I'll take adjustable dampers and plain old lowering springs (that are good rate and height) over "coil-overs" any day because the cross weights on these cars just aren't that screwed up that you'll gain much. But you'll shoot a big hole in your wallet buying cool parts.
Sam, you are the man, but there is more to coilovers than just corner-weighting. Different tracks like different spring rates, and it's SOOOOO much cheaper getting a few sets of 2.5"x10" springs than it is hunting down S197-specific sets. Some tracks I run are super-smooth, almost like they shave the track surface, and I anticipate running extremely heavy-rate springs to take advantage of that. Other tracks which are, um, bumpy?, would be much better served by softer rates... Also, some of the coilover kit vendors (you know who they are) use a custom-shortened Koni adjustable as the basis for the kit, which maintains the full suspension travel range, even with the ride height lowered.
As for the brakes--rotors aren't the issue, but if you were going to upgrade I'd have skipped the rears, and gone to 2 piece fronts to save a lot of unsprung and rotational mass, and upgraded the pads as well. To what depends on the use. Hawk HPS and HP Plus are NOT track pads. Fine for autox, but this is one place the two are very different.
I agree with your statements 100%! I have two caveats, however... 1) The two-piece rotors most likely won't last any longer than a standard OE rotor, and cost roughly 5 times as much for just the friction rings and bolt kit. With my car, I go through three sets of rotors a season, at least, and the cost differential there would make it less than attractive to go to the two-piece rotor. Other than that, you are completley correct about the rotating mass. 2) I agree that the HPS and HP+ are not track pads, but want to point out two things... First, the S197 chassis responds well to a bit more front bias in the braking, and running a slightly less aggressive pad compound in the rear really wakes the car up when trail-braking. Second, for beginners, it's far too easy to over-brake the car in terms of pad compound. I've seen HPDE-1 beginners have braking problems with "race brakes" simply because they aren't carrying enough speed to heat the brakes up to
minimum operating temp, and as a result, have inconsistent braking rates and points, which leads to a lack of confidence, and that untimately hurts progression. I base my recommendation on the pad compounds (HT-10 front, HP+ rear) for novice drivers who want to make sure their brakes will make it through a weekend, but aren't to the point where the generate the heat to cook those low-level pads. I run DTC-60 front and HT-10 rear, but next season, I'm upping the ante to DTC-70 front and DTC-60 rear, to get a little more initial bite out of the pedal. That kind of brake package can withstand 1600*F temps, and it's a rare novice that will approach the 400*F minimum operating temp. The HT-10 comes in at around 300*, which they will get to, and can withstand up to 1300*, which is pretty desirable for a 35000-4000lb car in the hands of a novice. Other than that specific situation, a novice on a road course, I wouldn't recommend either of them to my worst enemy... I've also had pretty good success with the Carbotech XP10/XP8 for less experienced drivers that may have outgrown the HT-10.
Other than that, I find your analyses to be extremely helpful, and nobody can deny that you REALLY know the dynamics of the S197 chassis!
You arent' talking about the drag slicks, right?
