Well I was able to finally get some track time and go shake out the Magnum this weekend at Buttonwillow. This is the first time out since the install of the Pedders bush kit, stainless steel brakes lines, EBC Red brakes pads and DOT 4 fluid. I am still on stock shocks and sways. I know it has been some time.. but I really desired to be fair in my evaluation. To this end I am very pleased that I elected to go this route. The Pedders package I installed was a complete bush kit installed by Haddad Motorsports along with a 4 wheel alignment. this was installed a few days after Trojan got his Chally done at Haddad's a few months ago.. There were a few minor glitches, but Mike and Steve were on it and resolved everything accordingly. The glitches - first a significant knock when shifting between reverse, neutral and drive or vice a versa, this was seating issue with the drive shaft that was quickly corrected and then a "rubbing noise" coming from the rear when first accelerating. Mike called a few days later and Pedders had released a new part for the rear. Mike and his crew took care of this on his own and resolved this matter. Ride is a little stiffer than stock, but not harsh, improvements in handling are not really that noticeable until you begin to get more aggressive, and this is where the Pedders begins to show its capabilities. As Mike and Pete have said all along the body/chassis is connected to the suspendion via the bushings, so any improvements here result in more precise control of the vehicle. Long story short, if I am going to improve my times on road courses I will need to go to softer tires, I am on Nittos now and was driving over their abilities in the corners. Yes I tried a sway bar kit and developed a considerable amount of under steer during aggressive maneuvers and ended up taking them off and putting the stock bars back on. A different sway may help, but body roll and time to transition between directional changes now are what I believe to be more of a matter of a car weighing over 4K and inertia, so I am not sure of how much improvement this will make, but may try it out. But we may make a shock change first.. A strut bar did also contribute to improving the handling. Took me some time to get over the new brake squeak, which was rather loud, actually embarrassing loud, when coming to a final stop. But per EBC instructions this is to be expected. After 300 - 400 miles the squealing went away. How bad was the squeal... people would come up and say you have metal on metal brake squeal.. eventually I would look back at them and begin to use sign language.. you should see the response when this happens.. Brakes are awesome absolutely no fade what so ever, and excellent brake pedal feel all of the time.. With this set up I can brake later harder and still slow the flying brick down at a very respectable rate. And then be ready for the next turn. Dusting is still present, but not as bad as the stock pads. The improvement in pedal feel under extreme circumstances is really worth the the investment. Haddad also installed the pads SS lines and turned the rotors. Concluding does my big old station wagon handle like a M series, Porsche or a ZO6.. nope.. but it does make a considerable impression.. I was taking the turns much better than many stock C5's, new GTO's and others... which made getting on the straights a much more enjoyable where one can unleash the the beast How much time on the track in one day, over 100 minutes in 20 and 25 minute sessions. Longest time between runs 2 hours, shortest time 40 minutes.. Costs.. are considerable for the Pedders, so one has to make their own selection.. but IMO.. if your are into precise handling and more of a road course person, than I highly recommend the Pedders products and Haddad's.
Great writeup Ken. Are you running a staggered tire setup? I noticed a huge amount of understeer when I switched from 275's all the way around to a staggered setup (245's up front, 275's in the rear). I really had to tinker with the tire pressures to get it back to semi neutral.
Great writeup! I've been wondering about the Pedders setup for my CSRT8. I appreciate the insight and observations!
Thanks Bud & Mad... I am running the stock stagger.. 245/255's.. Haddads also set the alignment up to be a little bit more neutral and give me a better feel.. in effect the steering wheel does not feel heavy, but still give me more feedback.. re: tire pressure for track days, I bump up to 33/34 lbs (cold) all the way around.. What I look for then is the outer tire wear markers and how the tread is wearing.. maybe one of these days I will get a tire temp gun... Maddog... I have not heard of anyone being disappointed with a Pedders kit.. just make sure you get a good installer.. Haddads is always busy.. but has been very responsive to all of my calls.. and Mike has a lot of experience in set ups
Rick, I forgot why you went to a stagger? I remember something about the trip and tire availability and you're on the Invos now? but why the stagger? was there something you were trying to change from the 275's all 4 corners? (Pedders thread... if it's involved we can move it to a new thread).
I was reading a thread about road racing at LX and guys kept mentioning the the smaller sizes up front for better turn in. I didn't realize it would unbalance the car as much as it did (for my kind of driving). I've dialed a good deal of the understeer out by increasing the pressures up front, but it's still really understeers quite a bit. Sorry about the jack fellas....now back on topic. I would love to do a fully bushing replacement on the car and get her really dialed in!!
