Spoke with Guldstrand today...

[Last Ride]

Actually, I spoke with Bobby in Guldstrand's tech department. We spoke at length about the 5-bar, springs, etc. I told him what my intentions were for my car (street car with occasional trips to the strip), and he actually said the 5-bar would probably be overkill! That said, he also mentioned it would make a nice mod. We also got into a lengthy discussion about the Performance Plus System from Vette Brakes. He recommended essentially to forego the fiberglass rear spring as it twists too much when doing anything but a straight line. Now, this is a guy with EXTENSIVE experience with these cars. I began thinking about selling the rear pieces of my Performance Plus System and then going the entire Gulsdstrand route. He did mention that front monospring setup is not bad at all. Anyone care to comment on this?

 

[Scott81]

Bryan- I've got a 7-leaf rear spring from Guldstrand along with their strut rods, you can't go wrong with advice from those guys. The 5-link may be overkill but holy smokes is that piece cool or what! I'll be getting one some day overkill or not. Can't tell you much about the VBP stuff, people who have the front set up usually like it but from talking to some of them it's critical to get the right shocks.

 

[Last Ride]

Bryan- I've got a 7-leaf rear spring from Guldstrand along with their strut rods, you can't go wrong with advice from those guys. The 5-link may be overkill but holy smokes is that piece cool or what! I'll be getting one some day overkill or not. Can't tell you much about the VBP stuff, people who have the front set up usually like it but from talking to some of them it's critical to get the right shocks.

Scott--
Yeah, my car is anything but a project in frugality! Going to extremes are what this car is all about. As for the shocks, the Vette Brakes system comes with the Bilsteins, and from everything I have read, they are the best for our cars. I will probably piece together stuff from both companies in an effort to include the most "tricks" on my car, lol.

Bryan

 

[Ken]

Going to extremes are what (our) car is all about.

Oh how I DO agree with that Bryan! :eyerole

_ken

 

[Tom Bryant]

We used to have the GM at Guldstrand as a regular and active member here. He would spend a lot of time in the chat on Sunday nights and often help with suspension questions when he wasn't feeding his snakes. It seems that everybody at Guldstrand agrees on not using composite springs. He left there around a year ago; maybe a little more. Ken would remember. He used to talk with him a lot. Haven't heard from him or his better half that also worked for Guldstrand since.

Tom

 

[69MyWay]

I only have experience with the stock stuff, and the VB&P, so my overall impression is limited.

For a street car, however, my money is on the performance plus stuff and the composite spring. You just can't beat the ride quality, weight savings, and trick look from underneath.

For a race car.....I have no idea. My buddy Dave at www.tropiczoneracing.com researched all the possibilities, spoke with Guldstrand, and ended up with the VB&P system. He is a major road race junkie, and has put his GT1 car in the winners circle plenty of times.

I think his only other thought was to develop a coil over system, which was out of the question for his 71 street vette.

He did race a C3 for many years in SCCA road race competition, and they ran a composite spring. That car was also very competitive.

So, I guess it is all who you talk to, and what their exact experience is.

No doubt, Guldstrand is good at what they do.

 

[Last Ride]

I only have experience with the stock stuff, and the VB&P, so my overall impression is limited.

For a street car, however, my money is on the performance plus stuff and the composite spring. You just can't beat the ride quality, weight savings, and trick look from underneath.

For a race car.....I have no idea. My buddy Dave at www.tropiczoneracing.com researched all the possibilities, spoke with Guldstrand, and ended up with the VB&P system. He is a major road race junkie, and has put his GT1 car in the winners circle plenty of times.

I think his only other thought was to develop a coil over system, which was out of the question for his 71 street vette.

He did race a C3 for many years in SCCA road race competition, and they ran a composite spring. That car was also very competitive.

So, I guess it is all who you talk to, and what their exact experience is.

No doubt, Guldstrand is good at what they do.

Chris et al.--
Yeah, I have heard (from this board and others) of many people being happy with their Vette Brakes systems. Bobby, the Guldstrand technician did say that the fiberglass springs were good for straight lines, but begane to twist and flex under hard cornering. The 5-bar would reduce the twisting significantly, but he still recommended the steel spring as an even better alternative. I guess it comes down to the fact that I will probably not be racing in SOLO II or autocross, but I will be going to the drag strip. And even if the fiberglass spring doesn't perform as well as the steel spring, either one would be a MASSIVE improvement over my current 25-year-old setup. Since I already have the fiberglass rear spring, I will probably end up using that. I am going to be going the front monospring system with the Steeroids rack real soon. Then, I will save up some more money and go with the 5-bar and the pieces I would need from the Performance Plus system (mainly the spring) and then sell off the rest. Then, I would just be one Tom's Differentials's setup away from being "done" with that portion of the project.

Bryan