F-Body Europe

Okay. After Bitburg i definitively see i need some upgrades

So here´s the wishlist:

Intrax springs
Front sway bar
Bigger stabilizers front and rear
(maybe some better shocks ??? Your opinion)
Underdrive pulleys
Ignition (Plugs, MSD etc.? Only read about it, please help)
Reprogramming the pcm - or is there a chip.

--> If i forgot something don´t whack me, i´m (quite) new to this.

Any suggestions which parts to use and where to get them cheapest? Also regarding shipment, if somebody is planning on ordering stuff, we could combine it.

Reason: Got creamed by a Acura Integra at Bitburg, this shall not happen again.

Ram (still pi**ed off)

Get the computer reprogramed. I did the hypertech last year and it helped.

Here are my thoughts. By the way, I have not installed the bits yet, I am still waiting for things to arrive, so I can't advise how good the mods are.

Well I'm going for the full suspension mod first. Hp mods will come later.

My choices were made from reading web pages. At the end of the day I think its personal choice.

I chose BMR suspsension parts because they seem good value, and I only want to improve the car for the road use. I have gone for STB, SFC, box LCA (and brackets) APHR and front/rear sway bars. I like the fact the sway bars are 32mm/21mm and solid. They are very heavy though!! Other manufactureres worth thinking about are G2 and Hotchkis.

I have ordered Eibach Pro Kit lowering springs. I wanted the slightly lower stiff car, but not too low. Again a lot of recommendations from web pages.

And finally I will be ordering Bilstein shocks, the fronts revlaved to Sam Strano spec.

I want my mods just to be good for the road as we have a lot of twisty country roads in the UK. I am still learning about auto's and I hope I am doing the right thing.

I hope thats been some help.

IT sounds like you've been doing your homework! I just got my 01 T/A ram air in AUG and the first thing I looked at was the suspension. Sounds like you know what you want, I went with the whole G-2 set up except the SFC's which are KBDD. I'm now ordering a set of Bilsteins from LGM. What are you going to be using the car for mainly (auto-x, drag, road course)? Are you going to keep the stock torque arm? I replaced mine what a difference, no more nose dive and what a difference in take off!! Will you get an adjustable PHB? If you do, when you lower the car turn the adj end out 1 complete turn and that should put your axle back to center. Good luck, let us know how it turns out!

So far as plugs are concerned, it's a long job and if yours work and don't misfire at all, why change them? Wait until you need to. MSD ignition doesn't apply. Your LS1 has individual coils and no distributor. I don't believe there have been any complaints of the coils failing and you won't gain anything there.
The K&N FIPK is supposed to add 20 plus hp but if you've already spent on a lid (which gives 10-15 max), it won't be a huge increase. Have you done the free ram air and EGR mods. I'm a fan of the EGR mod but not so much the free ram air. I would cut out the bottom of the tray but not cut the lip if I did it again.
When you say you were creamed by an Integra, you go on to set out a suspension wishlist. If you mean you were creamed on handling, it WILL happen again as a lightweight Honda complies with the laws of physics rather better than the Panzer-nimble Camaro. You'd have to buy a Vette if you want a car that handles properly. The limitations of a solid rear axle are well documented by the total abandonment of the concept. However, if you go onto Kazaa, there is a cracking video you can download called Racing Elise (Exige) v Street Corvette (C5) at Nurburgring where the Lotus gets creamed. There is an exciting point where the Lotus finally catches up and you see the C5 rear end sliding. You think the Lotus has got him but back comes the C5, hits the straight and the afterburners kick in and it just vanishes. If anything will make anybody buy a C5, this is it.

1. The Honda creamed me on the straight ;-(
2. The suspension is for the A-Bahn and Country road thingy,
i´d like a way stiffer setup.

Hmm, seems like i´ll have to spend some time flipping pages to get to what components to use, or i´ll just look at setups other people have --> e.g. Friday Nuremberg BP.

Where do you guys order that stuff and especially how do you ship it? Is anybody else ordering something at the moment so it could be shipped togeheter?

CU Friday

R@M

-- Free Ram Air and EGR Mod ??? --

Whatza dis supposed ta be ?

????? Confused ?????

R@M

Go to LS1.com for a wealth of information.
The Free Ram Air mod: There is a rubber lip in front of the radiator that siphons air to the bottom of your air box. It is a narrow slit which restricts the speed of the incoming air. The FRA involves cutting off the top part of the forward lip to enlarge the opening. The bottom of your air tray is 50% blanked off. The FRA involves a bit of saw work to remove this other 50% so the scavenging area is much larger. The effcect appears negligible. I would cut out the base but skip the lip.
The Free EGR mod: I don't know if this applies to your car as I don't know if the 99's had the EGR deleted. The EGR is the black cylindrical thing with wires going into the top on the front left hand side. An aluminium pipe runs across and into the intake tract and is held down by one bolt. When you undo that bolt and pull up very gently, you see an aluminium "chimney" that pokes straight down into your airflow, about the size of your thumb. The mod is basically sawing it off. Gently thread a reasonable size cloth under it to form a cup and then junior hacksaw the chimney off at the shoulder. The cloth will catch the filings and the chimney. Be very careful not to bend the pipe when you pull it out. Gently reseat it and tighten the bolt back up GENTLY so you don't do anything stupid like stripping it (as many on LS1.com appear to have done). It made a noticeable difference to mine.A bit like swallowing without your thumb down your throat.
Your genuine US exhaust is all very well but still leaves plenty of room for improvement. I have a system that has no silencers (SLP Loudmouth replica) and it's still too quiet as the cats silence the exhaust pretty effectively.
If the Integra creamed you, you may have to live with the fact that he's spent thousands upon thousands on it as the LS1 is under-rated by GM and dynoes at pretty much the same as the 345bhp Vette ( I can e-mail the article to prove this)so a US spec Z28 will dyno around 290-300 at the rear wheels which equates to a normal 40hp loss through the gearbox.

Firechicken

To answer your questions.

I want the car to behave better on the road. There are a lot of superb twisty roads here in the UK with some very quiet areas in Northumberland near where I live. I don't expect it to handle like a TVR or go kart or what ever, I just want it to be better than at the moment.

The Bilsteins you are buying, are you revalving the front pair to match the spring rating (that is if you have changed the springs)?

Yes I have got an ajustabel PHR. It's BMR and it looks good.

I will definately let the FBE know what the after effects are like when fitted - just waiting for springs and shocks. I have to thank the FBE members as they have helped me with lots of suspension info.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK FBE MEMBERS.

cheers

Take a look at this page
http://www.installuniversity.com and go to "Install Documents"... very interesting...

Ben

Jagsy,
Yes LGM has them valved to thier Super springs. Let us know how it turns out. Hope I was able to help