2001 Chevrolet Camaro - Street Car, Track Car: Part I - Tech
Owning an LS1 F-body is a rush. Besides the obvious acceleration benefits of the LS1, the brakes are good, and the Short Long Arm front and torque arm/lower control arm rear suspension provide decent handling, despite the live axle. In fact, many F-body owners keep these areas stock. Some do so because they are completely content with the performance of their rides. But some are simply gun shy regarding high-performance suspension modifications.
That fear is not completely unfounded. Modern suspension designs are complicated and delicately balanced; at a minimum there are front and rear stabilizer bars, front and rear springs, shock calibrations, and alignment specs to consider. Throwing on a haphazard collection of parts and hoping for the best is a bad idea.
Adding to those fears are the various aftermarket suspension kits out there that have spring rates and shock settings that are way too stiff for street driving. Some enthusiasts get all geeked when they see the "stupid fast road racing suspension package" on knuckledragger.com.org, buy and install it, and proceed to rattle their teeth out when the 900-lb springs have to deal with an uneven road. Hear enough of these horror stories, and it's no wonder many F-body owners keep the stock parts on.
When I bought 1SC-YA, its previous owner told me he was in the process of building a drag car before putting it up for sale. After one drive, I could tell that the suspension had been changed to benefit weight transfer. It didn't handle poorly, it just wasn't as stable as it should have been.
When I baselined it on Raceway Park's new road course, the characteristics that were mildly annoying on the street became big and problematic. I found myself really fighting to keep the Z under control, especially through elevation changes and over rough pavement. I remember one elevation-change braking zone on the course, where the Camaro would float dangerously during a 3-2 downshift when it should have been settled. When it finally came down, it wiggled the rear end hard, threatening to give up its grip before a hard left-hander and send me off into the woods. A set of drilled replacement rotors and no-name brake pads weren't helping matters either; I could only get a couple of laps before massive fade showed up.
When you take on someone else's project, mismatched parts are no surprise. But we'll let you in on a little secret: Unless your F-body has 1LE in the options list, it doesn't have the right parts either! The all-important shock absorbers are weak from the factory, the springs are too soft, the bars are too small, and GM's recommended alignment specs are perfect-for your grandma. So I set out to find a suspension combo that would shine on a road course, but wouldn't be too rough for a daily driver. And would it be asking too much if it didn't break the bank either?
Thankfully, I had someone to turn to when it came to creating the ultimate dual-purpose F-body: Sam Strano. Sam is known for two reasons. First, he runs Strano Performance Parts in Brookville, Pennsylvania, an all-purpose performance store that specializes in F-body suspension work. Second, he is a multiple SCCA autocross champion in a 2001 Camaro hardtop. Sam's expertise regarding fourth-gen handling is clearly evident-you can see it at Strano Performance, where his awards take up an entire wall. And you can hear it when you talk with him, as he is a virtual encyclopedia of tips, tricks, and combos to make the most of your GM's handling. SCCA champs who push F-bodies to the limit on the track, and then build performance suspension parts for race and street customers, are good people to talk to about upgrading your Camaro or Firebird.
"After five years of mixing and matching aftermarket bars and springs on Fourth Gens, I started to find out what worked the best on most types of surfaces, and I created my handling kits," Sam says. "I figured out a great bar size, but the solid versions were heavy, so then I made them hollow and adjusted the wall sizes until they were right. Balance and driveability are of the utmost importance to me."
After discussions with Sam and doing some research, I decided on a game plan: I would be replacing the springs, shocks, stabilizer bars, and Panhard bar with one of Strano's packages, as well as utilizing his own alignment settings. Nitto street tires and 17-inch SLP rims would further improve handling and grip over my 16s. And high-quality Brembo front rotors and PBR pads would reduce stopping distances and combat brake fade on a budget. Check out the install and follow us to E-Town, where I put my new mods to the test.
Road Course Testing
Raceway Park's new 1.35-mile road course is not for faint hearts-or weak brakes-in the best of conditions. On top of that, a big rainstorm the night before our test left wet spots around the course, the most prominent of which was a line of draining water right before a banked, high-g left-hander bordered by an intimidating wall. And E-Town's blower vehicle was being serviced, which threatened to leave gravel and dirt on critical sections of the 13-turn track. Thankfully, E-Town's outstanding staff improvised and was able to clean up most of the dangerous spots. On our part, some shop broom elbow grease to sweep up the racing line left us with a usable track, though it took a couple dozen laps in our company van and the Camaro before some good numbers were seen.
The suspension and brake install, brake testing, and street tire road course testing are complete. That's a nice braking improvement for the price, and 3.4 seconds is huge on a small road course!
But we're not done yet. Check out our next issue for overall driving impressions, as we put this new setup to the test on America's worst roads. Check out the appearance difference between the old setup and the new one. Follow along as we install a few more modifications to help the Z stand up to hardcore road course use. And with a brand-new set of Nitto's NT01 race tires all mounted to the stock 16-inch rims, it's time to see just how quick our hardtop LS1 can lap. Don't miss it!
Brake Testing
I used Raceway Park's strip to perform brake testing with our Stalker radar gun. 100-0 and 60-0 testing was done separately, and multiple stops would be done for both. The final number is an average from all accurate runs.
TEST BASELINE BREMBO ROTORS/PBR PADS IMPROVEMENT60-0 144 FT 124 FT20 FT100-0 436 FT 411 FT 25 FT
Road Course Testing Results

TESTBASELINE NEW SUSPENSION IMPROVEMENTROAD COURSE1:33.4 1:30.0 3.4 SECONDS

Photo Gallery: 2001 Chevrolet Camaro - Street Car, Track Car: Part I - Tech - GM High Tech Performance Magazine



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