1st Mods on 2020 GT500

V00D00

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Mark,

I am envious of those brakes. You probably just took about 80# off your car?

I was hell bent on getting a set of those same rotors, but due to the track I frequent, I was advised by Billy Johnson not to get them until they were fully tested. I wish racing brakes could have worked out a deal with Billy.

I am very interested in hearing your impressions of them when you get everything dialed in.

Thanks for sharing that.
ken of PBD has the set, although significant hp increase, im sure he would be ok with a testing session, hes basically under cftp weight already
 

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Just a taste of my next project on the 500....
kicker amp.jpg
 

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Mark,

I am envious of those brakes. You probably just took about 80# off your car?

I was hell bent on getting a set of those same rotors, but due to the track I frequent, I was advised by Billy Johnson not to get them until they were fully tested. I wish racing brakes could have worked out a deal with Billy.

I am very interested in hearing your impressions of them when you get everything dialed in.

Thanks for sharing that.
Hey Tom, I wanted to put a couple hundred miles on the car before I reviewed these RB carbon ceramic rotors and their street pads and now I have. First, as far as weight goes, I wanted to say I really didn't notice any difference in the way the car felt when I changed out the OEM wheels for the Signature SV902's. I dropped about 45# overall in doing that and maybe it was because I only had driven the car less than 200 miles before I changed them out. That is NOT the case after changing out the OEM rotors and pads with the RB's. I measured the weight difference between them and came up with the same as Terrance did and that was 68#. Add that to the wheel weight savings and the titanium lug nuts and I dropped about 114# of unsprung weight total.

Ok, now for my impression of the car with the RB's and I can basically sum it up in two words. More agile. The car definitely feels like a lighter car. After driving my RS for four years and then getting the 500, it was like going from a go cart to a tank. Some of that "tank" feeling is now gone. The car reminds me a little more now of the RS, one of the most fun cars I have ever driven (and still miss it a lot). It is a very difficult thing to describe but the front end feels much lighter. Steering is lighter and tossing it side to side in turns is too. Another thing that was very noticeable is the ride. I go over two sets of railroad tracks after leaving my house to go downtown and two things were very apparent, one, there was less movement/shaking/rumble and two, it was quieter. I have driven the car for 2200 miles now and I am very familiar with the roads around here and all of the road noises it makes on the various different surfaces and I know for a fact the entire car is quieter driving on all of them. Between the steering, handling, better ride and being quieter, it really does feel like a different car.

All this said, I have not talked about the braking so here goes. This was the least noticeable of it all. At first, there seemed to be less initial bite and I had to apply a little more pressure to get the car to stop. After the initial break in and driving the car for over 200 miles with them, they seem to be very close if not a little more sensitive than the OEM brakes. Every time I drive the car, which has been my daily now for the past week since my truck is in the shop having some motor work done, it still feels like driving a different car but the brakes feel pretty much like the OEM's. They make no noise so far and the dust is very slight. I spotlessly cleaned the wheels just after installing everything and have not touched them to see what the dust would look like after over 200 miles of driving. There is the lightest coat of dust on the wheels that I can literally blow off with an air hose or wash them off with water without touching the wheels. It is not the oily, sticky type that you normally get, just light dust. I am thinking there might be even less after they break in more.

I am not sure if all cars would benefit from upgrading to lighter rotors but beings the 500 has such massive, heavy rotors, it definitely makes a difference on this car. I have always said the single best mod you can do on a car is an engine tune and that is why I do it on every car and truck I have. I now believe to lighten the unsprung weight is the second best mod you can do.
 

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Just a taste of my next project on the 500....
kicker amp.jpg
I was never posting my mods on this thread but on the threads that pertained to the mods I was doing. Therefore, there are a lot of mods I have done that have gone unnoticed. Here was a post back in April of the sub and amp I installed. It was very easy to do and really improved the bass as you can imagine. #5
 

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Hey Tom, I wanted to put a couple hundred miles on the car before I reviewed these RB carbon ceramic rotors and their street pads and now I have. First, as far as weight goes, I wanted to say I really didn't notice any difference in the way the car felt when I changed out the OEM wheels for the Signature SV902's. I dropped about 45# overall in doing that and maybe it was because I only had driven the car less than 200 miles before I changed them out. That is NOT the case after changing out the OEM rotors and pads with the RB's. I measured the weight difference between them and came up with the same as Terrance did and that was 68#. Add that to the wheel weight savings and the titanium lug nuts and I dropped about 114# of unsprung weight total.

Ok, now for my impression of the car with the RB's and I can basically sum it up in two words. More agile. The car definitely feels like a lighter car. After driving my RS for four years and then getting the 500, it was like going from a go cart to a tank. Some of that "tank" feeling is now gone. The car reminds me a little more now of the RS, one of the most fun cars I have ever driven (and still miss it a lot). It is a very difficult thing to describe but the front end feels much lighter. Steering is lighter and tossing it side to side in turns is too. Another thing that was very noticeable is the ride. I go over two sets of railroad tracks after leaving my house to go downtown and two things were very apparent, one, there was less movement/shaking/rumble and two, it was quieter. I have driven the car for 2200 miles now and I am very familiar with the roads around here and all of the road noises it makes on the various different surfaces and I know for a fact the entire car is quieter driving on all of them. Between the steering, handling, better ride and being quieter, it really does feel like a different car.

