On March 1, 2010 in Adenau, Germany Pfadt Race Engineering owner and CEO Aaron Pfadt finalized the paperwork officially marking the formation of Pfadt Europe.  With its headquarters in Adenau, Germany adjacent to the historic Nurburgring race track, European Corvette enthusiasts will have amazing access to Pfadt products.  

Pfadt Europe is a stocking distribution center and focal point for supporting all of Europe with Pfadt parts. The center will stock and distribute Corvette and Camaro products to individuals and dealers throughout Europe. The official European launch of the Camaro takes place in June 2010.

Aaron and Pfadt Europe principal Danny Berk spent some time exploring the region and visiting dealers in the local area. Berk has more than 20 years experience racing and preparing cars for racing throughout Europe. He has prepared Corvettes to FIA GT2 specification as well as for VLN events at the Nurburgring. Being based at the Nurburgring provides Pfadt additional testing and development opportunities as well as more direct access to the European marketplace.

 Pfadt Europe Z06 getting a bath after a test session 

The Pfadt Europe workshop is full of Corvettes, most of which are prepared for track day use on the Nurburgring during ‘tourist days’. Danny also prepares full race cars including this car for the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in May 2010.

Corvette Being Prepped for the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in May 

Aaron and Danny visited the new Nurburg ‘ring werk’ building. The building houses showrooms for Aston Martin, Gumpert, BMW and Nissan Motorsport as well as a café and a roller coaster that will do 140 km/h. Its an impressive facility and the glass rear wall overlooks the straightaway and pits of the Nurburgring GP track.

With the snow still on the ground, the historic Nurburgring Nordschleif is closed for the season. It is due to open later in March. 

Aaron Pfadt standing in the ’self drive’ entrance lane 

Looking back up the main straight on the Nordschleif 

Swipe your card and go! 

Pfadt Europe welcomes visitors and with a phone call or email, a tour of the facilities can be arranged.  The Pfadt Corvette is available for rental rides on tourist days and it’s something you don’t want to miss!  Visit the European website at www.pfadteurope.com.  

At Pfadt, we believe in engineering-driven products that provide solutions to common limitations of performance cars. We have just launched of our new Camaro V8 Engine Mount Kit, which upholds this ideal in every way. Here is a brief overview highlighting the DIY aspect of this important upgrade, with comprehensive install instructions.

Our new Camaro Engine Mount kit is certainly a must for all of you who currently have, or plan on having, power adders for your 5th-gen Camaro. Just like in a suspension, soft rubber-based mounting solutions can wear out quickly, lose their effectiveness under load, and lead to problems when upgrading other components on your Camaro. Engine isolation is no exception. This is often overlooked when building a powertrain, because it is commonly a “secondary” consideration.

It is no longer a problem lacking a complete solution, however, because we are currently shipping sets of our new Camaro V8 Engine Mount kit. The kit consists of a 6061 T6 aluminum upper component (with an anodized finish), a zinc plated steel lower bracket, graphite-impregnated polyurethane hat bushings, and all hardware necessary for installation on both sides.  This kit will give you the engine restraint that your Camaro is desperately in need of. And as you will see below, it is incredibly easy for customers of all experience levels to install.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us if you want more information, or are in need of clarification on installation.

Camaro V8 Engine Mount Installation

This procedure is best performed on a vehicle lift, however it is possible to install these mounts using a floor jack and jack stands.

For questions please see the DOCS area on our website http://www.pfadtracing.com or call 888-972-2464

The pictures below are to show the stock mount (black rubber part), with the OEM pedestal (silver component above the black mount), and its relation to the engine and front subframe.

This picture is to illustrate exactly which component we are replacing.

Removal

Open hood and using a long extension on a 3/8 ratchet with  a swivel, remove the upper engine mount nuts on both sides of the engine (18mm hex)

Raise the car on the lift (or lift the car and safely support on jack stands). If using jack stands, it will be necessary to remove the front tires. Using the 18mm socket, remove the nuts from the lower stud of the engine mounts. Using the screw jack and a protective block of wood, raise the engine off of the engine mounts by lifting on a structural portion of the oil pan. Use care to not damage the cast aluminum oil pan.  The upward travel of the engine will be limited by the exhaust contacting the underside of the body. Stop when contact occurs, you will get the extra room required by removing the engine mount pedestals from the engine block.

