nickyroo

i havent been on here for a while and lately ive been thinking about my intentions for the car i spent all last summer busting my ass on...

this summer it is going to be all about handling. i think ive made a decent amount of power on the car and im really tired of hearing some of these civic and 240sx boys telling me my big piece of shit is only worthy in a straight line. i had big plans for the car's drag strip future, even went out and bought myself a nice little 3 speed auto for this track season (not installed, thank god) but the fact is versatility is where it's at. spending a few days at skip barber racing school last summer started making me think, then riding in OriginalM's car kind of topped it off. at the moment the car doesnt even have a front swaybar, and im not exactly bill gates, so you can see this is definitely going to be a loooong project. but itll be worth it


so anyways, any tips and suggestions from those of you with experience in road racing and autocross, please point me in some kind of direction. i literally dont know a single thing about the local auto-x scene and i would like to get started late april. also any f-body techs with any knowledge of this stuff please flood me with information haha

hatch77

Sub frame connectors are gonna make a nice difference in the corners, and you should def invest in some of those. They are easy to install and anyone with a welder can do it.

If you have an IRS setup, and you're wanting to be hardcore in the handling dept; a solid rear axle will do wonders for you as well as hold the HP better.

A camaro chassis flexes quite a bit and strut tower braces are another very important thing. You are going to have to drill a couple holes in order to make them fit, but it is a big upgrade.

My friend (Zulu) enjoys driving his Mustang in auto-x events and he chose the KYB GR-2s as his shock of preference. I would prefer some Bilstiens, but to each his own i guess...

Archer

I think getting some sway bars/ strut tower braces might be the best bang for your buck suspension wise. After that I'd go for some nice Bilstein sports and whatever springs are good for fbodys (i have no idea).

Welcome to THE DARK SIDE!!

nickyroo

you think a solid rear outperforms IRS in terms of handling? ive always been told otherwise

and yea the car has a solid rear in it right now

hatch77

Well, as far as my understandings of handlling characteristics, if you have a solid rear axle, it prevents your suspension from distorting. Us guys that drive FWD vehicles are ALWAYS buying rear tie bars that in effect make a solid rear axle out of our independant suspension in the back.

When you corner hard, your suspension distorts to accomodate the lean of the car and one wheel sits higher than the other. If you can remove this distortion it would put more stress on your shocks and reduce the need for a rear swaybar.

But that's just my understanding/experience, and I'm sure some F-body dudes will call me an idiot.

shawn22

http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/

Go there. Register. Read. Thats what I did when I wanted to make my car a open tracker.

Also, check out http://www.jonaadland.com/Z28/Z28/Z28.html

MerF

Sweet Jesus, the Wangan sig...

racerns

I agree, a very good site. If you have any specific question feel free to PM me. The question will be do you want to make the car a competitive autocrosser or do you want to just have a good handeling car and hit up some roadcourse stuff. There are some great handeling mods that will just throw you out of a competitive class for autoX.

HatefulMechanic

tie bars act nothing like a solid rear axle.....all they do is stiffen the mounting points for the rear suspension.

a solid rear axle is nowhere near comparison to an IRS. a solid rear can be made to handle very well. you just gotta know what to do

and no Fbody ever came with an IRS.

how does stiffening the rear suspension put more stress on your shocks and reduce the need for a swaybar? all its going to do is make that corner plant harder, and it will increase the need for a good bar or suspension setup

racerns

Yes, pretty much ignore what he is saying.