$250 worth of Suspension Mods at HP Addicts to Spend

[The Stig]

Well, to briefly explain: I won HP Addicts $250 facebook sweepstakes Now, I want to spend this $250 on suspension mods. So These are the choices I have narrowed it down to:

Strut Tower Brace

Subframe Inserts

Rear Sway Bar

Differential and Rear Cradle Bushings Kit

1" Lowering Springs

[Ovenmitt]

Dont do a rear bar by itself. Mismatched bars make for a very odd handling car prone to snap oversteer. Subframe inserts you'd probably get the best overall handling improvement from, tied with lowering springs, except the inserts also help with wheel hop and the whole rear suspension moving around.

[Redemption]

People diss them, but the bushings make a huge difference in the feeling of the car.

Jason

[axis]

Originally Posted by Ovenmitt

Dont do a rear bar by itself. Mismatched bars make for a very odd handling car prone to snap oversteer. Subframe inserts you'd probably get the best overall handling improvement from, tied with lowering springs, except the inserts also help with wheel hop and the whole rear suspension moving around.

I would have to disagree on the rear sway. I think it's a very viable option and makes a HUGE difference in the way the car handles. There's a reason why several of the suspension shops sell the rear bar by itself. I did my rear first then the front a couple days later it was like night and day with just the rear bar. The car was MUCH more predictable. Adding the front made a difference too but not near as much as just the rear made.

Bushings are a good choice if you can do them yourself. Not everyone can drop the rear cradle then fabricate tools to get those bushings out. Paying a shop to do them GREATLY adds to the price.

[The Stig]

Thanks for the input. Yea bushings are the one mod that I cant do myself. About how many hours of labor would they charge to install the rear cradle and differential bushings?

[TAG UR IT]

Dude...bushings are easy! I'd even be happy to walk you through it when you want to take on the task.


If I may....

Bite the bullet and get the following, you will LOVE the difference....

Lowering springs.
Rear Subframe Bush inserts
Front and rear sways
Front radius bush inserts

Your car will ride and drive like a completely different beast.

I did these mods with Pedders products and let me tell you, "HOLY SHEEZ!!!"

1" drop in front and 1.5" drop in rear, though. And I get compliments on the drop all the time...and people especially want to know how low I went in the rear. Kinda funny, but it's only a 1/2" difference.

I'd use that $250 towards getting everything done. If you can't do it all at once, I can't tell you which to do first...maybe the drop for looks? Sure, it'll handle a liiiiiittle better.

Sub frames won't give you any aesthetics, but will help somewhat. Sways will help, but again...it's a combination of everything that is going to make the difference. Promise....you need to slowly, but surely, get ALL of these done.

[The Stig]

Originally Posted by TAG UR IT

Dude...bushings are easy! I'd even be happy to walk you through it when you want to take on the task.


If I may....

Bite the bullet and get the following, you will LOVE the difference....

Lowering springs.
Rear Subframe Bush inserts
Front and rear sways
Front radius bush inserts

Your car will ride and drive like a completely different beast.

I did these mods with Pedders products and let me tell you, "HOLY SHEEZ!!!"

1" drop in front and 1.5" drop in rear, though. And I get compliments on the drop all the time...and people especially want to know how low I went in the rear. Kinda funny, but it's only a 1/2" difference.

I'd use that $250 towards getting everything done. If you can't do it all at once, I can't tell you which to do first...maybe the drop for looks? Sure, it'll handle a liiiiiittle better.

Sub frames won't give you any aesthetics, but will help somewhat. Sways will help, but again...it's a combination of everything that is going to make the difference. Promise....you need to slowly, but surely, get ALL of these done.

Thanks Tag.

My end goal is to eventually have all of these, but I'm trying to use self control and not spend so much on mods. Its not that I can't mod or whatnot, just that I need to be responsible about it.

All said and done, I guess a better question would be, which one of these things can I knock out of the running? I feel like the strut brace can wait a little while. If not just gone all together. I'm kind of leaning towards subframe inserts on that it will help with wheel hop and with stabilizing the rear.

I want to do the split drop so I think I can eliminate lowering springs. Tag, was there a reason that you went with 1"/1.5"? I know that BMR sells a 1.4"/1" drop, and I really was liking the look of the car with a bit of rake. I mean, is there a performance benefit to having it lower in the back?

[PoorMansCamaro]

i'd say, go with lowering springs.

[BAWLZ SS]

Lowering springs!!

[Nomad]

Congrats! I voted to start with the foundation, which is the cradle and differential bushings. You can build from there.

[The Stig]

Thanks everyone who posted and/or voted. I am going with the rear cradle and rear differential bushings kit. Which I hope to soon follow with lowering springs