[mjk3888]

You'll have to excuse me, I copied and pasted this from a post I made in the Road Racing section.

I was at the find new roads event and I actually had a GM Engineer demo the MRC for me. They had an MRC shock hooked to a 2-3 foot long lever for the person to compress and feel the damping capabilities. He set it to tour and then to track so I could feel the difference. I weight about 185lbs and I lifted my feet off the ground trying to compress the shock. He told me how the gen 5 ZL1 system had only a single charging coil on the MRC struts and it had an issue with not being able to soften the damping as quick as it could increase it. The new setup has multiple coils which allows the ability to rapidly adjust to the road not just the mode settings. Thats more than enough for me to feel that it would provide excellent performance on the track! I love the thought of not needed to buy performance shocks if I want to get serious about handling.

All I want is a solid lowering setup to get the car down without effecting any of the MRC calibration. Hopefully this will be something that comes on the next handling package/1LE/Z##

It's mildly aggravating hearing so many people make the MRC sound like its an air ride suspension on a lincoln town car. It gives significant performance gains on a track! Its not just about softening it up for potholes on rough roads.

[Eric SS]

Originally Posted by mjk3888

You'll have to excuse me, I copied and pasted this from a post I made in the Road Racing section.

I was at the find new roads event and I actually had a GM Engineer demo the MRC for me. They had an MRC shock hooked to a 2-3 foot long lever for the person to compress and feel the damping capabilities. He set it to tour and then to track so I could feel the difference. I weight about 185lbs and I lifted my feet off the ground trying to compress the shock. He told me how the gen 5 ZL1 system had only a single charging coil on the MRC struts and it had an issue with not being able to soften the damping as quick as it could increase it. The new setup has multiple coils which allows the ability to rapidly adjust to the road not just the mode settings. Thats more than enough for me to feel that it would provide excellent performance on the track! I love the thought of not needed to buy performance shocks if I want to get serious about handling.

Great info. Thanks for sharing as I hadn't read this before.

[mjk3888]

Originally Posted by Eric SS

Great info. Thanks for sharing as I hadn't read this before.

No problem. I didn't really mention above, but when set to tour it compressed and behaved like a conventional shock would.

[WoodBoss]

Originally Posted by AN0NYM0US

Same here, debating between MRC, NPP and sunroof loll

Get them all.

[CapeCruisin]

Get NPP (dual-mode). No doubt about it.
MRC is not essential. It is nice. But you don't need it.
I used to have a Camaro with a sunroof. I don't miss it. It was nice sometimes. You don't NEED it.

You DO need NPP.

[SS 1LE]

Originally Posted by mjk3888

It gives significant performance gains on a track!

This is not true, unless the track is bumpy, which most aren't. Of course the GM people want you to think it will make you a sandwich as it gives you huge improvements at the track, they want to sell it to you. Many of the Vette guys I see and know who are running SCCA and NASA have actually removed the MRC and went to coilovers and have seen gains. My friend did this and on average on the same track (smallish, tight course) runs about .5-.75 quicker. Ferrari has stated that many customers have asked for a nicer ride as an option, so they were going to add MRC to some of their cars, so not to effect performance. But, their more hard core cars do not have it. This is not a knock on MRC at all, it's a very nice option at improving the ride to many, especially if you are daily driving it, but a nice aftermarket set up will out perform it. Plus, let's not forget that the best handling test numbers from all the mags so far have come from an SS without MRC. Just some food for thought...

Myself, still on the fence.

[SS 1LE]

Originally Posted by crankaholic

MRC shocks work just like regular oil/gas-pressure monotubes... stick any spring/anti-roll bar you want on them as long as the travel is still adequate (it will be for a 1" drop).

This is not true, the springs need to be designed to work with the MRC's ability to constantly change. Some of the Caddy guys learned this the hard way. I think if you go lower then 3/4", without approved springs, you can have issues.

[SS 1LE]

Originally Posted by DenverTaco07

forego NPP (dual exhaust) - it's cool, but you can add custom exhaust later

But you will not get the valence for the quad tips, which also has a nicer finish. So you are locked into dual tips, unless you get that valence. Which will with paint, most likely cost more then the NPP does...just a thought.

[mjk3888]

Originally Posted by mjk3888

It's mildly aggravating hearing so many people make the MRC sound like its an air ride suspension on a lincoln town car. It gives significant performance gains on a track! Its not just about softening it up for potholes on rough roads.

Originally Posted by SUMMIT WHITE SS

This is not true, unless the track is bumpy, which most aren't. Of course the GM people want you to think it will make you a sandwich as it gives you huge improvements at the track, they want to sell it to you. Many of the Vette guys I see and know who are running SCCA and NASA have actually removed the MRC and went to coilovers and have seen gains. My friend did this and on average on the same track (smallish, tight course) runs about .5-.75 quicker. Ferrari has stated that many customers have asked for a nicer ride as an option, so they were going to add MRC to some of their cars, so not to effect performance. But, their more hard core cars do not have it. This is not a knock on MRC at all, it's a very nice option at improving the ride to many, especially if you are daily driving it, but a nice aftermarket set up will out perform it. Plus, let's not forget that the best handling test numbers from all the mags so far have come from an SS without MRC. Just some food for thought...

