Titanium Coils Springs for C6 inconjunction with F55 !

[JBsC5]

Titanium Coils Springs for C6
Timet (sp) maker of the Z06's titanium exhaust is hoping to supply titanium coil springs for the General.

75% less weight than steel springs..with smaller packaging requirements..

Titanium is 43 percent less dense than steel but just as strong. Its highly resistant to corrosion. It can be cast, machined and stamped.

Standard steel costs about 35 cents a pound. The high strength steel costs about a buck a pound. The alloys used in jet engines cost roughly 15 to 25 dollars a pound. Even a grade of titanium suitable for mufflers costs about $10 a pound.

As far back as July 2000, timet, the supplier for the titanium used in the Corvettes mufflers is on record as stating ..they are hoping to supply titanium springs to GM.

They state that because of the materials strength and stiffness, titanium springs require less wire than steel ones, which conbine with the lower density to weigh as much as 75% less than a steel spring.

Would this be a better setup than the present leafs in the C5?

If so Y?

 

[Rick Daniel]

This very interesting news. How much weight are we talking about saving in pounds.

 

[JBsC5]

That I don't know Rick..I'm hoping someone here can give us the information on the weight of the present day leaf spring..

I do believe the coil over aftermarket item fitted to many c5's give greater road holding capability..

The improvement in conjunction with lighter weight and better packaging should give the C6 quite a leap in handling over the standard yet excellent C5 setup..

If the spring is considered unsprung weight..which I am not sure of..the improvement from a weight perspective should be I believe 4 fold..(meaning for every lb of unsprung weight you can remove ..it has a similiar effect on handling, braking and acceleration that removing 4 lbs of vehicle sprung weight)

anybody know the weight of todays leaf springs? or of the existing aftermarket coil overs..?

Timet is claiming much smaller packaging and a 75% weight reduction compared to steel springs..

 

[Mako]

Titanium has a a reputation of growing brittle over time when used as a valve spring material. This may/not be applicable when larger diameter coils are used at lower temperatures.

A question you have to ask yourself is why other OEMs haven't evaluated Ti suspension components in their top end cost no object sports cars. Are any F1 cars running Ti springs? How about Ti shocks?

I suspect there is a fundemental alloy problem somewhere. Does TiMet mention anything about a new alloy or mfg process for the spring wire?

CYa!
Mako

 

[JBsC5]

TiMet stated they have been ready since 2001...