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  1. #1
    Member KiD WiCKeD's Avatar
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    Navy Blue Metallic
    '02 Trans Am WS6

    QA1 Double Adjustable Shocks?

    Anyone running these? I run non-adjustable QA1's on my dirt car and they are fantastic. Looking to put new shocks on my WS6 and looking for some info on the better brands. I know Koni's are highly rated but I want something different. I've thought about converting to coil-overs all the way around, anyone done this? Thanks for the help.

  2. #2
    Detailing + Design third_shift|studios's Avatar
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    member "malsop" drives the Red T/a on the show bullrun-they are running the dbl adj QA1's and he raves about them

  3. #3
    Paid 2 Post Daycrew SexOnWheels's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by third_shift|studios View Post
    member "malsop" drives the Red T/a on the show bullrun-they are running the dbl adj QA1's and he raves about them
    Ony because he never drove on Konis!

    But yes anything is a great improvement to the crappy decarbons thay GM put on our cars!

  4. #4
    Crazy Canuck ! Eugenio_SS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KiD WiCKeD View Post
    Anyone running these? I run non-adjustable QA1's on my dirt car and they are fantastic. Looking to put new shocks on my WS6 and looking for some info on the better brands. I know Koni's are highly rated but I want something different. I've thought about converting to coil-overs all the way around, anyone done this? Thanks for the help.
    i run coil-overs w/ koni DAs on all corners.
    not a problem.
    If you want something different and you know which spring rates you are getting, i'd recommend getting those w/ Bilstein custom valved shocks... will cost you less than the Koni's and preform better on your springs (lose adjustability but gain a bit faster shock response)... but that means if you decide to change spring rates, you have to revalve the shocks again.
    Eugenio_SS
    almost stock triple-black 2000 SS convertible with 17x11s on all 4 w/ 315s at the track or on the street with 18x10.5s on all 4 w/ 315s: (1), (2)

  5. #5
    Member KiD WiCKeD's Avatar
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    Navy Blue Metallic
    '02 Trans Am WS6

    The only reason I was going double adjustable is i'm gonna run Eibach Pro-Kit Springs and I want the valving perfect. Along with the fact i'm gonna try and get the car closer to a 50-50 weight setup. After the suspension is done, I doubt i'll touch it again.

  6. #6
    Crazy Canuck ! Eugenio_SS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KiD WiCKeD View Post
    The only reason I was going double adjustable is i'm gonna run Eibach Pro-Kit Springs and I want the valving perfect. Along with the fact i'm gonna try and get the car closer to a 50-50 weight setup. After the suspension is done, I doubt i'll touch it again.
    Koni SA will work very well... if you find that DA are too pricey. the setting adjust both rebound and compression... just not independently.

  7. #7
    Member KiD WiCKeD's Avatar
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    Navy Blue Metallic
    '02 Trans Am WS6

    Quote Originally Posted by Eugenio_SS View Post
    Koni SA will work very well... if you find that DA are too pricey. the setting adjust both rebound and compression... just not independently.
    So lets say this is my situation : I have stock shocks that are toasted, so I need new ones bad. I wanna put some Pro-Kit Springs in while I got it in the air to save time. Koni SA's be the way to go for now? Its just hard for me to switch from my brand since they have been by far the best racing shock i've ran. I switch from Bilsteins which were great, until my buddy convinced me to run QA1's, those just were amazing. If enough guys back up those Koni's i'll spring for em. Need a site I can buy from too BTW. Thanx

  8. #8
    Crazy Canuck ! Eugenio_SS's Avatar
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    The Koni's will be way better than the QA1 hands down.
    a great place to get them and get great advice is www.stranoparts.com
    which bilstein's did you have ?
    if you go w/ prokits and know you aren't gonna change them, a revalved shock is the ideal... but if you change springs, you'd have to revalve them.
    That's the advantage of an adj. shock.

    My question becomes why you want the prokits ?
    What you gonna be doing with the car mainly ?
    what kind of spring rates you looking for ?
    Any preferences on the amount of lowering you want ?
    Before buying any product, i'd consider looking into this.

    Honestly, the strano springs are a better choice than the prokits... slightly higher spring rate and does a great job w/ the weight of our cars.