Myself, still on the fence.

Sorry I should have clarified. Its a significant improvement over conventional damping. Much more dynamic, but if the non MRC damping is stiff enough then it could be close enough for on track performance to be close enough for it to be faster around a track with a better driver. I would be surprised if the same driver had an MRC and non MRC car back to back on the same track that MRC would lay down a faster time. But I don't know that. I haven't driven both an MRC and non MRC car so I can only give my opinion based on the information I do have.

[prod]

Seems like more to go wrong and expensive to repair. I buy my cars new, keep them forever, and work on them myself. I like to keep them simple, cheap and fun, just like me :p
I am looking at a 1SS, manual no options. There will be lots of aftermarket boltons if i get the itch, put a supercharger on my last car, so that may come later.

[Brad009]

Originally Posted by Jeanius

Alright folks, I dumbassed and walked to the dealership while my 4Runner was getting serviced, the bug has bitten, and I need one in my life.

Havent been following the rebirth much, but its 2SS or nothing, however, options is the question.

Im a fireman and drive 1-1.5 hours to work and home once every 6 days, otherwise just rollin around town

What benefits do these options offer to justify getting them?

Thanks in advance!

I recently ordered a 2SS myself. MRC and npp were the first two options I selected on what became a very loaded order sheet. There is not a right or wrong answer regarding options. You need to understand what each means to you. Opinions vary on mrc, but if you drive a lot, you get a better ride from your car regardless of the conditions or the driving mode you select with mrc. That adds to your overall enjoyment and satisfaction with the vehicle on a daily basis. To me it's worth the $. Npp was a no brainier for me but for different reasons. I went to a dealer and drove an SS with and another without npp. It's totally cool. Based on what Ive read, npp does not add anything to performance but in my opinion, it's cool factor is off the charts. You can keep the cost down by not selecting mrc and npp and still have a great vehicle. Many people want a 1SS with limited options. They will have a great performing car. That's all some people want. The options you select must be worth it to you, nobody else.

[bhavyas]

I had a budget of 35k and I over shot it by $2500 already by which gave me no room to add the MRC.. I haven't driven it and based on reviews I decided to stick with stock suspension... But if its as good as people over here are here saying it is... I'll be adding that to my regret list... However I have heard that any repair work on suspension if damaged is very very expensive...

[keon718nyc]

Originally Posted by SSport16

100% agree, both are worth it! With the touch of a button exhaust and suspension are like night and day different, very nice, so glad I got both on mine!

Just wanted to find out if you may know what would be the best for suspension setting on the 2016 2SS for driving on crappy pothole roads here in New York City? I mainly have had mine totally on sport most of the time ive had it and notice rough riding. Still don't know the suspension setting meanings. Any info would be appreciated or pointed to right direction!

[Whitespeed]

I get the impression that many view MRC as little more than a comfort vs sport setting. Soft and cushy over bumpy roads yet still tight and firm for spirited driving, but dubious value for what's only a minor penalty in comfort, and no benefit for real track work. I believe this is far too simplistic a view. A conventional damper is a compromise of conflicting goals in any scenario. You want firm compression and rebound to resist body motions in cornering and braking, but softer settings to filter out bumps and dips. For comfort, the bias is going to be towards the soft side. But go too soft, and the car will be crashing into the bump stops over large impacts and dips. The bias is going to be towards the firm end of the spectrum for optimal handling. But race tracks and windy roads aren't mirror smooth and flat. There are bumps and dips and ever varying camber changes to the surface that will unsettle a stiffly damped car. If this wasn't the case, all wheel independent suspension wouldn't be such a benefit in a sports car.

Consequently, with a conventional damper, the rates are chosen based on the best guess of what's an optimum trade-off. But get it wrong, say with a rebound rate that's too stiff, and a successive series of bumps could jack down the suspension until all the travel has gone by the time you reach the next corner, and now the outside front corner is on the bump stop and that predictable handling is gone. By comparison, MRC allows for infinitely variable damping, and can use inputs from the steering, suspension travel, pitch and yaw sensors, etc. to determine on an ever changing basis what the optimal damping rate is. It could firm up in a corner, but momentarily soften to keep the car in line when it hits a mid corner bump. At 100 Mph, it can change that damping rate in less than 2 inches of road traveled. This is not something that will be apparent or of benefit in a steady state skid pad evaluation on a flat level surface, so that's not a valuable metric. It also may not necessarily result in a faster lap time on a race track. However, when it comes to predictable, confidence inspiring handling on a variety of road and track conditions, it could be invaluable.

Sure, if you're serious about tracking your car, you can get manually adjustable dampers. But, I think it's a mistake to say that that is because manually adjustable dampers are necessarily "better." It's just not possible at this stage for owners to retune MRC for the increase in spring rates and drop in ride height that go with a setup that's heavily biased towards track use (not from the factory). I don't want to over sell it, since I haven't found much in the way of a head to head comparison yet, but for those satisfied with factory tuned suspension, I would be very surprised if MRC didn't outperform conventional dampers. Or, again, at the very least provide a level of predictability and confidence on the street and track that one wouldn't get otherwise.

Nigel