Falco78

Hey guys I am in the process of upgrading my suspension as the original 122k miles stuff still rides okay, but it's time to upgrade. I live about 10 miles from Summit Point Raceway so road racing is in store come spring time even though it is primarily a DD. Here are the items I am planning on going with please give me opinions on better options for the handling on my car. My big questions are on the shocks as I am not sure on Bilstein, KYB AGX, Tokico or Koni (trying to avoid these due to cost). I'm also questioning if the extra cost of the 3 point SFC's is going to offer much more than the 2 point SFC I have selected below. Also is there anything I have missed on my list? All of this comes to $1616.91. I have already ordered replacement inner and outer tie rods and upper and lower ball joints to basically make the suspension/steering entirely new as I just put new crossdrilled rotors, ceramic pads and stainless steel brake lines to get a new braking system.

-Shocks/struts
SLP Bilstein Shocks and Strano springs
http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...D=7&PartID=612

-Sway Bars
Strano front and rear solid sway bars
http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...D=7&PartID=506

-Subframe Connectors
UMI 2 point subframe connectors
http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...ID=7&PartID=50

-Torque Arm
UMI Torque Arm--Adjustable, Transmission mounted
http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...ID=7&PartID=35

-Bump stops
Urethane bumpstop
http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...D=7&PartID=781

-Shock Tower brace
SPOHN Tubular Shock Tower Brace
http://www.lmperformance.com/78635/1.html

-Panhard Bar
UMI Panhard bar
http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...D=67&ModelID=7

Falco78

I will later be going with
-Wheels
C6 Z06 18x9.5 and 18x10.5 wheels

- Tires
Bridgestone Potenza 265/35/18
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes
Bridgestone Potenza 295/35/18
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

Falco78

The wheels I have enough amazon gift cards that I won't have to pay a penny for them. I guess it's one of the benefits of travelling for work and redeeming my hotel points for gift cards...

JD_AMG

Skip the STB (does nothing), SFCs (arguable if does anything significant) and the torque arm (not necessary for handling) and use that saved money toward Koni SAs.
Also drilled rotors and ceramic pads are far from ideal. (You want blank rotors and a more metaic style pad for good braking). Watch those rotors for cracking...

JD_AMG

Staggered wheels/tires are also not ideal for handling, but thats up to you. Many track guys use 17x11" wheels with 315s or 18x10.5s with 315s all around.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I'd recommend a non staggered tire setup also...

Also I'd recommend the hollow bars over the solid's. You save a lot of weight for $39. NOTHING else will save you that much weight for so little money. Nothing... and fwiw solid bars cost a bit more to ship so the actual to the door difference isn't even $39, more like $29.

I'd also skip the STB, it's not a bad thing but there are way bigger fish to fry. And skipping that easily pays for the much lighter hollow bars if you want to look at it that way.

2 points will make the majority of the different the 3's will, but weigh less and cost less. And fwiw, while SFC's are never a bad idea they don't make nearly the performance difference of say a good set of shocks. And truth be told if you are serious, while Koni's aren't cheap they are the better shock for a performance minded corner carver.

Cross-drilled rotors are a bad idea. They will crack and if you want to run at all hard at a track you will need to upgrade the brake pads at some point.

Falco78

Yeah I will pull the STB and torque arm off the list, but in the past few cars the SFC I could feel the difference in the tightness of the chassis so that's a must for me. Also it looks like I'll be going with the Koni's over the Bilsteins and what is the difference between the 3/4 Konis and the 4/4 variety?

Actually the rotor and pad combo I have performs well above stock and I have noticed a definite benefit in them not having heat fade so easily. I do plan on later upgrading to a C5/C6 front brake setup this one (http://www.kore3.com/proddetail.php?prod=10105-04) so the 18" wheels are a must and they were paid for with my gift cards the day after Christmas so they will have to do with the staggered wheels for now.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

The Koni "4/4" give you more adjustment range and easier adjustment (on the car) the 4/3's use rears that are easiest to adjust off the car, and have 4 settings only. It's worth the $100 to get the on -car version but I not only offer, but am the one that came up with the 4/3 combination for folks who don't want to settle for lesser shocks and to whom that $100 matters.

As for your brakes. With all due respect, I didn't say they weren't better than what you had. That's not what you asked. The fact is drilled rotors will crack under hard use, happens to OEM ones too. And the pads you have aren't track pads, and track use is harder on brakes than the hardest of hard street use.

Falco78

The 4/4's it'll be then. It is primarily a DD so track pads will never be in this cars future, just something a bit more aggressive but street worthy will always be the case for it. The front brakes will be upgraded sometime over the summer as long as the engine in it holds up long term as I am heavily debating pulling the trigger in a year on a forged piston and forged rod combo from Thompson Motorsports.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I'd caution you to not be so sure... Summit Point has a very long front straight into quite a tight 180. You drive a heavy car. The thing with brakes is, at some point they can't take all the pounding you might give them on a track (sometimes even on the street). I don't know about you but here's how I see it.

1. Going to a track day and not having adequate brakes means you can't drive as hard as you might want... and what's the point of that, you can not drive as hard as you want on the road now.

2. Is it worth the risk to the car, or you, not having brakes when you need them???

3. People are hurt and sometimes killed at track days. Happened just last year at Summit in fact, knowingly going out with street pads isn't particularly smart. Certainly not when you are, in the same paragraph, talking about forged setup for the engine.

4. In the grand scheme of things, track worthy pads (which are just that, track pads to be used on the track) can be had for around $200-300 a set.

If you are all serious about track days, you will need upgraded pads.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

I'd caution you to not be so sure... Summit Point has a very long front straight into quite a tight 180. You drive a heavy car. The thing with brakes is, at some point they can't take all the pounding you might give them on a track (sometimes even on the street). I don't know about you but here's how I see it.

1. Going to a track day and not having adequate brakes means you can't drive as hard as you might want... and what's the point of that, you can not drive as hard as you want on the road now.

2. Is it worth the risk to the car, or you, not having brakes when you need them???

3. People are hurt and sometimes killed at track days. Happened just last year at Summit in fact, knowingly going out with street pads isn't particularly smart. Certainly not when you are, in the same paragraph, talking about forged setup for the engine.

4. In the grand scheme of things, track worthy pads (which are just that, track pads to be used on the track) can be had for around $200-300 a set.

If you are all serious about track days, you will need upgraded pads.