SoCalSS had a great visit to Hotchkis Performance to start off it's 1999 event season. Expectations for the turnout at the event were well exceeded by the 40 Impalas and 72 members that came for the educational opportunities that our friends at Hotchkis performance provided. John Hotchkis, Scott Gilman and Gary B put on a great seminar on their products.

A video tape of last year's Hotchkis Day at Buttonwillow Raceway was running during the day for all to see. Ken Hunter was featured pushing his DGGM Impala SS to its limits. At least Ken kept his car on the track. A Mustang GT owner was shown testing the offroading abilities of his car. The next Buttonwillow date is May 8th--mark your calendars.

There was an Impala on the lift in Hotchkis' shop getting some pre-production control arms installed for testing. Hotchkis Performance is developing extended lower control arms for the Impala SS that center the rear wheels. The prototype set, being fitted on the test Impala while we were there, will be tested for the next 60-90 days according to Scott Gilman. DON'T call them yet guys! This product hasn't been given the green light for production and won't until testing is complete, and Scott and John Hotchkis are happy with the findings.

The Hotchkis setup is 1/2" longer than the stock SS control/trailing arm to center the rear wheels. Yes, they are shorter than the METCO 3/4" longer bars, but the wheels did look centered and 'right' with the 1/2" longer arms. During Scott's discussion of the engineering program for the longer arms, he pointed out that the longer arms move the differential back, which moves the lower end of the rear springs and shock absorbers (but not the tops). This changes the geometry of the rear suspension and Hotchkis Performance wants to make sure that the change does not have any detrimental performance or safety side effects.

Hotchkis performance is also finally making adjustable upper control arms for the Impala SS! The arms will be tested on the same Impala that has the longer lower control arms and released for production if they work as well as expected.

Below you can see a bunch of SoCalSS members getting a closer look at the underside of the test car.

More exciting news: Bilstein is developing a special shock JUST for the Impala SS. They will be available soon and only through Hotchkis Performance and Evergreen Performance. Shown below are Scott (right) and Gary (left) with marketing's version of shock dyno graphs that explain the differences between the OEM shocks and the Bilstein units. Engineering's (real) shock dyno charts were available for individual viewing off-line.

After the tech seminar, everyone headed for the parking lot and a Hotchkis/SoCalSS BBQ. Hotchkis supplied the BBQ grill and cook--SoCalSS supplied the food (and the diners). Hotchkis' backyard BBQ grill wasn't designed for a crowd of 70, so it took some time to get everyone fed. Below you can see some of the hungry members waiting on the burgers and dogs.

Also in the back parking lot were some of the Hotchkis employee cars: Scott G's Chevelle Wagon (the car you see in all the Hotchkis ads) was there. It's for sale. $23K and its yours!! One of the trucks from the SEMA was there--covered in camo contact paper. A definite eye catcher.

All in all a fun and informative day!! If you missed it..well..you missed it.

Dave Stonefield & Frank Halley

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Last Update: 1/2/99