vin1382

I completely new to suspension. As far as power goals, all said and done I will probably have somewhere in the neighborhood of 450 rwhp(with nitrous, 360-370 rwhp without).

What I am looking for is a setup that is going to allow me to plant the power on the street. I really dont go to the strip ever, I probably will a few times once my car is set up though.

As my car sits now, i have around 320rwhp or so, and even with nitto drag radials, when i go from a stop, or if my car downshifts into first gear, there is no traction at all. granted, its much better then when i had regular tires, but i'd like more control. I figure those problems will magnify once I get my heads/intake ported(by LE), and then signifigantly once I get nitrous.

I never autocross and i am not really concerned about cornering, etc. I just want it to plant as well as could be expected on the street when i floor it.

Suggestions please?? I would do a search(and have)..but i dont even know enough to know where to begin.

mook99TA

start with Sway bars and shocks and a set of SFC's go to UMi performance for SFC's they are the cheapest around and look just as goos as BMR

CamaroSS30thAnn

if u want traction settup for lauching , id reccoment
Rear lower control arms and relocation brackets
adjustable Torque Arm
SFC (subframe connectors)
Drag spring and shocks (u can alwyas go with springs and shocks that are for street strip applications)

DarkHorse

Plan for a basic strip setup and hope it works on the street. It's hard enough to get a suspension setup that hooks hard on a track that's prepped let alone different street materials. Plus, on the street unless it's an organized race you rarely will get to heat the tires.

Drag shocks/springs
adj torque arm
lower control arms w/brackets
sticky tires
remove front sway bar
skinnies

CamaroSS30thAnn

whoop forgot to add

STICKIES (sticky tires for the slow ppl)

also vin1382 im very interested in that cam u have , what kind of numbers are u putting down with stock heads?

vin1382

Sounds like the best bet, and yea i know its hard to hook on the street..but i want to get as close as possible to something consistent.

What would you say is the stickiest tire I can run on the street(legal)? I really dont care about longetivity because its not a daily driver and i dont put too many miles on the car a year.

vin1382

i havent had a dyno since the dyno sheet i have in my sig where i put down 310 rwhp sae. i have since added a high flow cat, and a 52 mm throttle body. I am pretty sure the cat added some power, i was able to feel a SOTP difference, and also i think something was wrong with the old cat(it was 13 years old). I also did notice a SOTP gain with the 52 mm tb..but im not sure if it gained much as i hear SOTP gains with a bigger tb are misleading. I figure I am around 325 rwhp or so with the mods..but i really dont know. I am sure I would have some more power with long tubes.

I am not going to get another dyno until I get my heads/intake ported sometime in the spring or summer.

CamaroSS30thAnn

alright thanks , i belive ur car should have put down just a little more with that cam

but hey get that ish dynoed and let me know , ill prolly end up buying the cam soon anywaysm, im pretty intent on buying it

93SS

There is more to our cars than (drag racing). He said he did not go to the strip. I don't either. For a true street car with that kind of power, you had better think about handling and brakes. A lot of highways have some turns in them and traffic is usually present on most. With that kind of power , go ahead and take that front sway bar off, just don't try and keep up with me on an interstate rat race at 60-130mph in most areas. I enjoy a total package car on power and braking and handling. Stoplight to stoplight driving is not for everyone,including me. You guys need to open up and smell the roses and get out of the street drag racing( limited use cars and unsafe on most highways).

vin1382

I will upgrade the brakes eventually as well. I never take my car over 100 or 105 at most, and thats on a big *** highway with not many turns.

I dont really race either. Ive been in a big *** accident before, so i try to be as safe as possible. I'll post pics later, it was pretty bad.

Simply put, when i hit the gas, I want as little tire spin as possible because i dont want to be all over the road like it is now...and im sure it will get much worse as power goes up.

vin1382

I agree i think my car had more in it at the time. That being said, i know I gained more power with the TB and especially the cat. It woke up alot when i changed that cat..which makes me think something was wrong with it. Also I think i would have picked up a few ponies with long tubes and no cat. I'm pretty confident that im in the 320-330 range now...and that with an auto. With a stick, that would probably be around 340-350 rwhp...which seems to be the going rate for most decent to large sized cams on a stock headed car. The sound of the cam is quite nice also..lopes pretty good.

CamaroSS30thAnn

a clogged cat would do it ,
not sure if im going with a larger throttle body yet , but if it could be held of then i prolly wont do it yet .

ABA383

Here's what I have in my set up. It works great for me and retains all kinds of streetability:

Stock springs/shocks(Decarbons)
Hotchkis SFCs
Spohn rod ended LCAs
Hotchkis panhad bar
Spohn tunnel brace mounted TA (pinion angle 2deg neg)
stock front sway bar with poly end links
Spohn 1" solid chrome moly rear sway bar (poly mounts/end links)
16x8 stock 5 stars all around
M/T Radials 255 50 R16s

1.55-1.57 60's and hooks like crazy on the street, even handles well even with the DRs...

I'm 385-400 rwhp depending on what the dyno feels like saying....

--Alan

License2ILL

I really like this last post's setup. ABA383, I do care about tire longevity tho, what do you recommend that hooks as hard but lasts longer, on the street?

I agree totally with the sentiment that the front sway bar just shouldn't have to come OFF!! In order to get some travel up front I guess it's the only way, I wish there was an on/off button for that. But alas I DO want to have the option to high-speed thrash here and there, I've grown to accept some interstate highway challenges here and there.

I want to hook hard on the street, i barely make it to the strip also, but I want to still thrash on the highway good too.

The problem i'm seeing mostly these days (is not so much the ricer as I think they've learned that heavy metal is where it's at, rice is meant for ingesting and dinosaurs are always hungry, so don't provoke them) are the later model Beemer's and Benzo's.

Throughout the past recent years these luxurious vehicles have gotten quite brawny in power, they've grown "cojones" sort of speak and so along have their owners, it is this crowd whom I prowl for now. And enjoy the most pounding on. (350Z's and G35's fall into the same category)

And I dare not lie, for what seperates me from the "aww dang I lost, let me sideswipe everyone ricer" is my ability to tip my hat off to someone who's bested me. And BEnz-o's are at the top of that short list on highway high-speed shootouts. Not to whine or excuse but THEIR suspension is just BETTER. They like to go to 150 those focks, that's not to say that I will be stupid enough to match them, but I'd like to know I can at least get up to 130 comfy. I don't like going over 115, it's just not neccessary, but I don't mind brushing 130-140 for a sec with these focks and then letting up on the gas for them to enjoy their "brush with death thrill".

We're not under-powered, but our suspension does need adjustments, I do not feel comfortable at 120 or 130 in my car, and I'd like to address that while still being able to hook hard at a light.

I was consider HAL adjustable shocks, although expensive they seem like a good advantage being adjustable. And maybe even stiffer springs, but like I said I still want to hook at a light, and it's tough to figure out what's a good blend for both worlds.

DarkHorse

What does removing the front swaybar have to do with a 60-130 pull? I'll still mow you down with or without the swaybar unless you're talking about a 60-130 pull thru turns???

And then you go on to claim that street drag racing is "unsafe on most highways" - comical.

I don't street race at all - still drive my car on the highway with no problems. I don't get the chatter about !front sway bar and highway driving?