I'll give you guys a brief history and the future plans for the car so you can help me make a better decision in how to go about building the suspension.

1994 Z28 convertible
Strut tower bar and Eibach Pro-Kit are the only "suspension" mods as of now

I want to build a car that can compete well in all forms. It will have an LS? motor, N/A, 500-600 HP, built 6-speed, 9-inch rear, caged.

I want to be able to drive this car whenever I want, to and from the track, weekends, etc. I'm not all that concerned about comfort.

The racing split will be approx: 60% Drag Racing - 20% Road Race - 20% AutoX racing

I'd like to be semi-cost effective with my modifications, but I want to be able to adjust the car so that it can perform at all types of tracks. Can anyone help point me in a direction that might shed some light on this situation? I will provide more info if needed.

Thanks in advance!!

 

I'm assuming that while you are probably willing to make suspension and alignment changes (and perhaps tinker with adjustable sta-bar tuning and de-activate the front bar at the strip), you aren't going to go to the trouble of swapping springs. So I think you also have to decide which event or events that you're willing to compromise more performance away from. IOW - and don't directly use these numbers for anything but illustration - is a one second improvement at a typical 45-second auto-X run worth giving up, say, half a second at the strip for?

The details are going to matter a LOT. Cages are designed primarily to protect (helmeted) occupants, with stiffness increases being secondary. This is of somewhat more concern in your case (convertible), and you'll have to find a balance between what's competition-legal, inspection-friendly, and provides as much stiffness as practical.

Pro-Solo Auto-X involves a pretty much normal dragstrip start in combination with the normal cone-dodging. I haven't been involved there, but it might be worth trying to find out whether the more heavily modified Pro-Solo cars make any compromises in the name of improved launch.


Norm

 

I too wanted a cross-training type suspension to allow me to drag race and road race. I installed a set of QA1 adjustable shocks on all 4 corners thinking I could dial in the suspension I needed at the time. I discovered that the QA1's are poor performs for any kind of road racing. Drag racing optimization requires the ability to transfer weight to the rear when launching and this goes against road racing needs. Bottom line is can only optimize for one style of racing.

 

Sorry, but you're wanting 2 completly different suspension set ups and what you're going to end up with is a compromise. I guess it all depends on what your definition of competing well is and how tough your comeptition is.

Also, if you are going to autoX and road race, you better see what class you would be competing in and what mods are allowed in that class. I think a relatively stock suspension is going to be your best bet. Call Sam!

 

since I don't know didly about the drags but I'll assume you can compromise a little by running soft rear springs and disconnecting the front sway bar, here's what I mean: If you want suspension mods then you might lean a bit towards the auto-x setup.
I say this because the auto-x setup isn't as loose as when compared to the RR version and since you're not actually road RACING, but HPDE'ing or time trials then the auto-x setup will work great and will be better all around as well as feel better on the street.
Anyway Strano has EXCELLENT options for setting up your car. His spring/swaybar package and shock selection will work great for autocross and HPDE track days. It will also feel outstanding when driving out around town. Now, I say go with this setup because if you want to go to the drags you can make a few quick changes to help the strip performance. Keep the 5.5" pigtail type springs out back e.g. no coilovers. That way you can just jack up the car, yank out the stiffer springs and throw in some dirt track 5.5" x 11" or 12" softer springs to help you launch and get down the track. An easy 5 minute job at the most. disconnect one link of the front sway bar too and your done. If you get the adjust able shocks ($$) you can dial them to full soft to help launch a bit too, vs. the stiffer setup anyway.

 

Talked to Sam in depth yesterday and he helped me realize that I need to answer a few more questions about what I really want from the car before I go much further. I'll keep you guys up to date with the info that he passes along to me as it comes. I'm sure there's more than just one guy out there that wants to accomplish this.

About the QA1 shocks, he said the same thing...DO NOT use them if you want the car to be able to do anything other than dragrace.

 

im on koni sa's and for dragin they suck, i dont gain one bit in my 60fts when i play with the shocks. Only droping the front sway bar helps. Koni's are made for handling and qa1's for drag, they dont do the others job the slighest bit. So before you set up your car really think about it and i mean really. Going back to change stuff is such a waste