noob needs suspension improvement advice

[littlewing57]

ok.... first... I'm sorry for even asking. I know there are 1000's of threads about this stuff but I'm dizzy from reading them and not understanding what I'm reading. so.....

I was thinking about improving the handling of my 2013 LT/RS. It's my daily driver, most of my driving is on the highway. I just want to make it a little sportier. I thought maybe strut tower brace, sway bars, springs, or a combination. What's the most bang for my buck... I'm thinking $500 at most but I'll listen to any advice? I'm a novice in the garage so it can't be TOO difficult to do.

sorry if this is redundant...

[davidscamaro]

Sway bar's make massive improvement, totally eliminates body roll

[littlewing57]

Originally Posted by davidscamaro

Sway bar's make massive improvement, totally eliminates body roll

Do I need to do front and rear at the same time or can I just do the rear and see how I like it? I've done enough research to see that I won't have to lift the motor to change the rear bar. That appeals to me....

[UBB]

Fitting mine with the Eibach Pro+ kit right now. Supposed to be a major upgrade in handling.

[littlewing57]

Originally Posted by UBB

Fitting mine with the Eibach Pro+ kit right now. Supposed to be a major upgrade in handling.

If you haven't purchased yet this is the cheapest price I've found.

http://www.lmperformance.com/831586/...3-to-2015.html

[UBB]

Originally Posted by littlewing57

If you haven't purchased yet this is the cheapest price I've found.

http://www.lmperformance.com/831586/...3-to-2015.html

I have and that price is indeed better than what I paid.

[littlewing57]

Originally Posted by UBB

I have and that price is indeed better than what I paid.

It happens to the best of us...

Do me a favor and share some feedback?

[CamaroFred]

You want to start at the foundation.

rear cradle bushing inserts.
Front radius rod inserts.

Takes away all the wishy-washy from the car.

[Matty Ice]

Do you want to lower the ride height? I am trying to sell my 1le springs/struts/shocks and rear sway bar. That would make a nice package on your RS. I think the ride height would stay the same? It would be significantly stiffer and just adding the rear bar would give more neutral/oversteer, car will rotate around in the corners better. One of the upgrades for 1le's is to put a front SS bar on or go larger rear bar. I went larger rear bar. I have had an offer on the rear shocks but I would rather sell all the parts together. Shoot me a PM if you want know more.

[Silent...]

I went with the Hotchkis sway bar set that includes end links. Ours are very thin to be throwing a bigger bar on without upgrading them too. At least for the track I don't want any issues with a weak link. I called Hotchkis directly and received the Camaro5 family discount and free shipping. I was going to do rear cradle inserts as well but ran into a third party Amazon seller issue. I could still get them but I'll do the bars and then reevaluate. I'll probably go BMR for those.

[littlewing57]

Originally Posted by CamaroFred

You want to start at the foundation.

rear cradle bushing inserts.
Front radius rod inserts.

Takes away all the wishy-washy from the car.

is the difference the durometer, material, or both. Looks like an inexpensive way to get my toe in the water!

[PostNup]

Being a V6, I doubt you have the wheel hop issue that the V8s have.

That being said, as mentioned above - front radius rod insert bushings. Next would be the cradle bushings. For this, there is no substitution for the Pegasus Billet Solid Bushings... trust me As far as sway bars, there is nothing that compares to the JPSS Black Magic rear sway bar. These, plus an aggressive street alignment has yielded me 1.02g so far.

Regardless, these 3 parts are all available from JPSSonline. PM him or give him a call. Pete is without a doubt the guru for our suspensions. He also has a thread called The Book of 5th Gen that has pics and explanations for everything.

Hope this helps. A couple of hundred more than you are budgeting now will get you a several fold increase over the insert bushings.

[its a syn]

I went with BMR stage 2 or package 2. I also upgraded rear trailing and rear end links. I did not have the cradle bushings installed as JDP motorsports said it would make the ride very harsh for daily driving. Simply some of the best money I have spent on this car. Very intensive install, may want to get sways first and see how you like that. before and after pics and some from the track.

[bkevind]

Aside from all the bushings you can do, I think the two most important items for actual grip improvement (not always perceived as "handling" improvement) are:

Tires!
Shocks/Struts

Grip is how you can brake later, enter turns faster, carry more speed through corners, and exit faster = drop in lap times or = safer, more capacity to grip in any given situation giving you more room to recover from dangerous situation.

Tires alone won't help with the "feeling" of body roll and brake dive. But they are one of the best things to spend more money on. My first recommendation.

Shock upgrade is my next recommendation, good shocks are expensive but make a world of difference.

Springs - more spring rate, matched with a capable set of shocks is a noticeable improvement. You can also get a nice little drop out of it, which looks cool.

I have mixed feelings about sway bars. They are important, and really help with that flat cornering. But going too big/stiff on sway bars is a bit of a bandaid when you're lacking in spring rate. It's a good upgrade, to keep some comfort with a relatively mild spring rate but change the handling characteristic for the better. Feels pretty awesome. Also you can change the handling character of the car (especially with adjustable sway bars). If you want it to be loose (tail happy) then softer setting in front and stiffer in rear. If you want to keep a bit of understeer dialed in for that safety margin when really pushing it, you can do that too. Anyway, going for the stiffest option isn't always the best option - you want a balanced approach for the whole system.

Strut bar if you don't have one, will help stiffen up the front of the car, which allows your suspension to do it's job that much better.

Then, I would look at bushings. No poly IMO.

A sometimes overlooked upgrade to handling is a quality LSD. It's not a suspension item - but it makes huge difference where it counts, getting that power to ground effectively in corners.

my rambling .02