View Full Version : Need some better handling!!
01_grandam
08-08-2006, 05:38 PM
I noticed today how horrible my handling in my 02 SE. What can I do to help this? I looked at some front and rear strut bars and after I finish my turbo project on the car I am going to be getting 18" rims and an Eibach lowering kit.
coupe
08-09-2006, 06:52 AM
Lowering springs
sway bars
strut tower braces
Thats about it.
Dave C
08-09-2006, 11:02 AM
what about wider/stickier tires with shorter sidewalls?
and since you are putting a turbo on, you might want to check out some lightweight wheels... Centerline are expensive, but are lightweight and look good.
coupe
08-09-2006, 11:41 AM
DOH!
Yeah wider wheels and rubber is a big one too.
Don't forget when thinking about dropping it that there are no known struts out there for our 02 SE for lowering springs. Any strut you put will blow. Until I can find something that's interchangeable that's solely for lowered GA's, I'm not lowering my car. Unless I'm wrong and there is something, only struts available are for stock height, and lowering will make them blow faster. Until I find something (someone please show me otherwise!) that's for lowering, I'm staying stock height - you may want to also, unless you like replacing struts. And when people say, "I've been lowered on these for xxx amount of time, and I'm still fine..." I prolly won't listen til I see, "I've got my car lowered on these..." and I go to a website and it says "For lowered vehicles" :) Long post, but something to think about. Do it right the first time.
01_grandam
08-10-2006, 07:39 PM
Well after I get the turbo done, I am putting on 18" rims with a 225/40 size tire on them. I will probably just get the strut and sway bars for now and hopefully those rims with a high performance tire on them will help out quite a bit. My brother has a old set of rims that I am pretty for sure will fit on my GA that is 8" wide so I can get a set of Nitto 555R drag radials and just swap them out when I go to the track.
Dave C
08-10-2006, 08:20 PM
in response to Matt...
the struts will blow quicker if you bottom them out. they may not last quite as long as with stock springs, but you should be able to get a good life out of them still (if they don't bottom). also, they probably won't work as well because the lowered springs will be more stiff than the stock springs. I guess it all depends on how you like your setup.
to 01_grandam... there are some cheap, lightweight, VERY well taken care of rims for really cheap in the For Sale section, they are a sticky...
so how many people would actually BUY struts made for lowering a Grand Am? and if so, what about fixing that clunking sound I hear about?
car audio dave
08-10-2006, 09:46 PM
KYB is supposedly developing a set for our cars, but its already 7 months overdue.
they will wear out faster, consider it a cost of modifying the car. performance tires wear out faster as well.
oh, and 225/40 tires arent gonna help too much. i went from 225/40 to 235/40 and it could tella huge difference. i also added a front STB at the same time and the improvement was noticeable.
Dave - thanks for the clearing up. Makes sense if you bottom out that they'll get trashed faster. What mileage estimate would you put out for a set of KYB's and H&R springs? That's what I'm looking into right now. I don't go to the track, and I have never bottomed out, and I don't drive like an ass. Right now, stockers have 42k on them and the ride is fine.
Dave C
08-12-2006, 09:38 AM
even if you haven't bottom out with your stock ride height, it could be easy for you to do with it lowered 1-2". if you look at a strut, there will be 1-2" less of rod to play with in compression. I'm just trying to say you'll have to be more careful than with stock even. and watch for sharp bumps :)
it would be really hard to put out a mileage estimate for any given setup... Monroe's advertising recommends changing them every 50,000 miles.
I just don't wanna half-ass this setup. I won't have rims, just the stockers. Maybe for now I should just concentrate on doing the exhaust, seeings how I've got that all layed out basically.
cradled
08-13-2006, 04:33 AM
Originally posted by car audio dave
KYB is supposedly developing a set for our cars, but its already 7 months overdue.
they will wear out faster, consider it a cost of modifying the car. performance tires wear out faster as well.
oh, and 225/40 tires arent gonna help too much. i went from 225/40 to 235/40 and it could tella huge difference. i also added a front STB at the same time and the improvement was noticeable.
The AGX's? they're out...
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