Hello
I have a 2004 Sunfire, 5 speed coupe.
I would like to improve the cornering and handling.
Sill has the original struts.
Any opinions on how I can do this relatively low cost?
Thanks
Walt from Toronto
oh no not a good and cheap post again lol....
Gotta spend some money if you want good quality man you know that.
If you put some Tokico HP's or AGX's with your stock springs it will change the feel of the car a lot. The usual first step is to lower the car though, to lower the center of gravity and try and make the a arms parallel(proper struts are a necessity with drop springs). A gm Vert front strut bar will make a world of difference and can be had for about $15 at a pull it yourself junkyard. An Ebay rear strut bar is cheap and will help also(ebay front is not as good as the vert bar) Swaybars either Addco or Eibach front and rear would be a good addition too.
oh no not a useless and cheap reply to a post again lol....
Hey Z
Not looking to lower it, but from your post it sounds like new struts, and better front and rear sway bars would be beneficial.
Thanks
Walt
imo the best $ u can spend on a J suspension is a rear sway bar.
Walter Pawliw wrote:Hey Z
Not looking to lower it, but from your post it sounds like new struts, and better front and rear sway bars would be beneficial.
Thanks
Walt
Yeah that's what in doing to my daily driver. I put agx's on it with stock springs. The rears set at 2 are a ton stiffer than stock.
Walter Pawliw wrote:Hey Z
Not looking to lower it, but from your post it sounds like new struts, and better front and rear sway bars would be beneficial.
Thanks
Walt
You want better handling, but don't want to lower it? The best thing you can do to improve cornering is to increase spring rate to slow down body roll. There are two ways to do that- stiffer springs, or bigger sway bars (a sway bar is simply a big spring). Since you already plan on sway bars, the only other thing you can do is increase spring rate. Your only real route here is aftermarket springs (as opposed to something custom wound). There are no aftermarket springs out there that I know of that
don't lower the car. The reason is this- lowering the center of gravity is also an effective way to increase spring rate (mathematically, not physically), so you're getting more "rate" than you would if you didn't lower the car. Lowering is not just to "look" different.
.
James Cahill wrote:Walter Pawliw wrote:Hey Z
Not looking to lower it, but from your post it sounds like new struts, and better front and rear sway bars would be beneficial.
Thanks
Walt
You want better handling, but don't want to lower it? The best thing you can do to improve cornering is to increase spring rate to slow down body roll. There are two ways to do that- stiffer springs, or bigger sway bars (a sway bar is simply a big spring). Since you already plan on sway bars, the only other thing you can do is increase spring rate. Your only real route here is aftermarket springs (as opposed to something custom wound). There are no aftermarket springs out there that I know of that don't lower the car. The reason is this- lowering the center of gravity is also an effective way to increase spring rate (mathematically, not physically), so you're getting more "rate" than you would if you didn't lower the car. Lowering is not just to "look" different.
.
I agree that lowering is a good choice when it comes to handling but with front and rear swaybars and strut bars along with stiffer struts your handling will still be a night and day difference on a street driven daily driver.
But I didn't say that he
has to lower.
I said that all the aftermarket springs
end up lowering the car.
The rule of thumb for adjusting body roll is- spring rate, sway bar rate, damping. Sure, adding a sway bar(s), STB, and slowing down oscillation of a stock spring will help, but it's by no means the best way to do it. I would think that if he's going through all the trouble of removing the entire suspension in order to throw new dampers in, he might as well throw at least a set of Sportlines or a Pro-Kit on, neither of which would break the bank, but would do much better than stockers, which really have no "fixed" rate, and at this point in the car's life are beyond worn.
