Put up or shut up..... bench racers!

[67Sally]

Originally Posted by Bill Howell

How is this shot, taken today? Even though I know I am a Poser, I will light em up!

It is amazing how long it takes to work all that smoke out of the tires. Keep on working at it Bill.
W.

[Rybar]

Originally Posted by Bill Howell

How is this shot, taken today? Even though I know I am a Poser, I will light em up!

Bill those pics are sweet! That's my way of testing a setup.

I think the reason why he call us bench racers is becuase most of us on this site are in the PROJECT stages of our builds. How can we test anything if we are building it over time?

Anyways, I promise you I will "test" my Camaro when it's done in the best of ways. And I'll post pics and videos to prove it.

[montec_ss85]

Ok, find an open track day or autocross, post it and see how many members show up. Although you may only get members in your area. At least someone should show to flog their car. I mean run it, or at least take it out on the track to see how it performs.

[lil427z]

bill looks good , keep up the good work .
rick kirkindall

[Mikamaro]

I do think this site is great, I play the alumin8r video at least once a week and I know people here can build great cars. I really would like to know if people have personally driven more than one style of suspension / subframe kit that has been setup well and what their opinions are, hopefully with some #'s to back it up.

There are some magazine guys on this site, can we hit on some of these frame/subframe guys to set up their own cars and bring to a showdown / testdrive? Wayne Due vs. Detroit Speed vs. Art Morrison vs. 21st vs. Martz vs. Alston Chassiworks( front and new wierd rearsetup everyone disses) vs. CARS vs. Air Ride Specialties vs. Hot rods from Hell(truck arm rear?)..... maybe at Hot Rod Power Tour, I would even pay to drive each of these cars, 1-2 laps w/ them driving and 2-3 laps yourself. 9 cars ~$450, sounds great!

Ummgawa - I do not have a terrific setup but I do like to thrash it and I do feel your pain buddy, my project may be 75% done, but it's also probably at least a year+ from being finished. I work overseas 320-330 days a year, 7 days/12 hours + so I get approx 2 weeks over xmas to take my car apart, a lucky day or two here and there in the spring, and then 4 weeks in the summer. This means I put my mess back together for 2 weeks and try break it the last 2 . No kids or wife as of yet, so when I am home, it's full time in the garage.

[Mikamaro]

Yeah I know it was a little brash, more than a little. I have honest interest on personal experiance with different setups from people who have driven more than one style. Being new to the forum, didn't want to get a one post reply telling me to read the forum.... I have, and the PT forum, for 3 years now (lurker). So I've been somewhat succesful in my goal so far, there's interest popping up so far...
-Mike

[XcYZ]

Originally Posted by Mikamaro

There are some magazine guys on this site, can we hit on some of these frame/subframe guys to set up their own cars and bring to a showdown / testdrive? Wayne Due vs. Detroit Speed vs. Art Morrison vs. 21st vs. Martz vs. Alston Chassiworks( front and new wierd rearsetup everyone disses) vs. CARS vs. Air Ride Specialties vs. Hot rods from Hell(truck arm rear?).....

That's definitely been talked about here and several manufacturers are game. I think it could happen someday, but there's SO many variables, I don't know how you'd pronounce one as the overall winner. However, it has to be one of the most talked about subjects around. How do we quantify between what works and what works best.

Maybe if we could get an Ride and Handling engineer to shake down each car...

Derek, I'm not blind (yet), you can tone down the font. The BIR event that has been talked about is during Fun Ford Weekend. I've also have some info about a possible track event at IRP. It's only a matter of time before we get something lined up.

[Derek69SS]

Originally Posted by XcYZ

Derek, I'm not blind (yet), you can tone down the font.

Sorry Scott - got a little excited, and dang near peed myself

Originally Posted by Mikamaro

Wayne Due vs. Detroit Speed vs. Art Morrison vs. 21st vs. Martz vs. Alston Chassiworks( front and new wierd rearsetup everyone disses) vs. CARS vs. Air Ride Specialties vs. Hot rods from Hell(truck arm rear?).

The problem is, unless all the cars have equal engines, transmissions, tires, brakes, drivers, weight, etc. this test won't really "prove" anything.

This would be fun to run against each-other's cars, but if one person's car beats mine on the track, does that make its setup "better"? Not to me, if he's got 5x as much money in his, or needed to hack his car up to install it, and mine does almost as good as a budget bolt-on setup, or if it makes that guy's car uncomfortable, or impractical to drive long distances.

"What works" all depends on your budget, and what you're willing to sacrifice for the performance. Asking on here is one of the best ways to find the info, since there are many members with experience, who are not trying to sell a product that can give you mostly unbiased information.

[XcYZ]

Originally Posted by Derek69SS

Sorry Scott - got a little excited, and dang near peed myself

Derek is right, you also have to take in account the cost vs. performance aspect. There's just no clear cut answer. It comes down to personal goals, vision, and budget.

[Stuart Adams]

We all benefit from the MANUFACTURES beating the snot out of their products, then independent people test them, and we get results = buying the products that we like as a result of their testing and our likes.

Why do all the dirty work when the experienced time proven stuff works and we can still have a life. There are people here that their job is testing stuff, that is how much energy goes into products/performance.

My point is why go beat the snot out of your car, try new parts, thrash it again and again, just to find out what works, when the BIG DOGS have done the work for you.