  9. #9
    Member KiD WiCKeD's Avatar
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    Navy Blue Metallic
    '02 Trans Am WS6

    Quote Originally Posted by Eugenio_SS View Post
    The Koni's will be way better than the QA1 hands down.
    a great place to get them and get great advice is www.stranoparts.com
    which bilstein's did you have ?
    if you go w/ prokits and know you aren't gonna change them, a revalved shock is the ideal... but if you change springs, you'd have to revalve them.
    That's the advantage of an adj. shock.

    My question becomes why you want the prokits ?
    What you gonna be doing with the car mainly ?
    what kind of spring rates you looking for ?
    Any preferences on the amount of lowering you want ?
    Before buying any product, i'd consider looking into this.

    Honestly, the strano springs are a better choice than the prokits... slightly higher spring rate and does a great job w/ the weight of our cars.
    I'm going for a road course style suspension set-up. The car gets driven alot so I want maximum handling on the street (we have tons of fun curvy roads we race on). But I was to be able to fine tune it on a track, such as Road Atlanta or something along those lines. My reasoning behind the pro-kit is just to get a decent spring FOR NOW and I want a real good adjustable shock so when I swap springs later after the car is much much lighter, I can tune them to the new springs. I'm gonna lighten the car through lightening all the suspension pieces I can (K-Member, Upper and Lower A-Arms, Sway Bars, Control Arms, etc) and Also remove the back seat, have a small cage (basically a roll bar - braced side to side in the middle, 2 bars down to the top of the wheel wells). I'm gonna replace the entire cooling system with a lighter assembly from mezaier. I'm also gonna put a new moser rear end in it (undecided wether i'm going 9" or 12-bolt either way it will be the lightest they make) Even though i'm going through all this lightening stuff up, i'm keeping leather buckets, the door panels, the dash,console, and my carpet. Its still gonna be a street car with a race car attitude.

  10. #10
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    Thumbs up

    +1 on the strano parts susp. great stuff tuned by an scca champ for our cars.

    Don't lighten the rear too much if you wanna get a 50/50 split.
    My .02

  11. #11
    Crazy Canuck ! Eugenio_SS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KiD WiCKeD View Post
    I'm going for a road course style suspension set-up. The car gets driven alot so I want maximum handling on the street (we have tons of fun curvy roads we race on). But I was to be able to fine tune it on a track, such as Road Atlanta or something along those lines. My reasoning behind the pro-kit is just to get a decent spring FOR NOW and I want a real good adjustable shock so when I swap springs later after the car is much much lighter, I can tune them to the new springs. I'm gonna lighten the car through lightening all the suspension pieces I can (K-Member, Upper and Lower A-Arms, Sway Bars, Control Arms, etc) and Also remove the back seat, have a small cage (basically a roll bar - braced side to side in the middle, 2 bars down to the top of the wheel wells). I'm gonna replace the entire cooling system with a lighter assembly from mezaier. I'm also gonna put a new moser rear end in it (undecided wether i'm going 9" or 12-bolt either way it will be the lightest they make) Even though i'm going through all this lightening stuff up, i'm keeping leather buckets, the door panels, the dash,console, and my carpet. Its still gonna be a street car with a race car attitude.
    You mentioned a few key things: "Prokits for now" meaning you are thinking on eventually replacing the springs, while keeping the adjustable shocks.
    Knowing that, I wouldl strongly suggest you get something like the GC coil-overs... you can get the springs in different rates as you see fit @ a later time... that's what I did... went from prokits to coil-overs.
    you can get the same rates as prokits in the coil-overs... and will cost you less once you change the rates... plus, you're not stuck @ the predefined height of the prokits.
    Since you are looking into road-racing type of handling... a 12-bolt should be out of your equation. You'd want a rear-end w/ a diff that can really take cornering well. a great diff is a T2R, but only offered on 10-bolts and 8.8, yet there are equivalent diffs available on the 9". (there were rumors of them coming out for the 12-bolts... but not yet). The type of diff I'm talking about is a high-biased gear-driven differential.
    A humble advice: before you get into spending all that possible mod-$ on the car, i recommend you spend some on the driver (classes, track time, schools @ track, etc). You'll get more out of it, and then also be able to know which direction to go w/ your car and make better decisions based on your goals.

