continued from above
Vorshlag/Bilstein StreetPro Suspension Kit
Word has gotten out about this strut/shock/spring/camber plate set-up we've put together for the S197, and tested for many months. We have been exploring and testing various Bilstein and Bilstein motorsports shocks since we became a dealer last June.
In late December we ordered and received a "Bilstein BTS" shock/spring kit, then tested the spring rates of the matched "BTS" springs these inverted Bilstein B6 non-adjustable monotubes. These struts and shocks have 36 mm pistons (huge compared to any twin tube), and as such, they react to damping forces at much lower shaft velocities. The nicest thing about the B6 strut is that it is shorter than stock, so it is made to work well at lower ride heights...
So after we received the kit we worked with a Vorshlag test pilot Tyler Rogers, and planned to put this set-up on this car in early January of this year. Since a handful of haters have said that the S197 Bilstein monotube rides poorly, I wanted to do some before and after testing with the "BTS" lowering spring. I made this lengthy before-after video (see below), and found the ride of the Bilsteins to not only be acceptable, but exceptionally good. And it was better than the stock noodle springs and $30 OEM struts could ever hope to provide.
Another interesting side effect of the inverted 40mm shaft Bilstein is that it is 2 pounds lighter than the OEM twin tube junk, per strut. So it is strong, will have less flex under load or at full extension, but you shed some pounds as well.
Once we had a handle on the various lowering spring rates and picked the Bilstein BTS springs for this car, we scheduled Tyler's 2012 Mustang GT Brembo car into the shop. We measured the OEM ride heights, camber, and I took the "before" test drive around our pre-set "test loop". Then we got it onto a lift and took off the OEM bits...
While the stock struts and shocks were off we measured the lengths relative to the Bilstein B6 bits, then rated this OEM springs. The new parts all went on and functioned perfectly. The quality of everything we've received from Bilstein has been second to none. The rear shocks came with new top mount bushings and the springs were made to go with the OEM top mounts.
Of course we cannot leave anything alone and instead of using the OEM or even a GT500 top mount we paired the front struts with the Vorshlag S197 camber plate and our OEM upper spring perch / sealed radial bearing solution.
We have since run these with various aftermarket lowering springs and they work very well, wihtout the bottoming you tend to see with stock length struts and shocks (OEM, some Koni, Tokico, etc). We now put the Bilstein shock/struts together, with your choice of 5 different lowering springs, and assemble it all with the Vorshlag camber plate and call it our "StreetPro" suspension kit.
The end result is a really nice suspension kit that is complete and READY TO INSTALL, right out of the box from Vorshlag. There is no need to borrow a spring compressor to remove your upper spring perch/top mount to reinstall on the new bits, as we include the Vorshlag camber plates and pre-install the springs you have chosen, and ship it all to you ready to go. This makes the install take 1/2 the time as most spring/shock installs. And at a hair under $1500 this is a track worthy, street friendly kit that works very well, has a "lifetime warranty" on the struts/shocks, you can alter the camber quickly track-side with the Vorshlag camber plates, and includes inverted monotube shocks with shortened strut/shock bodies, for more bump travel at lower ride heights. Good stuff.
Link to our
Vorshlag/Bilstein StreetPro product page:
http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info...roducts_id=559
...continued from above
Before and After ride heights on a 2012 Brembo GT, with OEM then Vorshlag/Bilstein StreetPro suspensions
This animated gif above shows the before and after ride heights with the BTS springs. The 5300-K and 5300-P springs are a tick lower. With the BTS springs the car was lowered by 15mm up front (close to 0.75" installed) and 38mm in back (close to 1.5" installed) for a level stance that dramatically improves the look of any S197. This set-up is popular because it offers good ground clearance and a favorable ride. The optional lowering spring kits shown below offer even more aggressive ride heights and spring rates. Tyler and his wife both love the look and ride with this spring and shock combo, and the quality at this pricepoint is impossible to beat.
And don't forget, Vorshlag sells the full range of Bilstein shock models. They make a lot of adjustable and non-adjustable monotubes for all sorts of sports cars, and we're adding them to our website as quickly as we can test, measure and photograph new sets we get in. The Bilstein PSS9 single adjustable, monotube, inverted struts shown above are for a GD Subaru STi, shown with Vorshlag camber plates.
Anyway, let's get to the next track event: TWS!
NASA at Texas World Speedway 2.9 mi CW - April 19-20th
I was admittedly nervous about running this April event with NASA. Even though I started doing track events at TWS back in the late 1980s, I couldn't remember running the 2.9 mile course "backwards" (clockwise) in the
thousands of laps I have running this road course in various configurations and directions. When people ask I will say ECR is my home track, and I know it best, but TWS was my first track, and one I will likely have the most laps on for a good long time yet. I had some folks saying the terminal speeds off the main, banked straight and into the Turn 15 corner would be "well in excess of 150 mph", which is different from any other road course in Texas - all the rest of which involve fairly low peak speeds (>125 mph). ECR, MSR-C, MSR-H, GSS, HHR, TMS.... all of our other tracks are much slower than TWS, and the TWS 2.9 CW is the quickest of them all.
continued below