i present Zam's PWNAGE:


"Less unsprung weight. Coil springs contribute to unsprung weight; the less there is, the more quickly the wheel can respond at a given spring rate.
Less weight. The C4 Corvette's composite front leaf weighed 1/3 as much as the pair of conventional coil springs it would replace.
Weight is positioned lower. Coil springs and the associated chassis hard mounts raise the center of gravity of the car.
Superior wear characteristics. The Corvette's composite leaf springs last longer than coils, though in a car as light as the Corvette, the difference is not especially significant. No composite Corvette leaf has ever been replaced due to fatigue failure, though steel leafs from 1963 to 1983 have been. As of 1980, the composite spring was an option on the C3. [see Michael Lamm external link below]
As used on the Corvette, ride height can be adjusted by changing the length of the end links connecting the leaf to the suspension arms. This allows small changes in ride height with minimal effects on the spring rate.
Also as used on the Corvette, the leaf spring acts as an anti-roll bar, allowing for smaller and lighter bars than if the car were equipped with coil springs. "


"What about race cars? (this section is almost verbatim from another post of mine.

To start off, not all race cars use coil springs. Some F1 cars (Ferrari and others) use torsion springs instead.


The current design of open wheel racecars places great restrictions on suspension packaging. The Corvette

 

general rule of thumb is, if you dont know WTF youre talking about, its best to just shut.

let me dig up some F1 teams numbers, so you can call them and ask them why they use leaf springs on their race cars.

 

Okay, now I don't know who or what the hell I'm defending.

My biases are my biases and they were created thru my experiences. I thought I spelled that out pretty accurately.

Some of us may be ignorant about vettes, 996s, M3s etc. Hell, I put 15k on my "crappy" M3 and I'm still ignorant to its full capabilities.

I think the Vette is a cool car. Just because I don't like a few aspects about it, doesn't mean that I think it is a pile of crap. I think the s2k is too small, does that mean it is a pile of crap? Is somebody on this forum going to start throwing down the gauntlet to challenge every competitor on earth in order to defend the honor of the s2k? WTF?

I don't think the vette is that great of a handling machine. I feel this way because of my track experience against one & the fact that the C6 appears to have the same suspension. I also happen to think that it doesn't have a great interior. Is the point here to change my mind, insult me or what? It feels like I'm disrespecting someone's woman. Hell, I don't like tomatoes in my salad, is someone going to change my mind about that too?

Zam

 

I've driven on the Ring in a rented Passat Turbodiesel six-speed. I'd love to drive a Corvette on that track. Re: M cars and 911's on the track, there is always someone faster, but I'd take my chances with 99% of them in a prepped C6.

If someone mentioned to me at a dinner party that a standard 911 was faster than a Vette, I would tell them they were wrong, but the 911 is a nice car. Hell, one of my good friends has an '06 911S. I enjoy driving the car and it's very nice, but it has it's limitations as does the Vette.

Every 996 I have sat it had an inferior interior to the new C6 (unless the 996 had the $10,000 full leather package or whatever it costs). The plastics, the dash layout, basically everything but the seat leather quality isn't as nice looking as the C6. Does the C6 have a bada** interior? No. But, it's a lot better than the C5 (which I also owned) and the '08 interior is even better with the improved center console. The 997 looks much nicer on the inside (and outside) than the 996 and even the C6 IMO.

997>993>996. The 996 was a bad downturn for Porsche. Again, to the OP, enjoy your ride and I'm sure you'll like it until you have to visit the dealership to make repairs!

My offer still stands to all the naive P and M car fans.

 

Wow, got a moderator using the words pwnage or whatever. Again, awesome!

So, no free thought allowed? Okay, I submit. The C6 is infallable. Leaf springs are the answer to all our handling needs!

 

"The Z51 package makes the Corvette even more fun on a race track. It offers excellent grip in fast sweepers, with just the right amount of body lean. I found it easy to roll on the power coming out of the turns. It can generate 0.98g on the skid pad, quite a bit more than the standard suspension's 0.92g. With the Z51, you feel and hear bumps more (Thwack!) and there's more road vibration, but it's quite livable. It handled bumpy neighborhood streets in Los Angeles well and didn't feel harsh. Z51 is a substantial package that includes special brakes, shocks, springs, anti-roll bars, gear ratios and tires, and it's available with either transmission. For competition or hard driving on back roads, a serious enthusiast would prefer the Z51, but most drivers will be perfectly happy with the standard suspension and will never feel like they're missing out."

 

I had a 2001 Carrera, & I loved it. The chrome rims actually show nicely in person, especially on a dark colored car. The whole color on color thing is kind've played out.

I actually had a similar experience where there were a few Vette guys up at Streets of Willow & I was able to jump into their cars, and they were able to jump into mine. I will say that the Carrera/Carrera 4 the interior is nicer, no question. As for the other aspects, the Vettes were faster, they were not nimbler (long hood, and boat like feeling), just a very different feel. You knew you were going fast but with the Porsche you felt it more. By every magazine's admission the 08's made a quantum improvement in that aspect.

 

Maybe you should heed your own advice?

Cars using transverse leaf springs in their suspension are not to be confused with older cars and trucks that use solid rear axle/leaf spring combinations.

The system is used in some high performance sports cars. Instead of using 4 coil springs, the cars use two single ply (instead of the multiple plys used in trucks/cars with live axles) leaf springs mounted transversely. Using a single ply makes them immune from the friction problems seen in multiple ply systems and also makes them very light (a single transverse leaf spring weighs 1/3 of the weight of the coil springs that could have been used). These cars often use double wishbone or multilink suspensions, just like any other sports car, just not paired with coil springs over the dampers.

Transverse leaf springs have the benefits of being very lightweight, moving more of the cars weight towards the ground, easily adjustable, and rarely (if ever) needing replacement.

They have the disadvantages of being more expensive than coil springs, and since the springs are often made of a lightweight composite material, they are sensitive to damage from harsh chemicals.

Modern Corvettes use transverse leaf springs paired with double wishbone supension on all four corners.

F1 used transverse leaf springs until they switched to the use of torsion springs.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?...rse+leaf+spring

And yes, I recognize that my truck's leaf springs are different than transverse leaf springs.

 

found wikipedia did we.

"And yes, I recognize that my truck's leaf springs are different than transverse leaf springs."

this is all i wanted you to acknowledge, hence my prior statement.

 

Zam,

Did you just completely contradict yourself on the merits of the composite transverse mounted leaf spring?