I took Monday off last week and spent the day with Ted Harrison of Quick Racing Products (LSMAN). We were ironing out some final electrical customizations so I could put the interior and windshield in for the last time. While I was there we put on a set of Teds GTM street shocks. He put the car up on the scales and balanced the springs until the front wheels had 560 lbs ea and the rears had 750lbs. total car weight of 2620. I would have guessed we added more weight with AC and my attempt at sound and heat deadening and the stereo equipment. I wasn't shooting for a target weight, just curious.

Anyway after putting the glass in I took the car out for a drive. Windows up, AC blowing, tunes playing. It was a good drive. But two things really stuck out. First: I don't even pretend to understand the science or magic of suspension tuning. But I can tell you that with the stock black Koni shocks inverted (I know but they didn't fit the other way) I always had a tense driving posture. Every time you hit an irregularity in the road, the steering wheel would twitch. Not like it made the car swerve or anything it just didn't feel stable. I was beginning to think the only solution for this was going to be power steering. And going over bumps with all four tires felt bouncy long after the initial impact. I'd like to say a little like riding a skateboard but skateboards don't continue to bounce.
Well those are now things in my past. I intentionally went looking for bad roads (didn't have to look far) to see the difference. Rock steady steering wheel no matter what I ran over. I don't know if I would say the ride is smoother but the irregularities are so well controlled that you don't mind them as much. I didn't get a chance to do any high speed testing but I know it will feel much more stable at speed. So bottom line is BUY THE KIT! If you want to enjoy driving your GTM.

The second thing I noticed today was a strange scraping noise coming from the right rear of the car when ever I brake or make a hard left turn. It's associated with engine speed. I have over a 1000 miles on the car and I've never heard this noise before. I have my suspicion that it's the AC clutch rubbing on that little plate that covers the hole in the sheet metal on AC equipped cars. This is the first time I have driven the car with the AC clutch spinning. So it looks like the interior comes out again. Good thing I have lots of practice.