SRT8 + H&R SRT8 Springs?

8877 Views 23 Replies 8 Participants Last post by LB44, Jul 30, 2005

SRT800

Discussion Starter · Jul 27, 2005

Anyone tried a performance spring kit from H&R for the SRT8?

How low does the car get?

Still fit 22x9.5 rims?

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How can any advantage be gained in changing out a stock suspension component on the SRT8?

By their very nature and purpose, springs and shocks are tuned carefully to each other on all high performance machines. This engineering also extends to caster, camber and toe-in settings, as well as sway bar design.

The integrity of the entire package is really put to the test when you corner or brake at speeds in excess of 125 mph.

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Northern Rider

· #8 · Jul 27, 2005

LB44, you said you "had to lower it".

Was this for appearance purposes?

Since the major lowering, have you done any performance driving with your SRT8? If so, how is the high speed tracking; handling; transition behavior and braking stability since the mod?

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Northern Rider

· #13 · Jul 27, 2005

LB44 said:
NR,
I am more of an appearance guy, so I did it for that reason. I'm not really a performance driver other than an occaisonal WOT when somone gets cute. I had a BMW E46 M3 conv. prior to this car and was ready for a change. My friend told me about this car so I went and looked at it. Bought it that night. Like I said before I have to be careful on driveways so I don't rip my front fenders off, but all the fenders have been rolled so in all honesty I am a little more careful than I need to be. Brakes still work great, but probably changing those out for bigger brembos and cross-drilled rotors. They look better, you know!

Got ya, LB. Enjoy!

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Northern Rider

· #15 · Jul 27, 2005

Todd, the 300C SRT8 won first in class and 6th overall in the One Lap of America - a 6 day endurance race spread over several tracks - and the cars have to drive between venues. There were 93 entries - lots of tricked out vettes, Porsches, Ferraris, etc.

The stock suspension on the SRT8 is TRACK READY.

Unless you can out-engineer Dan Knotts and his SRT crew, changing any suspension components may downgrade performance.

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Northern Rider

· #17 · Jul 28, 2005

No argument from me on your info - and I have gone over the same data, myself. Even so, as race cars go, that particular car was not heavily modified.

I caution folks about suspension mods because it is very complex. If you have the time and money to swap components in and out on a trial and error basis, by all means, go for it.

Up until recently, I was did test driving for a manufacturer who wanted to compete at the highest level of international rally racing. Much of our work was focussed on suspension modifications and durability of all components.

My job was simple: drive as fast as possible on northern Quebec logging roads, in between rock outcroppings and pine trees and try to break the car, while my buddy sat in the passenger's seat with a laptop wired into every part of the vehicle.

We also had a factory spec Evo and WRX (at $350,000 a pop) as benchmark cars. I drove those to set benchmark speeds to compare to.

I'm not an engineer, just a driver. But I can tell you this - sometimes, even just the smallest of changes can really screw up the transition qualities (moving from vertical movement; lateral movement; acceleration / decceleration in smooth predictable motions).

The 300C is not tuned for competition - yet it is easy to drive; great acceleration; good brakes and very predictable transitions. A good driver can go fast. Case in point: with a bit of work, I outlapped a Honda S2000 with a good driver behind the wheel, with my C at Mont Tremblant recently. The SRT8 is even better.

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Northern Rider

· #19 · Jul 28, 2005

I_8_U_2 said:
I can E-A-S-I-L-Y out engineer the SRT crew if you think that Stephan (the SRT Suspension Engineer) would pick the Nivomats as his perfect shock. Same holds true if you think Al picked the "groovin' baby" rotor/pad combo as the perfect set.

Sometimes you are handed a steaming pile of crap and told to mold it into DaVinci's Adam.

BTW, sometimes PR is BS.

But I love those guys, and somehow they turned a chiseled brick of a rental car into a performance machine. Hasn't been done since the original 1964 GTO.

Engineering vehicles is all about compromise. Sometimes you need to give up the ten-tenths answer to get the seven-tenths solution. When "trunk performance" is a deliverable, and the metric is "how many golf bags with oversized drivers" you can fit, is it really a balls-out performance car?! (I hear Cadillac uses "dead bodies" unofficially as their metric)

I find it odd that you are choosing to flame the SRT crew specifically and the LX platform in general. You offer no credentials to substantiate your claims.

You say you can out- engineer thes guys? How so? Can you out-engineer the entire Mercedes E-class computerized suspension/steering/brakes system on the platform?

Even the 300C (non-SRT8) is a very competent performance car at speed. This 4 door family sedan (competitor to the Buick Park Avenue) manages to get around road circuits just fine. Case in point:

NR's 300C Devastates Competition at the Track - Almost!

This experience is being repeated over and over again this summer by other drivers. And you can't argue with the results from ONE LAP OF AMERICA.

DCX has never claimed these vehicles to be all-out performance cars (like the Viper). But the results speak for themselves. The 300C SRT8 is simply the best $70,000 car that $45,000.00 will buy you on today's market.

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