setting up a fbody for twistys

**blackbirdbrain89** · 10-19-2007, 06:41 AM

u have seen fbodys in road racing and things like that and i noticed that they do farly well.. i know part of having a fun car is not only a fast/quick car but a car that can take a back road at 100+ and this brings me to the ? at hand.. what parts help the gratest on f bodys or better yeat what are the weakest links .. i have already put a strut tower brace on my car and noticed a alsome improve mint i have the spohn adjustable stb but now that i have that on the car it feels as if the rear end of my car is to soft or week.. any one have any idea what is the weakes link on the rear of the fbody? i plan on doing full coil overs on the car but i want to get ever thing else first so that im not driving around with off set rear end that is a big wory with me b/c i plan on running a 305 wide rubber on the rear .. and i do not wish to kill my body any help???

**KyleLs1** · 10-19-2007, 07:31 AM

I upgraded my suspension this year and noticed a huge difference from stock.
- Strano Revalved Bilsteins
- Eibach Pro Kit Springs
- Hotchkiss Subframe Connectors (if i were to do this mod again i would go with a 3 point sfc instead of 2pt)
- Hotchkiss strut tower brace
- Edelbrock adjustable panhard bar
- Edelbrock LCA's and LCA relocation brackets

that made a huge difference but is still not the end of the road. Vehicle still rides nice and comfortably, but can corner 100x better than before.

I would also like to add a torque arm and bigger sway bars.

There are a million diffferent ways to upgrade your suspension for any type of budget that you are on.

Im sure other members have some other suggestions for you as well!

**SIK02SS** · 10-19-2007, 08:31 AM

to have fun in the twisties, it really doesnt take much. if you wanted you could get some 1LE springs, Koni s/a shocks and strano front/rear sway bars and 1LE LCAs...that would be the cheaper route.

if you really wanted to get into it though this would be my list (ok, this is my list):

Koni 4/4
Strano Springs
Strano front/rear sways
you will also need a d/a PHR..i have one from SJM and like it a lot.

and a strut tower brace does nothing on our cars but add weight and make a nice spot to lean on when working in the engine bay...or just get in your way

**third_shift|studios** · 10-19-2007, 11:02 AM

bull shit, the STB helps. Don't care what anyone says-there's much less rolling from it, especially combined with a big ass sway bar. My suggestion:

Subframes
Konis
35 mm front sway bar
TqArm
LCA's and Brackets
Adj Panhard
STB
Front Sway Bar.

So far I have about 70% of that...can't wait to have my house bought so i can get the rest

oh, the weakest part of the car is the shocks and lack of subframes As mentioned, a quick/cheap upgrade are Konis w/ stock springs and a 35mm front sway bar, toss in some subframes and you'll be pretty stiff

**Danger731** · 10-19-2007, 11:17 AM

^ Ouch Tell Us How You Really Feel

**SIK02SS** · 10-19-2007, 12:18 PM

Originally Posted by third_shift|studios

bull shit, the STB helps. Don't care what anyone says-there's much less rolling from it, especially combined with a big ass sway bar. My suggestion:

Subframes
Konis
35 mm front sway bar
TqArm
LCA's and Brackets
Adj Panhard
STB
Front Sway Bar.

So far I have about 70% of that...can't wait to have my house bought so i can get the rest

oh, the weakest part of the car is the shocks and lack of subframes As mentioned, a quick/cheap upgrade are Konis w/ stock springs and a 35mm front sway bar, toss in some subframes and you'll be pretty stiff

ok. call your bs

your wrong. heres a quotefrom the f-body suspension guru

Originally posted by Sam Strano

We can supply you with a STB is you wish, but by in large they are useless as the front suspension design doesn't transmit forces into the tops of the towers like struts do (we have coil-over shocks). We can also supply you with the SFC's, but again not necessary for getting what you want.

oh, heres another from another racer on frrax

[quote name='98_1LE' date='Feb 25 2007, 06:53 PM' post='98206']
I am not nearly as important as Mitch or Glenn, so keep that in mind.

I have never run a shock tower brace on a fourthgen, and see no benefit from them. If the front end flexes, it will be such that the loaded front wheel gains negative camber. Last I checked, that wasn't a bad thing. My red car has worn out 48 R-comps and is as solid as they come.

YMMV

do some research b4 you go staking claims at what does/doesnt do anything. its a waste of $ unless you want a pretty object to look at and lean on when working on the car..oh ya, and get in your way

**Carlos01SS** · 10-19-2007, 12:24 PM

Sam Strano has won the National SCCA auto-X championship 2 or 3 times in his career and running an ls1 f-body, he has designed his own swaybars and has his own spring rates, and he says that a properly setup f-body with great shocks and matching springs with swaybars with an adj panhard rod is all you need to have a great handling vehicle, and that strut tower braces and subframe connectors are not needed, in fact it's an unnecessary weight add-on.

In my experience, and with Sam's experience, I would listen to him before I listen to anyone else swearing about how great strut tower braces and subframe connectors are for our vehicle.

I listened to the hype and bought SFC's from LGMotorsports to prevent rear fender "dimples" and guess what, I got them anyway.

A great shock/spring setup with the right swaybars gets our f-bodies setup so GOOD for the twisties!

Adding a STB after you do the above items will not do much of anything, ditto for the SFC's...

And read my sig, I learned the hard way. If I had a choice I wouldn't have installed the welded on SFC's, too late for me.

Anyone want to buy a chromed STB from LGMotorsports???

**Eugenio_SS** · 10-19-2007, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by third_shift|studios

bull shit, the STB helps. Don't care what anyone says-there's much less rolling from it, especially combined with a big ass sway bar. My suggestion:

Subframes
Konis
35 mm front sway bar
TqArm
LCA's and Brackets
Adj Panhard
STB
Front Sway Bar.

So far I have about 70% of that...can't wait to have my house bought so i can get the rest

oh, the weakest part of the car is the shocks and lack of subframes As mentioned, a quick/cheap upgrade are Konis w/ stock springs and a 35mm front sway bar, toss in some subframes and you'll be pretty stiff

(my turn)
totally irrelevant... although the stb will help in body rigidity, it will do NOTHING for handling and roll for that matter... following your analogy, a rollcage is a great handling improvement, making the car roll less when cornering ? don't think so... the body is stiffer... but the dynamics don't change.
I've done several tests @ different tracks with exact same setup w/ and w/o stb... and times were identical, as well as speeds.
And i'm not the only one that has done those tests, btw.
it's a nice appearance mod and handy to support when working in the engine bay, though.

**Eugenio_SS** · 10-19-2007, 02:06 PM

now to answer the initial question, it depends on how much you want to go in mods, and $
The best improvement is by far the shocks.
If you can afford more than just shocks, do springs + shocks + sway-bars.
After that, if you want to go faster, get better brakes (talking about pads)
rear differential will help a lot for cornering, but that's an $$$ mod... something like a T2R will cost you ~$500

**gmendoza** · 10-19-2007, 04:09 PM

What will make the biggest difference?

Better driving skills!!!!

**Eugenio_SS** · 10-19-2007, 07:24 PM

agreed... best mod is seat time.
without getting expensive, alignment is pretty high up there as well.
with higher amount of $$$.... shocks.

**blackbirdbrain89** · 10-20-2007, 10:35 AM

i have been driving my own fbodys for 3 years.. i also drive a few of my buddys race cars "cars that are set up for auto-x" like a 540rwhp 1995 mr2 that has like 20 k in to his set up. i pretty sure can drive.. i packed 44k on my old fire bird in 3 years and olny live 7 miles for my work..