Hi Performance Nut,

I can attest to the stock shock setup, thats the first thing you should change as far as i'm concerned. The new kits have the black koni's which are better. But still need to be changed. My kit was a Gen 1 which had the yellow koni' shocks and, oh, my, god...

I was driving around on Polish roads(so woeful roads in other words) at speeds lower than 30mph and i thought i was going to die. The suspension was set up correctly too! I upgraded to Bilsteins that Ted sells, these shocks were specifically tuned for the GTM and man, what a difference. Night and day difference in fact. These same roads, the speed limit was actually 45mph for them, and i could actually travel at those speeds with the Bilsteins. The car was soooo much more stable.

And with the horse power, yep, i can also attest that 350hp for the street is more than enough for the absolute stock GTM. However, if you mod it significantly like i have, and the cerb weight goes up, then i think you should start looking at 400 to 450hp to get the same level of performance.


Quote Originally Posted by Performance nut View Post
Well, I finally got the wife to say yes to a GTM build. Woot! So now starts the arduous process of saving up for it. Some questions so I can start setting goals:

  • For people driving GTM's: If you built a "stock" GTM (stock 350HP LS1/405 LS6, standard suspension, standard C5 Corvette parts), how satisfied are you with the driving experience? Under/over powered, sloppy/tight in the turns, brakes are insufficient/stops on a dime, uncomfortable, perfect driving machine? Personally, I want a machine that performs better than it looks (and it wouldn't hurt if it outperforms my friend's Ferrari's) but the wife wants something that costs less than a Corvette (she thinks money would be better spent on a finished product rather than DIY). Figured if it keeps costs down but still have a great driving machine, both of us will be happy. If not, then I'd rather budget now for LS7/Mendeola combo.
  • First time kit builder but some experience modifying cars (intake, cooling, and suspensions but knowledgeable in other areas). How much will I have to source out to professionals? The body seems to have the most issues from what I have read on here, not sure how easy it is to fix the issues though with my limited body work experience. Is this more of a patience vs skill build or is there skill required to have a good finished product.
  • FFR options: look mostly cosmetic stuff except the intake, the A/C system, and the telescopic steering adapter. A/C is a definite where I live, intake looks functional and good looking, and I'm not sure how useful/necessary the steering adapter is (not a small guy so it seems like a useful option). Thoughts?
  • I looked around but figured I ask: is there an automatic transmission variant anywhere (not looking for manual vs automatic preference, just looking for options)? I'm looking for a paddle shift design. The Mendeola sequential transmission seems to be a close second but I don't have any experience with sequential transmissions and I'm unsure if this is something I want.