All this said, I have not talked about the braking so here goes. This was the least noticeable of it all. At first, there seemed to be less initial bite and I had to apply a little more pressure to get the car to stop. After the initial break in and driving the car for over 200 miles with them, they seem to be very close if not a little more sensitive than the OEM brakes. Every time I drive the car, which has been my daily now for the past week since my truck is in the shop having some motor work done, it still feels like driving a different car but the brakes feel pretty much like the OEM's. They make no noise so far and the dust is very slight. I spotlessly cleaned the wheels just after installing everything and have not touched them to see what the dust would look like after over 200 miles of driving. There is the lightest coat of dust on the wheels that I can literally blow off with an air hose or wash them off with water without touching the wheels. It is not the oily, sticky type that you normally get, just light dust. I am thinking there might be even less after they break in more.

I am not sure if all cars would benefit from upgrading to lighter rotors but beings the 500 has such massive, heavy rotors, it definitely makes a difference on this car. I have always said the single best mod you can do on a car is an engine tune and that is why I do it on every car and truck I have. I now believe to lighten the unsprung weight is the second best mod you can do.
Great review. I think when I recover from selling my kidney for the SE conversion, and can breath some life back into my bank account, I will follow suit.
 

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I was never posting my mods on this thread but on the threads that pertained to the mods I was doing. Therefore, there are a lot of mods I have done that have gone unnoticed. Here was a post back in April of the sub and amp I installed. It was very easy to do and really improved the bass as you can imagine. #5
I for one would love to see the mods you speak of Mark.
 

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I was never posting my mods on this thread but on the threads that pertained to the mods I was doing. Therefore, there are a lot of mods I have done that have gone unnoticed. Here was a post back in April of the sub and amp I installed. It was very easy to do and really improved the bass as you can imagine. #5
THANKS! I try and do that normally but didn't realize that thread existed! I will update my progress on that thread. I plan to go with something a little more ROBUST....its been a long time since i have added subs so likely will be completely overkill
 

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THANKS! I try and do that normally but didn't realize that thread existed! I will update my progress on that thread. I plan to go with something a little more ROBUST....its been a long time since i have added subs so likely will be completely overkill
Too bad you aren't closer to me so you can hear the sub for yourself but it is not a wimpy one. It is only 1000% better than the stock sub which is not only non existent but sounds like crap. I am not using half the power I have to give me loud, tight, deep bass. I think anything more and it would be overkill. Actually, since I have not upgraded the rest of the system at all, it is overkill but I am fine with it for now. I also like the fact it looks stock and in the stock location taking up no more room than the OEM sub.
 

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Too bad you aren't closer to me so you can hear the sub for yourself but it is not a wimpy one. It is only 1000% better than the stock sub which is not only non existent but sounds like crap. I am not using half the power I have to give me loud, tight, deep bass. I think anything more and it would be overkill. Actually, since I have not upgraded the rest of the system at all, it is overkill but I am fine with it for now. I also like the fact it looks stock and in the stock location taking up no more room than the OEM sub.
I am glad i am not the only one that thinks the factory sub is pathetic, i actually went to the back and put my ear to it and felt it to make sure it was actually working. What you did is what I should do but I like things big and obnoxious and if yours is overkill mine will be super overkill with really no purpose other than to shake the trunk and rear window off if necessary. Outside of the amp i will make it were i can remove it somewhat easily when i go to the drag strip as i am sure it will be heavy.
 

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It's been far too hot and humid to do much of anything outdoors. But, I did get my rain tray painted and ginned up a decal.

The wife thinks it's bada$$ so it must be OK. :-)



sarah-raintray-snake_02_1900.jpg




 

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That is bad ass! Will it hold up to the heat?
 

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I was never posting my mods on this thread but on the threads that pertained to the mods I was doing. Therefore, there are a lot of mods I have done that have gone unnoticed. Here was a post back in April of the sub and amp I installed. It was very easy to do and really improved the bass as you can imagine. #5
Looks like you also sound proofed the trunk. Did you use Dynamat or something else?
 

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Will it hold up to the heat?
Funny you bring that up, Tom. (chuckling and I know Jaime is as well.) He was the first "test case" and once painted, the vinyl adhesive did its job and held after a thirty-minute ride.

I figured that was good enough as I'd seen a test piece of vinyl shrivel up into a ball when I applied it to the original, unpainted tray in just a few minutes of run time.

So, based on Jaime's positive experience, I went for it and all seems to be well after a couple test drives that totaled over thirty and the decal is unchanged.
 

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Looks like you also sound proofed the trunk. Did you use Dynamat or something else?
The very first thing I do when I buy any car or truck is soundproof it (roof, doors, floor, firewall, rear quarter panels and trunk area. Applied Dynamat first then Dynapad on top if it. I do it more for the improved audio you get rather than making the car quieter but they kind of go hand and hand. The car also feels more solid when closing the doors, trunk, going over rough roads, etc. It is also a good heat and cold insulator. I did not take many photos while doing it like I normally do. Here are a few. I added about 60# of weight but for me it is well worth it.

IMG_0677.jpeg
IMG_0686.jpeg
IMG_0753.jpeg
IMG_0754.jpeg
 

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It's been far too hot and humid to do much of anything outdoors. But, I did get my rain tray painted and ginned up a decal.

The wife thinks it's bada$$ so it must be OK. :-)



sarah-raintray-snake_02_1900.jpg




Love it buddy. Not just bad ass, its MINT!
 
 
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