stoutlt1

I have 97 trans am and i was thinkin about puttin the slp/bilstein kit on, I have herd that this kit handles well but i was wondering how well it hooks off the line, basically I want to lower the car an inch or so have a decent ride that handles well but still gets off the line like no other, any help at all would be great thanks.

JD_AMG

Something that " gets off the line like no other" isn't going to handle well, and something that handles well isn't going to launch like that.
Search, this has definitely been covered hundreds of times.
Generally what you can do is when you go to the dragstrip run slicks/skinnies, and remove the front swaybar (and if you have an adjustable rear bar you can adjust it to be stiffer).

ritchie1791

I have bilstein struts on my car but I need the SLP springs which I hear makes the ride more comfortable and stiff so it doesn't sway so much; however, I will vouch for the fact that for drag it will not plant the wheels down as good. Slicks help a lot! Get lower control arms as well, helped my car, keeps you from smoking the tires so much at the start.

Robbie Wilson

You might want a nice rear bar for launching. Stiffer rear suspension will help with handling if you run staggered wheels or drag radials in the rear. I would run a big front bar that you can remove when you are at the strip, but if you want to hook any-day of the week on the street try something a little smaller up front. Like a 32mm 1le front bar opposed to a strano 35mm front bar. Both are hollow. Now to shocks. Koni's at there softest setting are very similar to blistens. Since you would be compensating a lot for the ability to "hook" you might want the adjustable koni's to fine tune things the way you like it. Same goes for the front. My opinion is that if your not serious about handling in competition, controllable over-steer is more fun than under-steer, and luckily a lot of things that work for drag racing can be translated into a slight over-steer bias. My main point is that the "best" setup is the one that you like the most. Adjust-ability helps you get a feel for how things effect the car's handling, once you try it for yourself, you can get a better understanding of what you want or need and then your question answers itself. However as a starting point I would use strano's adjustable rear bar and a strano 35 or 1le 32 front bar. Koni sa 4/4, any spring (do your homework about how spring rates effect handling) and then double adjustable lca's. Stock length torque arm. Lca adjustable relo-brackets and a double adjustable phb. If your really feeling experimental then go buy a watts link or try out lowering the phb. If you want to be even crazier try out the de-coupled torque arm from unbalanced engineering. Do some more homework, suspension design is not something new, just research it. Don't get stuck looking at only 4th gen fbody suspension, learn how things effect all cars and then translate that info and apply it towards your own car. How can things like a heavy engine in front effect what's needed to control that weight. Can this change by making it lighter? Would the same parts be needed if the weight changes? How does a live axle change things? etc. etc.