Muscle Or Import

[KnifeEdge_2K1]

does the corvette have independent suspension? cuz i heard that it has leafsprings and its kind of hard to imagine independent leafsprings with control arms and such ... just cant picture it in my head

[fpv_gtho]

its got transverse leaf springs i thought

[jcp123]

its got transverse leaf springs i thought

Right-o. I didn't even know that till I came here - I always thought it had coil-overs too.

[fpv_gtho]

heres a pic i found, but i guess it doesnt really show the springs

[Radoman]

does the corvette have independent suspension? cuz i heard that it has leafsprings and its kind of hard to imagine independent leafsprings with control arms and such ... just cant picture it in my head

I've never seen a C5 with Leaf spring suspension, and I've seen alot of them up on hoists.

[fpv_gtho]

probably talking about the new C6 there

[Matra et Alpine]

Even aside from that, pushrod engines are also easier to service and modify because of their simpler architecture. That's ideal since I do most of my own work.

Seriosuly, jcp, OHCs are just as easy to work on.
Especially if you consider changing cams for differnet events/tracks
AND EVerything that wears is visible ! So much easier to keep an eye on a highly-tuned setup.
One caveat is the timing belt, some cars use unecesarily complex belt/drive arrangements ( like my bloody A610 ). The Ford BDA is DEAD easy in comparison - all accesable and replacable by 4 bolts.

[Matra et Alpine]

heres a pic i found, but i guess it doesnt really show the springs

Here's a couple of closeups.
The leaf is still not visible as it operates on the inside of the wishbones

[Falcon500]

as for the horses for courses with ....

horsepower does nothing for acceleration, take a physics course

as for the road holding for the 17x9 inch wheels, first thing's first wheels have nothign to do with grip other then the restrictions they have on the tyres you can put on, and second the wider a tyre is the less slip you will get which means less power oversteer which is an important aspect of why rwd cars are so fun and fast (ability to tighten the line with a dab of throttle is a characteristic unique to a rwd car or an awd car with a high rear/front torque bias)

Well i never mentioned horspower i mentioned horses you know the big 4legged mammals ....ill put it very simplys certain horseshave certain specialtys like the horse i bet on this year media puzzel is a great horse who has multible skills and the horse i won within 99 brew was a speacilist in 2k sprints.....this saying can apply for nearly anything certain cars for certain conditions...ie horses for courses...i suggest you pull yourhead out of your arse and read things properly either that or listen in school...

And as for the grip thing your just twisting it so i sound wrong...but restrictions on tyres....do theynot have contact with the ground and provide grip and if they are not slipping are they not gripping....you prettled on with a paragreah which is right but you wasted my time and your time totry and sound smart (BTW i knew that anyways there isnt any need to be correct to the letter it wastes time and turnssomething simples like saying grip into something rather dull)

And as for my long paragraph oh you poor thing hurting eyes im sorry you can dish it but cant take it....you sook.

[Vettribution87]

probably talking about the new C6 there

Yep. But not just the C6. The Corvette has been using plastic composite leaf springs in the rear suspension since the early 80's.

A lot of people scoff at the idea of leaf springs but the car's handling always holds up. I remember reading in Dave McClellan's book that the incorporation of these plastic leaf springs shaved around 18 lbs off the weight of the car and proved durable in testing compared to steel leaf springs.
Apparently they did wheel hop oscillation test on both steel and plastic leaf springs to test durability. The steel ones would last 200,000 oscillations before breaking. But when they tested the plastic ones they just kept going and going right past 200,000 oscillations and onward.
After a couple of days they reached 2 million oscillations and as the leaf springs were still fine they decided to call it quits as it clearly exceeded acceptable parameters. The plastic leaf spring was a win-win situation.

