Speedtech New First / Second Gen Subframes

[68LS1]

Sounds exciting Blake

Will your sub frames be designed to clear a low mount a/c compressor for a LS engine? This item would be a decision maker for me.

Any plan to have 1st gen Camaro available as Right Hand Drive?

[Track Junky]

Great news Blake. SpeedTech and Ron Sutton Race Technology will make a great team!!

[Ron Sutton]

Hey Guys! Thanks for the kind words.

This was a fun project for me & the results turned out excellent. The first goal was make it perform mean on the track with no side effects on the street. This was one of the easier goals. In addition to the new geometry providing full tire contact patch for performance handling when autocrossing or tracking the vehicle, the higher 7.0° caster & low static camber actually makes the street manners tamer & the tire wear less. Frankly, this new package is safer on the street if you need to make evasive maneuvers.

The upper control arms are slugged with precision, laser etched slugs marked 7°, 8° & 9° ... allowing you to make easy, simple & confident caster changes if desired.

The tough goal ... which no other factory or aftermarket front subframe or full chassis I have measurements on achieves ... is putting the dynamic roll center in the optimum spot for all of the common suspension strategies. The new Speedtech chassis & front subframes have an excellent 3" static roll center at ride height & achieves the optimum roll center with any of the three common suspension strategies.
#1 For conventional suspension set-ups with low front end travel during dive (1" ±) & higher roll angle during cornering (3° ±) ... the dynamic roll center is an optimum 2".

#2 For modern suspension set-ups with high front end travel during dive (3" ±) & lower roll angle during cornering (1° ±) ... the dynamic roll center is an optimum 0".

#3 For suspension set-ups with moderate front end travel during dive (2" ±) & moderate roll angle (2° ±) ... the dynamic roll center is an optimum 1".

This required a change to the ATS spindle & Speedtech stepped up and got'er done. This "Next Gen ATS" spindle & new framework allowed me to achieve the optimum roll centers, camber gain, caster gain ... with low angle upper control arms for reduced "jacking effect". That means the car runs flatter than other set-ups with the same spring & sway bar rates.

The bump steer for typical travel ranges is practically zero (.005"). For serious competitors, Speedtech performance is offering a bump steer kit, making it easy to add some "bump out" to fine tune the slip angle of the inside tire ... to the optimum degree for the tires you choose to run. All the serious competitors know the BFG Rival & Falken RT615 have different sidewall construction, and therefore different slip angles provide maximum grip. In years to come, other tires will be introduced that vary from these. All these new Speedtech chassis & front subframes will need for maximum grip is a little bump steer fine tuning.

I use the term "fine tuning" for a very key reason. We worked at this & worked at this. And by we, I mean Speedtech & I both worked to make this happen. We achieved 100% Ackerman ... with a rack & pinion. At this point all the other chassis designers jaws just dropped, because that is challenging to achieve with any steering system & extremely challenging with a R&P.

What that means to the car owner is:
* Absolute better grip from the inside front tire
* Increased total front grip
* Higher corner speed capability for autocross & track days
* Closer side to side tire temps
* Improved tire wear
* Better street manners
* No squealing from inside tire on tight parking lot turns

I know Speedtech said 95% Ackerman in their original posting. They are being conservative & legally correct. If a person runs no toe-out, it has 95% Ackerman. But the suggested set-up (by me) is 1/16" toe out on each side (1/8" total toe out) ... which makes the Ackerman 100% when turned. The 100% Ackerman & zero bump steer required a new design steering arm. Again, Speedtech showed their commitment to making this the best package & created new steering arms to go with their new ATS spindles. The standard package runs a traditional tapered tie rod end. The optional "bump steer kit" allows owners to fine tune their bump steer for optimum front tire grip & turn in responsiveness.

Other key features are:
* The lower 7.45° KPI
* Low scrub radius (exact amount depends on wheels)
* Longer front shock mounting for higher travel capacity
* Higher .76 motion ratio
* 3-Piece splined Speedway Engineering sway bar standard

The higher motion ratio doesn't provide a performance gain as far as springs are concerned. You end up ordering softer spring rates to get to the same target wheel rate, so there is no performance gain there. The grip gain is because the shocks respond quicker with a higher motion ratio. This provides more control of the tire & wheel ... keeping it in contact with the road/track surface better ... providing more grip. This is not a "theory." This provides a measurable increase in grip. A .76 motion ratio provides over 50% better response time than the typical .50 motion ratio in most production cars. How much more grip this provides is track surface dependent. If the track surface is glass smooth, there could be zero gain in grip. If the track is typical with small rolling undulations, the grip increase can be in the 10-30% range. If the track is rough ... or portions of the track are rough ... in those areas the grip difference is huge because the shock & suspension are responding quicker ... keeping the tire contact patch on the track more.

