2010 Chevy Camaro Hotchkis Track Pack - Sport Coil Springs

2010 Chevy Camaro Hotchkis Track Pack Tested Camaros

Chevrolet's newest rendition of the Camaro has some classic lines blended with modern styling to create a pretty cool piece. Exterior styling aside, the Camaro sits on the GM Zeta platform that was originally under the Pontiac G8. This new bad Bow Tie has independent suspension front and rear, setting it apart from its solid rear axle predecessors.

GM spent millions developing the Zeta platform, both in Australia and here in the states, and one of the compromises built into a platform shared by big sedans and muscle cars alike is that the factory suspension setup is relatively soft, with a fair amount of body roll and rear suspension slop, as well as wheel hop under full-throttle conditions.

Known for its high-performance first-to-fourth-gen Camaro suspension systems, Hotchkis was deep into the development process on the G8 when Pontiac got the axe, so it already knew the issues the platform had and how to remedy them.

With that knowledge in hand, John Hotchkis and his crew tackled the Camaro with the idea to improve handling and acceleration without giving the car a spine-cracking ride. What came out of that process was a completely tuned and balanced suspension system.

2010 Chevy Camaro Hotchkis Track Pack Parts

The Parts
Here is most of the Hotchkis Track Pack suspension system for the '10 Camaros. The system comes with everything needed to increase the handling capabilities of the Camaro and it bolts on with no modifications to the car. The coil springs are rated at 210 pounds/in for the front and 440 pounds/in for the rear. These will drop the stance 1-inch for improved looks, while still providing a sporty, yet comfortable ride. Since the Camaro springs are under such preload when installed, Hotchkis designed his to collapse within themselves under compression to retain factory functionality, while providing the performance spring needed. The lightweight 1.5-inch tubular front bar is rated at 780 pounds/in and the adjustable 1-inch rear bar is rated at 455 , 550, or 675 pounds/in depending on the mounting hole used on the end. The sway bars will reduce body roll, improving handling performance.

The Parts Here is most of the Hotchkis Track Pack suspension system for the '10 Camaros.

The company's package, dubbed The Track Pack, combines sport springs, adjustable sway bars, and aluminum chassis bracing to improve the Camaro's handling capabilities (check out the product sidebar for more details on the parts). All the products are protected in a high-gloss black powdercoating and are designed to be direct bolt-ons so if you wanted to install them on a lease vehicle, you can take them off before you turn it in.

To really show what these parts are capable of, we took a completely stock '10 Camaro belonging to the Byrd family and a Track Pack-outfitted fifth-gen belonging to Sam Piazza to Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, California. Other than the Hotchkis parts, these cars were identical, right down to the tires. The two were tested on a 600-foot slalom, 200-foot skidpad, and the Streets of Willow road course by the same driver.

Even though the stock Camaro is a pretty stout vehicle, the Track Pack-equipped car out-performed it in every stage of testing. The track Pack Camaro saw an almost 2-second reduction in lap time, 2mph gain on the slalom and a 0.02g gain on the skid pad. Not too shabby for a suspension system that is bolt-in, adjustable, and retails for a little over a grand.

Just as we sat down to pen this story, John Hotchkis let us know the company has just finished production on a few competition level parts, like a strut tower brace and stiffer sway bars. For more information on the parts in this story or the new competition level stuff, make sure to check out the Hotchkis web site.

Another integral part of the system is the chassis brace, and we asked Aaron Ogawa, chief engineer at Hotchkis, to explain a little more about it. "Our lightweight, all-aluminum chassis brace effectively triangulates the floating rear subframe to the rest of the chassis. The fore-aft rear subframe motion is eliminated allowing the thrust from the wheels to translate directly to the movement of the entire car. This means reduced wheel-hop and more positive power out of a corner without affecting the ride quality. The brace has a few special features. First, it is constructed out of special aluminum we have extruded to our spec by Alcoa, which is oval shaped for improved strength, ground clearance and aerodynamics, and then is TIG welded by hand. The brace also actually stiffens the entire platform and prevents lateral movement (wobble) that many Camaro owners complain about while allowing the suspension to travel its full range of motion."
Another integral part of the system is the chassis brace, and we asked Aaron Ogawa, chief
The Cars
For our testing we brought out Sam Piazza and his Hotchkis-equipped Camaro and Rob and Trish Byrd and their totally stock suspension Gen 5. Both cars are basically stock except for Sam's suspension: Both are V-8s, both sticks, and both on factory wheels and tires.
The Cars For our testing we brought out Sam Piazza and his Hotchkis-equipped Camaro and
Sam's black beauty has a T-Rex grille and black powdercoated rims. The Byrd's Imperial Blue Metallic SS, which was Rob's birthday present to Trish, has a stainless T-Rex grille and a Defender Worx trim package.
Sam's black beauty has a T-Rex grille and black powdercoated rims. The Byrd's Imperial Blu