Using the 15mm socket and universal on a long extension, remove the four bolts holding the engine mount pedestals to the engine block on each side.

One at a time move the pedestals out of the way enough to remove the stock engine mounts.

Installation

Install the Pfadt engine mounts in place of the stock mount being sure to orient the mounts correctly. The tab on the lower steel portion of the mount will engage a slot in the Camaro subframe.

Re-install the pedestals to the engine block using the original bolts. Torque bolts to 37 lb-ft

Align the upper studs on the Pfadt engine mounts with the holes in the pedestals and carefully lower the engine down onto the mounts.

Using the crush nuts from the factory mounts, start the nuts on the studs of the Pfadt mounts (upper and lower). Torque the lower nuts to 37 lb-ft

Lower the car to the ground. Using the long extension again, torque the upper engine mount nuts to 37 lb-ft.

Watch online as the camera crew from Vette Garage TV follows Pfadt Race Engineering through the busy schedule of running our engineering company, racing the C6 Z06 Corvette, and preparing to display at the prestigious SEMA show! Filmed in HD, you won’t want to miss the action.

If you’ve ever wanted to know what a real Race Engineering firm does here’s your chance to come along and see all the inside action.  This is a great opportunity to get to know us here at Pfadt Race Engineering  and get a glimpse of the dedication, professionalism and hard work that goes in to all of our suspension packages.

We’re excited to have been chosen for three episodes of the current season!   Stay tuned for the continuation because you’ll be hooked after Episode 1.

Optima Batteries created the Ultimate Street Car Challenge to highlight the amazing cars that are on display at the SEMA show.  After the show closes on Friday evening, the invitation-only competitors make their way south to Spring Mountain Motorsports for the event.  The goal of the event is to have the owner or builder of the car drive in three events to highlight their build - Autocross, Road Race, and 0 to 60 to 0.

Pfadt Race Engineering was invited to compete this year in their joint build 2010 Camaro with Unrestricted Motorsports.  The car features the Unrestricted Motorsports body kit which receive a fabulous reception at SEMA.  Wanting to keep the build clean, the only other modification was the addition of Pfadt lowering springs and sway bars.  Stock tires, stock engine and stock brakes.

The car looked lean and mean on the starting line of the Autocross.

In addition to our Camaro we had a Pfadt equipped Corvette on hand.  Running our Pfadt coil overs and Pfadt Competition Sway Bars, the Optima Corvette was ready for action.

Competitive cars included everything from hot rod trucks, and muscle cars to highly modified modern street cars.  Speed TV was on site to film the action and the show will air in early January. We were thrilled to be invited to the event.  The caliber of vehicles in the paddock was amazing and the competition was high.

With our stock engine we were underpowered compared to a lot of the competitors, but that didn’t stop us from competing well and having a great time.  We look forward to getting another invitation next year.

The SEMA Show is the premier show for the Automotive Aftermarket.  The industries finest companies all meet in Las Vegas the first week of November to show their product lines, launch new products and meet customers.

For the first time, Pfadt Race Engineering will be displaying at this prestigious show.  Our 20 x 20 booth will feature a 2010 Camaro running our suspension, both our Corvette and Camaro product lines, and a video display of C6 Z06 races.

We we’re displaying a Camaro in our booth and using one of our favorite Corvette race photos for the background.

In addition to displaying at the show, we submitted 6 products for the new products competition.  All 6 products are Made in the USA.  The two categories that we’ll compete in are Best New Engineered Product and Best New Performance-Street Product.  For the Corvette we submitted our Carbon Fiber Drive Shaft, our Engine Mounts and our Adjustable Sway bars.

The products for the 2010 Camaro are Carbon Fiber Control Arms, Camber Plates, and Strut Tower Brace.

In addition to our booth, you can find our products on the following cars:

Tjin Edition 2010 Camaro - Booth 23633
Bomex Aero 2010 Camaro - GM Booth
DSO Eyewear 2010 Camaro - GM Booth
STS Turbo C6 Corvette - Booth 20931
CGR Drift 2010 Camaro - GM Booth
Late Model Racecraft 2010 Camaro - Outside main door
Hot Rod Jim Corvette-Suspension Hot Rod - Booth 24695
DefenderWorx 2010 Camaro - Booth TBD

Josh, Robbin and Aaron will be available all week to meet and talk about suspension, racing, and all things performance related!

If you’ve got tickets to the show, please come see us at Booth 20657.