something up. As you are right now. So I really don't see how you could make your straight line traction any better than it is right now without losing handling.

As for the traction bars....here's a link..you can probably find them cheaper.

http://www.modacar.com/products/Niss...ctionbars.html

 

There is no perfect setup which caters to both. I would have to say to have the greatest balance between the two, you should stay with stock suspension. As soon as you start changing stuff, you start to bias the car more towards curves or straights.

 

Did you have ARP head studs when you started having lifting issues at 600+whp?

 

Yes, the ARP studs, stock cylinder walls, and stock head gaskets. We did runs with C116 fuel so detonation was defiantely not a contributing factor.

 

Sharif,

So are you saying the combination of ARP head studs, Cometic headgasket and Darton MID sleeves resolves the lifting issues above 700 rwp? That is good to hear as last I noticed people were saying there was no resolution for the lifting issue even with the Cometic gasket.

The AAM Stage II fuel system is nice, it is pretty quiet and looks good/ fits real well. I am not pushing the HP envelope yet, so I will leave that to you Sharif for verification. One of these days we will finish this engine build....

 

Sharif what did you torque them down to? Does ARP recommend 78ft/lbs? I think once you go to closed deck then ~90ft/lbs is more like it.

 

Sorry for hijacking the chit out of this thread...

ARP recomends 65ft/lbs with AL block, but we''re trqing them down to 72ft/lbs. The closed deck with Darton sleeves doesnt mean you can trq the studs down more. The trq numbers are established at 75% yield strength of the stud. This provides a comfort zone for expansion, so you dont yield your stud (fuke it up) under high heat/load.

If the stud was made from a different material, then you coud trq them down to greater levels. As it sits, you have 14,000 lbs of clamping load at 65/ft lbs.

 

is that the same as the camber arms that are part of the Stillen Camber Kit?


that brings us back to what is the best suspension option for a 500+ whp car...because it does need to be able to handle both straight and curved runs. I liked the idea behind the tein flex because you can have different settings based on the type of run you do but based on your statement it probably won't be good enough.

This is quite challenging I must say

I guess something like a well tuned Racelogic Traction control might still be the best option

 

I know next to nothing about how suspension works, but what it be a good idea to keep the stock springs but swap in some adjustable shocks to control dampening for different driving conditions?

 

Thanks Mike for contacting me today.

Looking forward to seeing what your car can do with those 15 inch rear slicks and 18 PSI plus...

Please PM me to let me know how your car dynos and tunes...We can help for sure. Leave your email!

M

 

no

It is challenging and honestly the best thing you can do is just get some really good rubber...that will help more than suspension work anyday. The racelogic could be good, but I'd assume it would be pretty expensive. You could also get a gear specific boost controller so that you can have the peak boost lower in lower gears.

 

Some adjustable shocks could definitely help you without breaking your bank account like a full coilover set will. Also pick on a sway bar set if you don't already have one. They do amazing things without changing the ride or straight line traction of the car.

 

actually the entire racelogic package is about $1800 + install which should not be too bad...I'm getting that in about 3 weeks, so basically the same as the tein flex with edfc.

Gear specific boost controller won't help when breaking out. I always figured a stiffer suspension would help keep the car in check more.
and you know I'm running et streets already...but they didn't do crap once my baby took me for a ride sideways at 100mph...

One thing that I am saving up/looking for is a good racing class that deals with how to to handle your car when you loose traction, I haven't found anything like that though and the regular classes deal more with driving when everything goes well...

 

Sudden loss of traction and control while running a high power level and slicks just happens. There's not really anything you can do to prevent it. It's just one of those things. I see high powered cars on a bias ply tires get sideways frequently at the track. The problem isn't really traction it's the inability of the soft wall bias ply slicks to cope with sudden yaw motions.

I thought your whole thing was about more traction on a street tire...but a slick is a whole different story.

 

Sideways at a 100! Thats sweet!

Mid OH has racing classes, not sure on what they tailor to but i am sure that they have smart instructors that could explain high speed control in a semi-safe enviroment.

 

lol, I actually trapped both lights....I got a 12.8 in the left lane and a 13.1 in the right

 

I am trying to find the best compromise between street and drag strip in a high powered car. Since I usually don't hit it hard on the streets I am leaning my compromise a bit more towards the drag strip. Changing to slicks at the track is of course one of these compromises...but I need more.
If lowering the negative camber settings to a point that helps at the drag strip but doesn't kill my handling on the streets that would be another compromise.

 

Bri which sway bars would you reccomend? Do you think Apexi N1 coilovers which are like 800 and then a good set of sways? But Will i still be in negative camber?>

 

I dont think that any coilovers you find are going to help your situation. The type of spring rates and dampening/rebound etc that you need are the exact opposite of the direction you are headed with any currently available aftermarket suspension parts that I know of.

Pretty much anytime you put in a part that is going to make your car handle better, its going to drag race worse.

I was going to call Tein and see if I could get some custom rear springs for drag racing since its so easy to just change the springs out in the back of this car. and then I was going to use my JIC camber rods and just count the turns and go to as close as I can to straight or even a little positive camber (for when i plan to drag), and then count the turns and go back to my regular settings (for standard use). At least this was what I was gonna try out for this year... not sure how much room I have to work in those JIC arms.

 

I see you WERE paying attention! Hope it works!

We ARE going to see you on a road coarse this year, aren't we?

EDIT: Have you thought about running a stiffer RR spring to counteract ring gear induced chassis torque? Drag racers of old used to do this........