  12. #12
    Member KiD WiCKeD's Avatar
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    I've got plenty of seat time in racing cars, I've ran a few different classes on dirt, but this is my first big step into modern road course racing. My belief has always been to get all the weight out of your car first, starting in the front, and then moving on to un-sprung weight. Once all the suspension pieces are installed, we will scale the car, load it on my buddies alignment machine, and get all the params where we think they should be, atleast to start with. You mentioned schools, can ya gimme some examples? The biggest parts of driving the car for me is shifting, everyone around here thinks i'm great at it, but I feel like I can do better. I got the car control down pat thanks to the ozark mountain roads. But theres always room for improvement, especially since this is my first venture onto the ashpalt.

  13. #13
    Crazy Canuck ! Eugenio_SS's Avatar
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    schools, here are a few mentionned:
    http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?showtopic=9280
    There is also the evolution racing school that you should consider. I think Sam Strano is an instructor on that one.

    When you mention shifting, i assume the upshifting is not an issue, but you're talking about the heal-n-toe technique.
    Once you understand it, start practicing it in slow motion on the street and start using the technique in every day driving... it will eventually become second nature... like anything else.

    dirt and asphalt are 2 different beast even if physics don't change much... in dirt, you tend to drift more than on asphalt, where drifting is not really your friend.

  14. #14
    Member KiD WiCKeD's Avatar
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    Navy Blue Metallic
    '02 Trans Am WS6

    I'm not sure how great my shifting is, becuz the shifter in my car is a piece of shit. It's a B&M and it always grinds from 2nd to 3rd if you try to shift quickly. Everyone I have let drive it has the same problem. After I get my Pro-5.0 Shifter i'll know where i'm at on that. My downshifting is just fine.... I think. I'd like to attend a school where I can drive my own car, or atleast another T/A or Camaro due to the fact every car drives differently. I'll definately look into it though.

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    Crazy Canuck ! Eugenio_SS's Avatar
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    what spring rates you think you'd like to get ? for a road race style, i think the prokits aren't high enough in spring rates... if anything, the strano springs are more appropriate.
    Then, we can tune the balance w/ bar setup.

  16. #16
    Member KiD WiCKeD's Avatar
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    Navy Blue Metallic
    '02 Trans Am WS6

    I have no idea really. I'd have to see what the stock ones were rated at. I'm thinking I want a progressive rate though. These cars seem to push on me, but that may change after some hp upgrades. Something a lil stiffer than stock would do me for now, I do know I want to drop it an inch. I think for now i'll order those bilsteins and straino springs.

  17. #17
    Crazy Canuck ! Eugenio_SS's Avatar
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    for instance, i have 500/150 and ppl that get in my car have no clue I have almost double the original spring rate because it's well damped and confortable, while handling great. Stock are in the 300s range and low 100s for the rear.
    I'd not recommend progressive because that'll screw up handling characteristics... simply by the fact that the spring rate will change based on its position, while the shocks will be doing their work for a given spring rate... that means, there is a range where the shocks will do a good job, another range where they will be overdamping (not allowing spring to do a proper job, will eventually kill shock) and another range where they will be underdamping (shock has no control over the movement of the wheel... scary).
    I strongly recommend getting linear spring rates.

  18. #18
    Member KiD WiCKeD's Avatar
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    Navy Blue Metallic
    '02 Trans Am WS6

    I'll take that advice, Road racing is new to me. What brand of springs you running? I know hypercoils are good, rates are probably the most consistant out there. How hard is it to mount coil overs in the rear? I've thought about just putting Heim ended coil overs on all 4 corners. Also, how does Koni compare to Ohlins? Buddy of mine is begging me to put some Ohlins on it with remote cooling reservoirs.

  19. #19
    Crazy Canuck ! Eugenio_SS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KiD WiCKeD View Post
    I'll take that advice, Road racing is new to me. What brand of springs you running? I know hypercoils are good, rates are probably the most consistant out there. How hard is it to mount coil overs in the rear? I've thought about just putting Heim ended coil overs on all 4 corners. Also, how does Koni compare to Ohlins? Buddy of mine is begging me to put some Ohlins on it with remote cooling reservoirs.
    I have Ground Control coil-overs. They use Eibach springs.
    It's not hard to install them in the rear... the shock and the spring is independent in the rear... you just have a sleeve.

    They offer springs for the front in 50lbs/in increments, 300, 350, 400, ...
    for the rear, they offer 25lbs/in increments, 100, 125, 150, ...
    I have 500/150.

    Ohlins have good shocks... I've used them when i used to race motorcycles, but never used them in cars... have no clue how they are on our cars.
    Last edited by Eugenio_SS; 05-07-2007 at 04:19 AM.

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