| BY THE NUMBERS |
| SKIDPAD |
| Standard Gas Shocks | QA1 Street Stars |
| Pass 1: 0.70 g | Pass 1: 0.76 g |
| Pass 2: 0.74 g | Pass 2: 0.77 g |
| Pass 3: 0.75 g | Pass 3: 0.81 g |
| SLALOM |
| Standard Gas Shocks | QA1 Street Stars |
| Pass 1: 39.8 mph | Pass 1: 40.3 mph |
| Pass 2: 40.2 mph | Pass 2: 41.5 mph |
| Pass 3: 40.2 mph | Pass 3: 42.1 mph |
The performance aftermarket is chock-full of parts designed to make your car look cooler, go faster, ride nicer, or sound better. At shows like the NSRA Nationals and SEMA, companies from all around the world show up to display their wares, and they all claim to be better than the guy in the next booth over. Here at R&C, we tend to ignore the glitz and glamour of the trailer queen scene and focus on real-world cars driven by real-world folks, and that means we not only work hard to buy the gear we put on our rides, we expect those parts to perform in real-world conditions, as well. With that in mind, we decided to make some of the companies in the hot rod business put their money where their mouths are. This story is the first in a series that will take common bolt-on aftermarket parts and perform "before and after" testing in simulated real-world conditions, using high-tech testing equipment to come up with solid numbers that will prove whether you're spending your dough on a true performance modification or a shiny but flaccid wannabe.
For our first test we decided to try out an easy bolt-on part that can be beneficial in several areas. QA1 Motorsports builds shock absorbers for just about every market in the automotive realm, from drag and Sprint Car racing to street rodding. With a vast catalog of different shock options for the rod and custom crowd they have parts available for every ride imaginable, and with their attractive billet aluminum exterior and adjustable-compression valve technology they ought to be a must-have for any road-going rod. We've heard the praises and seen literally thousands of these shocks (in both standard and coilover form) at shows all over the country, so they're obviously a popular choice. The trick was going to be finding out if there really is a difference between these and standard automotive gas shocks.
After calling QA1 and throwing down the gauntlet (they quickly agreed to the challenge), it was time to find a car. Looking for something representative of the overall street rod market, the car had to well-built, safe, and relatively fast but nothing too wild or exotic. Eventually we came across Pam McQueen and her gorgeous '38 Ford sedan. The car sits on a boxed frame and rides on Mustang II suspension with tubular control arms up front and parallel leaf springs supporting a 9-inch Ford in back. A stout small-block Chevy provides power. The final step of the equation was setting up the testing program, which we did with performance driving guru Andrew Schear, whom we borrowed from our sister magazine Super Chevy. Andrew brought us out to the California Speedway in Fontana, where he set up a slalom course and 200-foot skidpad. A Brower Timing System was used to record data for the performance tests. On top of the numbers gathered at the track we also decided to judge the product on ease of installation and real-world ride and handling characteristics.