To ensure consistency when it came to the man behind the wheel, we had John's brother, Mark Hotchkis, a former Indy driver, handle all of the driving duties.
To ensure consistency when it came to the man behind the wheel, we had John's brother, Mar
Skid Pad
The first test was the skid pad to determine what the lateral G capabilities of each car were. The Byrd's stocker leaned way over and had allowed for a 0.85g going counter clockwise (CCW) and 0.82g going clockwise (CW).
Skid Pad The first test was the skid pad to determine what the lateral G capabilities of
Sam's Camaro stayed relatively flat and allowed for a 0.88g CCW and 0.85g CW with the sway bar on the soft setting.
Sam's Camaro stayed relatively flat and allowed for a 0.88g CCW and 0.85g CW with the sway

Slalom
Moving over to the 600-foot slalom course, the stocker could get to 67 mph speed through the cones.
Slalom Moving over to the 600-foot slalom course, the stocker could get to 67 mph speed
Since Sam's suspension now has an adjustable rear sway bar, it was set to stiff. This allowed Mark to click off a 69 mph speed.
Since Sam's suspension now has an adjustable rear sway bar, it was set to stiff. This allo
Track
Here is the layout of the track that has been broken down into small segments. Each car was fitted with a GPS unit that tracked speed in each segment. Below is the data so you can see each cars performance instead of just a total lap time. The fist column will be the stock Camaro's times and second will be the Track Pack equipped car.
Track Here is the layout of the track that has been broken down into small segments. Eac

Sam's car got to the finish line in 1:13.50-that is almost two seconds quicker, which basically equates to a few car lengths at the speeds they are traveling on the final stretch.
Sam's car got to the finish line in 1:13.50-that is almost two seconds quicker, which basi
If all you car about is the lap time, then we'll give you those as well. The Byrd's ride was able to get to the end of the course in 1:15.16.
If all you car about is the lap time, then we'll give you those as well. The Byrd's ride w
The track surface temp never was more than 50 degrees during the tests. The surface varied from 38 degrees when we started to 50 degress by midday. John and his crew measured tire temps and adjusting air pressure accordingly after each test to keep things as even as possible.
The track surface temp never was more than 50 degrees during the tests. The surface varied

	Stock	Track Pack	Stock	Track Pack	Stock	Track Pack
Segment	Entry Speed (mph)		Exit Speed (mph)		Max. Speed (mph)
1	93.2	97.5	64.4	67.2	93.3	97.5
1-2	64.4	67.2	36.6	39.2	64.9	68.1
2	36.6	39.2	60.1	61.5	59.4	61.5
2-3	60.1	61.5	51.6	52.9	71.5	72.7
3	51.6	52.9	62.4	64.5	62.8	64.5
3-4	62.4	64.5	47.4	49.2	62.5	64.5
4	47.4	49.2	45.0	46.2	47.9	49.4
4-5	45.0	46.2	49.9	51.2	49.9	51.2
5	49.9	51.2	57.7	59.7	57.7	59.7
5-6	57.7	59.7	56.1	56.4	59.3	60.9
6	56.1	56.4	62.3	62.7	62.3	62.7
6-7	62.3	62.7	79.2	79.8	79.2	79.8
7	79.2	79.8	76.8	80.2	79.9	81.1
7-8	76.8	80.2	76.4	82.5	76.9	82.5
8	76.4	82.5	78.4	79.2	80.9	84.4
8-9	78.4	79.2	50.6	48.3	79.0	80.1
9	50.6	48.3	55.6	54.6	55.6	54.6
9-10	55.6	54.6	56.7	56.0	56.7	56.0
10	56.7	56.0	57.9	63.4	58.1	63.5
10-11	57.9	63.4	54.6	58.4	58.1	63.6
11	54.6	58.4	44.7	44.2	54.6	58.6
11-12	44.7	44.2	34.3	37.8	45.2	44.4
12	34.3	37.8	60.6	62.9	60.6	62.9
12-1	60.6	62.9	95.1	92.3	95.4	95.1