F-Body Europe

I decided it had to be the Boyd Coddington Smoothie II's 18 x 9's all round in the end. This pic swayed me into thinking they would look fantastic.

http://www.ayresweb.com/wheels/smoothie_driverside.jpg

I've ordered them from T.Byrne Motorsports. More on shipping but lower prices meant best overall deal and he responded quickly to e-mails. Just a question of waiting now.

Ordered a full set of Powerslot grooved rotors and Hawk pads from Redline Motorsports who offer very good prices and were way lower than anyone else on a fully shipped price ($738 including shipping compared to over $900 elsewhere).

http://www.4redlinemotorsports.com

I would have got the LS1 kit from Thunder Racing (which adds 4 braided brake lines as well for under $600) but their e-mail response is poor and they only take bank transfers, not credit cards. Ah well, their loss!

Nice wheels...

What brake pads did you order, the Hawk HPS or the HP+ ?
I have the HPS with the Brembo OEM replacement rotors and they're quite good.

Ben

Ah, it doesn't say what Hawk pads they are, just that they're for street and track use. All I know is they have to be ebtter than the stock items and the current pads I have are prone to a bit of fade in fast driving.

I'm told the grooved rotors "hiss" under braking.

I considered drilled rotors as they look much better but since Aston Martin have fitted grooved rotors to the new DB9, I figure they must be good.

I looked at the Brembos but decided that I didn't drive it hard enough often enough to warrant the extra cost. Mind you, if I did, I would have gone for the Eradispeed rotors which are almost too good-looking to hide behind a wheel!

Dude, those wheels are TOO sweet! Where are you getting them, and how much?

The wheels are available from T.Byrne Motorsports at $280 each or from Discount Tires Direct at $287 each. (Compare that to the Boyd Coddington website and $400+!!) I offered the latter a "price-match" deal but they didn't reply. The good thing about T.Byrne Motorsports is that if you order on line, you get a $50 discount over $1000 which means an extra $12.50 off the price of every wheel (in a set of 4) making them 267.50 each. Now that's damned fine value!

They do them in other sizes too if you don't want the expense of replacing tyres.

http://www.tbyrnemotorsports.com/ls1catalog.html

I have the iRotor cross-drille and slotted brakes... they "hissed" at first during break-in, but after that they are just as quiet as normal rotors... and man, do they stop the car!

Very nice, told you big wheels will lokk good. Can't wait to see them.

LuS1fer,
Looks like you beat me to the punch on the Smoothie II wheels. I'm saving my money for them right now. I've got the powerslot rotors on the back of mine now and Hawk HPS pads at all 4 cornors and am very pleased!! I had the eradispeeds on the front and within a year they where trashed......probably due to my driving style. I upgraded to the G-Stop from LG Motorsports. I'm surprised that Thunder Racing didn't respond faster to you. I deal with David there all the time and he responds very quickly!! I'll have to email him and tell them they are loosing good customers. Please post some pics when you get your wheels, I'd really like to see them!!

I suspect Thunder Racing didn't reply because when I went to their website, they weren't taking international credit cards and it said they were only accepting bank wire transfers. I'm afraid that these days, that's just not an option but I understand that most credit card companies take 2.5% of the total which, if you're alreday selling for a rock bottom price, is unacceptable.

However, if the kit had been 2.5% more expensicve, I'd have still bought it so they should consider adding on the extra instead of declining credit cards.

As long as the differential is fair, it doesn't affect me. I was stopped dead from buying Z06 replicas from AFS when I found they sold the same set for $500 less on ebay but ebay don't ship abroad but again I would have felt I'd been fleeced if I'd bought them at full price.

I'll post a pic as soon as I get them.

I did eventually get a reply incidentally.

Does anyone have those Wilwood 4 pistons brakes? That's what I was planning on getting, but if anyone knows something for a better price, let me know.

I forget prices but I saw a 6 piston set of calipers for the Camaro somewhere out there but I forget who makes them.

Ah, here they are: ooh, that price hurts....

http://www.tbyrnemotorsports.com/v6/brakes.html

Dude, why bother with 4 piston calipers when the 6 piston calipers from Wilwood can be had for like $1200?

Holy greased lightning, Batman. I ordered the wheels from T.Byrne Motorsports on the 31st October and UPS were knocking my door to deliver them today, 5th November. That's damned hot service! Of course, I was out but I'm staying in tomorrow to take delivery.

So far, a massive thumbs up to T.Byrne for speed of delivery.

Total cost of wheels plus shipping was £960.73 and UPS want a cheque for the import duty and VAT of £226.67 so a total to my door of £1187.40. Not bad really considering what Porsche or Mercedes will charge you for a similar set.

I just hope Redline Brakes can match that service.

Now the thorny question of tyres. On recent tests, the clear winner is the new Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3. One guy claimed a 0.2 second improvement over the quarter on these tyres and the wet weather review was excellent. I've been quoted £820 for a set of four 275/35 x 18 (good price) or £520 for a set of four Kumhos but I think I'm gonna bite the bullet and go for the Goodyears after reading this article:

http://www.zr1.net/F1G3D3.html

Ah well, it's only money.

Well I've now got the Goodyear F1 275/35 x 18's tyres fitted to the rims and they look incredible. Brakes should be arriving tomorrow.

However, I've realised that these Smoothie II's don't come with any protection at all and the salt on the roads here can be pretty vicious.

I'm thinking I should maybe replace the rear Kumhos and stick with the stock 16" chrome wheels until Spring arrives. What would you do?

I had to get a wheel rechromed due to the salty Winters here. Just keep the stock wheels on until Spring. Your wheels and wallet will both thank you!

Thanks Jack, that's what I figured. Guess I'll just have to fit them temporarily for photographs and then reinstall the originals. Hmm, I think I'll just do one side. LOL.

Yeah, get some pics up. I'd love to see how they look.

Ah well, got the brakes. Great guys at Redline!. They sent a mock invoice for $200 so the Customs duty I had to pay was only £43 instead of £118 and I didn't even ask them.

Took a day off to fit them on Tuesday. My knees were killing me. Those front caliper bolts were pretty stiff to shift in a confined space but it gave me a chance to clean all the rust and dirt off the hubs. Must say I'm a little disappointed at the way the grooved rotors look and wish I'd gone for drilled instead. Ah well!

Took the car for it's annual MOT today and it flew it. Yee har!

Got the title to my new personalised plate today as well. LV51FER. Only trouble is that it has to be fitted to a Sept 2001 or later car so I'll have to keep it for a few years yet until I can afford a Vette.

Plus got my visas for my holiday to Kerala in India in January. So it's been a good week. (Apart from the taxman asking me for £800. LOL)

I have 4 x ZO6 Corvette Chrome 18"x9.5 Wheels from AFS on my car now. I need to change them for winter. However, I can't just go back to the stock ones, because my exhaust makes contact with the ground too much. So, I find myself in a delima. Don't drive the car for the winter, or buy new wheels. DON'T DRIVE THE CAR???? ----> NOT AN OPTION!!! So, I am getting 4 x C5 Corvette Silver 18"x9.5 wheels with new tires of course. That should solve the problem. Then once winter is over, I will have two nice sets... one for summer... which will allow for strictly SUMMER tires, and one for winter, which will allow for stricly BORING WINTER tires.

How's the snow in Friedberg? I don't know how bad it is, but you might want to reconsider such wide tires, because that's way too much contact with the road.. If it's not bad there, though, you should be ok.. I have 225s on mine, and I drive it all Winter long, when it's running..