Love the 3-piece splined bar. Kudos for Speedtech using the top supplier in the industry, Speedway Engineering ... and it's standard. Now you can choose whatever size bar & rates you desire ... and change it quickly (and inexpensively) if you want a different rate.

In my experience, this is the best suspension & steering geometry available today in full chassis and front subframes.

[Mizzouri]

What is the largest wheel I can run without cutting on the fender? I'm not concerned about modifying the inner.

[1965_SS]

Will you be making a 64-67 Chevelle chassis?

[Blake Foster]

Originally Posted by Mizzouri

What is the largest wheel I can run without cutting on the fender? I'm not concerned about modifying the inner.

it will be a 315 on a first gen camaro

[ironworks]

Originally Posted by 68LS1

Sounds exciting Blake

Will your sub frames be designed to clear a low mount a/c compressor for a LS engine? This item would be a decision maker for me.

Any plan to have 1st gen Camaro available as Right Hand Drive?

Yes it will. And can.

[68LS1]

Originally Posted by ironworks

Yes it will. And can.

Sounds like I have some decision making to do shortly

[MoparCar]

Is this also available in your universal weld in clip?

[Ron Sutton]

Originally Posted by MoparCar

Is this also available in your universal weld in clip?

Howdy!

I don't offer a universal weld in clip. I think you may be thinking about my Track-Star & AutoX-Star front frame & suspensions ... but they're not universal. Each one is custom designed by me for the client's car application.

I custom design:
* Overall Frame Length
* Overall Frame Width
* Frame Rail Width
* Frame Rail Height
* Track Width
* Tire Size (Width & Diameter)
* Ride Height
* Car Rake Angle
* Engine Height & Set back
* Upper Control Arm Length, Shape & Offset
* Lower Control Arms Length, Shape & Offset
* Spindle Heights
* Suspension Travel
* Roll Angle
* Upper Shock Mount Heights
* Shock Mounting Point, Angle & Motion Ratio
* Geometry for Primary Use
* Spring & Sway Bar Rates
* Suspension & Geometry Set-ups for Different Uses/Tracks

The reason I don't offer a universal version, is because there are always performance compromises when you make one version ... or even a few versions ... to fit all applications. When I custom design each one for the application, there are no performance compromises, because everything ... and I literally mean everything ... is tailored to that car & application. This is one reason they are so much more expensive than mass produced front frame & suspension packages. The other reason is every part on it was chosen, designed & built for ultimate track performance. I didn't design them to hit a price point. I designed them to be the absolute track killers.

The Track-Star ($10,200) & AutoX-Star ($8,200) front frame & suspensions are really cutting edge Trans Am/GT true race car front suspension designs, except with no rules holding me back. Because of the grip, tire loading & G-forces they see ... they need to be installed in a rigid chassis with full frame & cage structure to my specs. For this reason, I do not offer them (nor do I plan to) for bolt in applications, nor daily street drivers. I see my Track-Star & AutoX-Star front frame & suspensions as a fit for a very small audience of dedicated Autocross, Track Cars, Race Cars with no front end rules & hard core PT/G-Machine cars competing in "street car" competitions.

Separate from these ... I really wanted to develop a high performing street package that had great steering geometry (most range from ok to horrible), optimum dynamic roll centers & suspension geometry that optimized the grip of both front tires.

This package would also need to:
* Bolt in as a full chassis or front subframe
* Use heavy duty suspension components that could withstand street driving
* Allow for all street accessories
* Not require the engine to be shoved back under the firewall
* Be affordable

So when Speedtech approached me about doing the geometry on the new full chassis designs they were acquiring from Roger at Ironworks ... I was smiling.
Not only did they give me free range to design them optimum, they went out of their way to redesign anything I needed to achieve that goal, including the spindle, rack, rack location, steering arm, suspension mounts, etc, etc.

After the geometry turned out so well on the three full chassis designs (each one was tailored to the application) ... we added the front frame & suspensions for first & second generation F-bodies. For all these reasons, the new cutting edge, bolt-in street/autox/track front frame & suspension packages won't be cheap either. But they will handle excellent, have great street manners & outperform other designs at the track.