[KnifeEdge_2K1]

leaf springs dont affect the handling .. i dont think, that really depends on the geometry of the control arms, its just leaf springs take up a bit more room (lengthways, duh) and like i said b4 ive never heard of independent leaf springs ... till now apparently

leaf springs with doublewishbones ... just doesnt sound right somehow ... like a ferrari limo or a pizza flavoured icecream ... eww

[Vettribution87]

leaf springs with doublewishbones ... just doesnt sound right somehow ... like a ferrari limo or a pizza flavoured icecream ... eww

Yes it is quite unconventional and the idea doesn’t bode well with everyone. But as long as it works then no harm done.

[Matra et Alpine]

aha, thanks vettribution, I now understand a point Slicks was making in another thread.

Composite springs will outlast metal leafs for sure. Also much more controllable deformation and used a lot in racing MGs. But we were warned by the manufacturer that they dont' handle as much deflection as steel leafs - so no use on the rally car.

Do you know details on the Z06 leafs ?
Also the downside of a leaf is it's change in length. It needs a hanger to absorb that but I couldnt' find ANY drawing showing the suspension connection for the leaf. I've posted a couplof of pics of the Z06 suspension already. and it looks as if it's mounted inboard, but not obvious. Are there any cutaways showing it clearly ?

I'm stil confused by the idea of shaving 18 lbs. Yeah, composite for metal is a win. But they already have to put the shock in, that measn they already have beefed up those connection points. So adding a spring as a coil over is only now the weight of a coil spring which is MUCH lighter than a leaf also.
Do you have comparable weights for coil-over conversions for the Z06 ?

[Vettribution87]

I cant find any cut away schematics for the Z06's leaf springs but I will ask the Corvette forum if they know where I could find them. I think Dave McClellan's book has schematics of the basic composite leaf springs used in the early 80's Corvettes and I will try to see if I can scan them.

I think I might have got the weight numbers mixed up. Off the top of my head the composites actually weigh 18lbs each and the metal ones they replaced weighed 42lbs each. Cannot remember how much weight was actually shaved off the car but never the less I will double-check the book.

Apparently the ZO6 suspension is aligned differently to the regular C5 and I have found a service bulletin about how it’s set up. I hope this helps.


Source: Hib Halverson, Technical Writer for Internet and Print Media:

Perhaps a little known service fact about the Z06 is that it has different alignment specifications than all other C5s.

Through an unfortunate error, the 01 Corvette Service Manual does not contain the proper alignment specifications for the Z06 and, up to now, GM has not provided the proper specs to dealers through the TSB process. That may happen later this year, but until then, the proper alignment specifications from sources in GM that deal with Corvette service issues are published below. The 02 Manual will contain these specs.

Front Individual Toe: +0.04 degree +/- 0.10 degree

Front Sum Toe : +0.08 degree +/- 0.20 degree

Front Individual Caster: +6.9 degree +/- 0.50 degree

Front Cross Caster: within +/- 0.25 degree

Front Individual Camber: -0.70 degree +/-0.50
degree

Front Cross Camber: within +/-0.25 degree

Rear Individual Toe: -0.01 degree +/- 0.10 degree

Rear Sum Toe: -0.02 degree +/- 0.20 degree

Rear Individual Camber: -0.68 degree +/- 0.50 degree

Rear Cross Camber: within +/- 0.50 degree

[Vettribution87]

I’ve scanned a few images that might be helpful. Unfortunately I haven’t yet found anything on the Z06's rear suspension let alone the standard C5’s. However the C4 also used an independent leaf spring arrangement.

Diagram of independent leaf spring suspension on a C4



Fibreglass spring

The one on top is the fibreglass spring. They weigh 7lbs and replace the 48lbs steel ones.
A total weight saving of 82lbs!

Rear suspension changes from C4 to C5.

This is a sketch done by Dave McClellan in his book "Corvette From The Inside" regarding changes to the rear suspension from the C4 to the C5. It’s the best I’ve got right now.

BTW. The bit obscured by the "AussieCarForum" logo in the 3rd picture reads: "..inclined sixth member to control camber."