I replaced the tires and rims with ones that are 1 inch larger diameter and 1 inch wider. I must say that the handling alone has greatly improved simply by doing that. I can take corners at least 5 to 7 mph faster without any loss of control.

Even though I think the first gen has great lateral movement (I kind of imagine Michael Jordan busting a hole in the Utah defense before he retired hehehe) but the springs and strust absolutely are horrible. The car has a tendency to want to fish tail or yank on the steering if I hit a small bump or dip. I'm not sure but I assume that getting stiffer struts and springs with a 'very small drop' would help with this problem.

Are there any good brands or would new stock struts do the trick???

(just like I said in the other posts I will be adding pics of the project this week)

i did my suspention a few months ago, and my car handles amazingly now.

-kyb gr2 struts and shocks
-sprint springs
-urethane controll arm bushings
-addco swaybars 30mm front 26mm rear
-urethane swaybar bushings

to get it stopping better
-92+ front brakes
-slotted rotors
-semi metalic pads
-goodridge stainless brake lines
-plans for a rear disk swap

the kyb struts are about the best drop in out there. i went with sprint springs for the lowness, if your just looking for performance, id go with eibach pro kit springs. the urethane controll arm bushings are a great replacment for stock, old bushings. the addco swaybars were the biggest thing, they keep the car dead flat.

i would highly recomend everything i put in my car. the thing cruises smoothly and it corners with high end cars (ive out cornered mercedies and bmws). it is very flat, and i have yet to find its limit. im hoping to do some autocrossing this year with it, just to see if i can push the limits of the suspention.

some of the steering problems you mentioned probably have something to do with the wider tires...




R.I.P. Brian St.Germain

is the offset of the wheels any different then stock? if they are, it could contribute to the bump steer your experiencing, and lowering it may make it worse. Have you had it aligned any time recently?




Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said

The wheels do stick out a bit further. But the thing is that it handles ALOT better around corners now. So I'm not convinced by any means that the wider tires made things worse. Yes, it probably needs an alignment.

I agree that lowering it does not always make it handle better, which is why lowering it truly isn't my objective.

Shark, I kept thinking that the bushings miught be bad so I went under and checked and believe it or not they're in OK shape. I think I'l take your advice and get a set of those addco bars and the urethane bushings.
Did you purchase these from... where?

well, it sounds to me like you need to get USED to driving with wider wheels/tires - because that CAN change your steering dynamic.




R.I.P. Brian St.Germain

I'm not making it clear... The car steers great. The suspension on the other hand is horrible. Too much bounce I'm looking for a tighter suspension so that I can gain some more ground control when I hit small dips or bumps.

I am looking for the same thing. I upgraded my suspension about four years ago when i was using the car as an everyday driver. I have a gray four door 1986 2.0L OHV cavalier 4 door and upgraded to 14" motegi racing wheels. I have been thinking about going for the kyb gr2 shocks and struts, but I am wondering if there would be a clearnace issue with the tires that are on the 14" rims because they are not low profile. From what I have heard the suspension springs on the rear should be replaced because after years of use they tend to warp and bend.One of my questions are whether or not the gr2 shocks and struts will fit the new springs from autozone? Another question is who sells the addco swaybars? What do those sprint springs usually cost anyway? Thanks

gr2's are a direct drop in strut, designed as a direct replacment. oem or oe replacment springs will work just fine. there wont be any clearance issues from the tires, if they arent rubbing the strut now, they arent gonna rub. what tires do you have on your 14s??? i use my stock z24 wheels with stock size 215/60/14 tires with no clearance issues.

i got my addco swaybars used, the original owner got em direct from addco. the sprint springs were just under $300 canadian. there is a company near me called Canuck motorsports, and they actualy build the springs for sprint. they sell springs for around $140 a set that are the same specs as the sprints, and they also have a performance spring (listed as a 1.3" drop) that a friend of mine developed for them. you can search e-bay for them.

Dang $140 that's pretty good. I'm gonna go check that out.