Best upgrades for handling?

Metalcorpse

Registered User
What's up guys, I've been thinking of ways to improve my suspension not just by changing out parts but by adjusting as well. I plan on getting coilovers but I'm looking to feel the road more. Even if it means the car sways on the freeway. I'm guessing first is caster?
 
The best mod for handling is tires. A lot of people spend a lot of money on their SCs, then cheap out on tires. It doesn't matter how good your suspension is if your tires can't grip the road.

The current top tier of street tires includes the Bridgestone RE71R, BFG Rival, Hankook RS3v2, Dunlop Star Spec, Kumho V720 and Toyo R1R. My car will need tires soon and I'm probably going to get the Bridgestones. They and the BFGs are the preferred tire of the moment for guys autocrossing in SCCA street tire classes (requires 200+ treadwear).

After tires comes alignment. Lots of camber, lots of caster, a little toe out. But be aware that yes, toe out will make a car rather twitchy and "grabby" of imperfections in the road. Be careful, or stick with zero toe.

Then suspension. I assume you're talking about SCP coilovers, which I haven't used but I'm sure are fine. Avoid the temptation to go too low. If the lower control arm's inner pivot point is significantly lower than its outer pivot point, you can run into problems with your roll center and actually make handling worse.

Good sway bars will help, but 1-3/8" at both ends is overkill.

Then reduce the car's weight.
 
Thanks a bunch. I do plan on getting newer tired but I wanted to wait until I got my different rims incase the tire size is different

The coilovers are deed scp. I was considering the lowering springs but id like more control with my car, adjust as desired. Any thoughts on how low I can go? I'm not trying to drag the frame or anything

What exactly does the sway bar effect? Does it stiffen up the frame? Never used one before.

Lastly as far as weight I was thinking of scps tubular lower control arms. Worth the 1k or just stick to the Lincoln lowers?

Thanks for the reply man!
 
Any thoughts on how low I can go?

My advice is to set the coilovers so the lower control arms are just about level (measured ball joint to bushing in front, inner bushings to knuckle bushings in back) or so that the inner pivot is slightly lower than the outer. But that's not as low as a lot of people like.

What exactly does the sway bar effect? Does it stiffen up the frame? Never used one before.

Springs resist pitch; sway bars resist roll. The thicker they are, the more they'll prevent body roll in cornering.

Lastly as far as weight I was thinking of scps tubular lower control arms. Worth the 1k or just stick to the Lincoln lowers?

That depends on you. Do you have the Lincoln arms yet? If so, I might stick with them. Bill says his arms are lighter than the Lincoln arms, which is tempting, but so far I've spent my money on other things.
 
This nerd does a good job of explaining sway bars. All Tbirds come with F&R swaybars but there is value in going thicker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_liGnV3PTiQ

Going too big can hurt your handling as well (esp in the front as in a RWD that will induce understeer)
A WRC driver explains here.
http://speed.academy/how-swaybars-work/


For a chassis where cars can be bought for $500, I can't imagine the marginal benefit of going with a tubular rear LCAs would merit a $1K premium unless youve already spent money practically everywhere else first. One item that i dont see mentioned yet would be new bushings everywhere as your cars stock bushings are probably sloppy after 20yrs. I would also consider upgrading brakes before tubular LCAs as bigger rotors, calipers, and good pads would allow you to brake much later going into a corner under spirited driving conditions.

-g

My advice is to set the coilovers so the lower control arms are just about level (measured ball joint to bushing in front, inner bushings to knuckle bushings in back) or so that the inner pivot is slightly lower than the outer. But that's not as low as a lot of people like.



Springs resist pitch; sway bars resist roll. The thicker they are, the more they'll prevent body roll in cornering.



That depends on you. Do you have the Lincoln arms yet? If so, I might stick with them. Bill says his arms are lighter than the Lincoln arms, which is tempting, but so far I've spent my money on other things.
 
i plan on getting performance brakes it right now I'm on the edge of I should do a cobra hub/brake swap. Bushings are a no brainier I just have to save for them (poly bushings) very expensive. I have seen a few Lincolns at the junk yard and I could nab the lcas for dirt cheap. If i did are there lincoln specific bushings is need? Getting them is no problem but installing might be
 
Bushings on the Lincoln stuff r no big deal, BUT you gotta grab the specific outer BOLTS for arm to knuckle (funky torxs heads)

Adam
 
i plan on getting performance brakes it right now I'm on the edge of I should do a cobra hub/brake swap. Bushings are a no brainier I just have to save for them (poly bushings) very expensive. I have seen a few Lincolns at the junk yard and I could nab the lcas for dirt cheap. If i did are there lincoln specific bushings is need? Getting them is no problem but installing might be

Polyurethane bushings kind of suck. They're fine for motor/trans mounts, since they don't have to move, but they bind like crazy in control arm applications.

The UHMW rear LCA/knuckle bushings are another story. That material works very well.
 
For spirited driving, I'd skip right past poly and grab some of Jay's Delrin bushings ( JayBob here on SCCoA ) due to the higher durometer of the bushings.

(For street, I see nothing wrong with poly as long as you plan on replacing them every few years when they go out of round. YMMV of course.)

RwP
 
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