Ok so I have ground control weight jacks now in the car 800 in front 200in the rear with bilstines in the rear and some cheap kybs in the front and i was looking in to qa1s but I want to keep the stiff ride and I feel like qa1 are more for drag racing and I want to use the car for autocross would the qa1 be good for that or should I just get good shocks for the front and call it a day?

 

I doubt the KYBs in front are good enough for the GCWJ. I use and recommend Koni yellows. Bilsteins would probably be fine also. A lot of autoX/road racers use custom valved Bilsteins. About the QA1's, if your referring to coil-overs, don't do it. I looked at them first when researching my suspension. The strut towers were not designed to hold the weight of the car. This months (April issue) Camaro Performers magazine confirmed this in the Tony's Garage section on page 20. Drag racers use the coil overs but they aren't putting the same stresses on the cars that we are.

 

I'm interested- How did they confirm it?

If someone could come up with a strong solution that would actually strengthen the unibody with some sort of lightweight brace and use Koni/ Bilstein grade dampers and adjustable lower mounts I'd be all over it. The GCWJ system works fine, but a double adjustable coilover that allows shortening the coilover body while keeping shock, strut and spring travel, reducing unsprung weight, and reducing the amount of droop (especially in the rear) when jacking the car up would be awesome.

That'll probably happen around the time someone develops a good autox/ road race steering rack conversion kit, the Cubbies win a series, and hell freezes over though...

 

And anyway, OP, why are you wanting to switch? As it stands, Konis and GCWJ's are still the best you can get off the shelf on a budget for a street, road race, or auto-x car.

 

Somebody who sounds like they are on TGO here, wrote a letter in for tech advice on his suspension and brought up the strut tower/coil over issue.

Camaro Performers reply agrees "The person, who advised you against coil overs because the strut towers weren't designed to hold the weight of the car, gave you some good advice. The weight of the car and it's ride height are controlled by the coil springs".

Not exactly a bulletproof confirmation but still one more strong source saying it is an issue.

 

remember also the spring rates are lighter with a coil over set up
avg 175lbs to 200lbs springs ea side stock ride ht. with full ajustable ht.

with the struts still pushing and pulling on the same point. us drag race guys. use and like. the coil over set ups

Camaro Performers ... yes i saw that also...but then i also drive with slicks. and mech rollers on the street also...

 

Ok so my next question would be if I get the koni yellows should I go up with my spring rate?

 

You can if you want but you don't NEED to.

 

In that issue, whose parts were they premoting? seriously.

 

Global West in that particular letter response. IIRC, Global West sells QA1 coil overs.

 

The effective spring rates at the wheel are the same. The forces going through the frame are the same. They run lower spring rates with coil overs because the spring is going into the end of the a-arm and has more mechanical leverage than a spring in the stock location. The spring rate is lower, but the amount of forces going through the car are the same.

 

ill make it simple
think of it like bolt cutters.. more force is needed/applied deeper in. then is further out...so yes.

 

Ok thank you guys for the help.

 

So is there are any provable benefits to running these instead of weight jacks? for say a road race car with some autox-ing.

was looking at these, but I'm still leaning towards the weight jacks and koni yellows or bilsteins

 

The big dogs of 3rdgen autoX/RR run run weight jacks (either bought or homemade) and konis or bilsteins. None run coil overs.