New coilovers hitting the streets

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GTS-R 001

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I'll be buying a set for my Gen 4 at the end of January. I am installing new exhaust this week so decided to put off the suspension purchase for a month.

That yellow SRT looks like it is sitting perfectly. Steve, is that with the setting as low as it can go?

I believe there was still some room and the rear still had to settle down after a short drive as well.
 

Mad Max

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Seems like a lot of you are choosing to lower your Vipers. So I gotta ask are you guys having an alignment done after lowering the car and how much is everyone lowering? Also is it being done just for looks or is there a real performance gain on the track?
 

dave6666

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Seems like a lot of you are choosing to lower your Vipers. So I gotta ask are you guys having an alignment done after lowering the car and how much is everyone lowering? Also is it being done just for looks or is there a real performance gain on the track?

So a performance gain on the street is irrelevant?

Steve told me that you can leave the negative camber after lowering or adjust it out. I would drive the car first before spending hundreds on an alignment.
 
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GTS-R 001

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Seems like a lot of you are choosing to lower your Vipers. So I gotta ask are you guys having an alignment done after lowering the car and how much is everyone lowering? Also is it being done just for looks or is there a real performance gain on the track?

Technically the safe answer is that if you alter your ride height to anything besides stock you "should" get an alignment. My personal experience is that my Viper handles way better with a little more negative camber and usually the track setting for most vipers is a little more negative camber as well.

If you look at the rear of a BMW you will see that their tires point in at the top, that is all you are doing here if you leave the camber in a negative position after setting your car lower, the lower you go, the more neg camber you will see, I would recommend that once you get the car to the height you like, then go see a competent alignment secialist and get their help in determining the camber that is best for you, this is also a perfect time to corner weight the car as well for optimal handling and braking.
 

viper k

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are you telling me i can put the coilovers on and drop my car one'' do you have to get it lined up ?
 
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GTS-R 001

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are you telling me i can put the coilovers on and drop my car one'' do you have to get it lined up ?

With these coilovers you can lower your car 1", 2" and be well within the operating range of the shock, if you lower the car, the camber will change to a negative which if you want your car to be in factory alignment spec you should get an alignment, if you want the better handling of a more negative camber, then you could try it out he way it will sit or take it to a shop that can give you a more aggressive handling alignment. Most Vipers that go on the track add a couple of degrees of negative camber fornt and back
 

Mad Max

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If I were to only lower 1/2" to 1" which shocks would you recommend?
 

got one

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Ryan is a pic **...

Your other post made it sound like you were down to one kit left; a Gen 3. So any others, all you need to do is assemble them?

Oh cmon Dave, I am simply trying to show folks why they need an RT vs. a GTS :p
 
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GTS-R 001

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If I were to only lower 1/2" to 1" which shocks would you recommend?

I would go with the lowered set,

just by snugging the adjuster nuts up as high as you can go, you can set your ride height close to stock, and when you set them at the lowest you can be 2" less than stock, they will give you the most flexibility to give you the ride and loo you like..
 

Chuck 98 RT/10

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I know the local shop in the bay area that installs most of teh moton and Penske systems uses 500 or 600 lb front springs and 900 to 1100 rear springs. These other guys had their suspensions set up with spring rates that were 2 to 3 times the rate you most likely had,

Adding 3,000 lbs to my Viper seems like a lot of weight to add just to slam my Viper and look really cool. Must take a special tool to install those. Is it possible to get some lighter springs without losing ride comfort?
 
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GTS-R 001

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Adding 3,000 lbs to my Viper seems like a lot of weight to add just to slam my Viper and look really cool. Must take a special tool to install those. Is it possible to get some lighter springs without losing ride comfort?

Chuck,

Those are spring rates used not weight added to the car.
 
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GTS-R 001

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Spring rates? So do bigger spring rates mean a more badazz slammed look? Awesome.


My point is that :

when the average guy buys adjustable coilovers and lowers his car, he does not contemplate the increase in spring rate required to compensate for 1) the lack of preload and 2) the reduced travel he now has

When a shop that installs a $6K set of Motons or Penskes gets involved they usually set teh lowered ride height car up with higher than stock spring rates, i.e. fronts go from 225's to 500 or more, rears go from 420 to 800 or more.

So in effect the properly lowered car will have higher rates than an improperly lowered car as with linear springs you are dealing with a simple calculation of each inch of travel needed X number of pounds to compress each inch, so a 420 lb spring only needs 420 lbs of force for each inch travelled, and an 800 pound requires 800 lbs to travel that same inch, but if you have lowered your car and now only have 2 inches of travel left instead of 4 you may want to increase your spring rate so you do not bash the suspension into the frame, with 800 lb springs in teh rear it would take 3200 lbs of force to compress the suspension the remaining 2 inches, if a person bought "off the shelf" lowering coilovers they may have 450 lb springs and therefore only need 1800 lbs of force applied to compress the suspension.

This is why everyone that orders coilovers from me has a discussion with me about driving needs and wants and if they intend to ,lower the car and by how much.
 
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dave6666

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Chuck speaks track only. You have to tell him what the effect will be on his lap times at Sebring. He could care less about looks.

Also, never post pics of blingy wheels around Chuck. He will grill you on all things stupid sans itty bitty brake committee.
 

Chuck 98 RT/10

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My point is that :

when the average guy buys adjustable coilovers and lowers his car, he does not contemplate the increase in spring rate required to compensate for 1) the lack of preload...

At this point you just lost 80% of the pose...I mean posters in this thread. Good write up though. See what I did there? :)
 

Chuck 98 RT/10

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Chuck speaks track only. You have to tell him what the effect will be on his lap times at Sebring. He could care less about looks.

Also, never post pics of blingy wheels around Chuck. He will grill you on all things stupid sans itty bitty brake committee.

Let's talk tinted windows. How dark does it need to be so people can't see me picking my nose?
 

Dom426h

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At this point you just lost 80% of the pose...I mean posters in this thread. Good write up though. See what I did there? :)

Hilarious!!!!:rolaugh:, and the whole "fishing" for an informative response was just down right clever:2tu:




Thank you for the info GTS-R 001, and thank you for offering these with varying spring rate options (this was my idea from KNG SNKE's coilover thread a bit back)
http://forums.viperclub.org/threads...2-adjustable-coilover-set-for-less-than-1400?
I will likely be ordering a set of these from you in the future.
 

DPViper

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I'd like to hear reviews from recent buyers.

Also...I have Eibachs on my Gen 4 and had the car aligned when they were installed. If I installed these shocks and kept the car the same height, do I still need an alignment?

Thanks
 
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