01StreetStrip

Hey everyone im planning on doing some suspension/ chassis upgrades pretty soon just wanted to get a feel as to what would be a good choice of combos for a street/strip car that im planning on putting 500+rwhp in the near future looking at some koni front and rear shocks and possibly some bmr lowering springs, lakewood panhard bar, traction bar, rear lower control arms, umi performance front control arms, ball joints front and rear sway bar shock tower brace and a bolt on 3 point connector. I guess my main question is that is that a good set up just in case i want to build my car up even more later on to put out more hp and tq and if not what else would be good additions or other options that work better than my plan? I have an 01 camaro ss A4

JD_AMG

Totally depends on how much of the "street car" or "drag car" you want it to be.
Konis and other gas charged sport shocks are built for handling and ride quality, so while you will have no problem getting traction with them, you could hook better on a non-gas charged drag shock (QA1, Afco, Strange, Viking), but the flipside is those will ride and handle like total **** compared to something like the Konis. So is a few tenths in the 1/4 mile worth it to you for significantly worse ride quality, handling and stability? If not then get the Konis, if you want every fraction of a second then look more into a drag setup.
On the same note, generally lowering springs are not ideal for drag racing either, as they don't transfer weight like a drag spring would.
A bigger swaybar in the front will also hurt launching, but when matched with a proper sized rear swaybar will drastically improve handling. An oversized rear drag bar (25mm or more) will hurt handling but may help launch.
You gotta pick your poison now and figure out what is more important to you, street ability/handling/ride quality or drag times.

garygnu

what he said ^^^^. get a good torque arm .check the suspension vendors for suspension combo pkgs .

01StreetStrip

im mostly looking for a street car that i can take to the track and have decent times while still being able to drive it on a daily basis.

ssvert99

iTrader: (26)

Give us a call... We help a lot of customers that are in exactly the same situation as you are in now. There is a few parts that will help initially, but at the end of the day you will end up with a full compliment of suspension items that will work together to get what you need for performance and achieve your goals.

Worst thing is buying things twice, and buying parts that won't do what they are intended to. You need to be cautious of things like shocks, subframe connectors, and bushing styles in particular.

We here at MWC manufacture the highest qualtiy suspension parts, have the guaranteed best prices, and the expert tech help to get you setup.

JD_AMG

Personally I'd stay away from drag shocks and most drag parts then.
IMO get some good gas charged sport shocks, stay on stock springs, and get some nice sticky rear tires. When you go to the track disconnect the front swaybar to make the passes, then reconnect it to drive home.
If you want drag shocks/drag parts its just going to depend on how much you can tolerate in ride quality and loss of stability and handling. Just because a shock can "make a shock stiffer" with an adjustment know does NOT mean its going to help handling, ride or stability. Ive been in a couple fbodies with drag shocks, thats not something I would want to drive with on the street, but thats just me.

JakeFusion

iTrader: (7)

^ Agree with this.

Unless you are trying to cut 1.3x or better, something like a Koni shock and stock springs or Strano springs can launch you into the 1.5x range pretty easily. Then you have a nice setup for the street and a capable performer on both the autox and drag strip.

01StreetStrip

thanks for the info guys it was helpful

ssvert99

iTrader: (26)

You can easily use a set of Viking double adjustable shocks for what you do and your goals. The Viking shocks are 18 position external adjustable valving and have a very wide range of adjustment.

You can go from Cadillac soft to log wagon firm if you want. Viking also has a new setup out that allows the user to change the orifice sizes to fine tune the valving window as well.

Give us a call and we can go over all the options as well as discuss the differences in "drag racing" shocks and the shocks that the roadcourse/autocross cars typically use.

JosephIV

iTrader: (14)

Give MWC or UMI a call. Both are great to talk to and my experience with either is top notch in terms of customer service. I'd wager that you can't beat MWC's pricing. I've recently talked to both Eric at MWC and Ramey at UMI and both were outstanding to deal with. I ended up with Viking shocks and some UMI bits. Both companies will steer you in the right direction.

01StreetStrip

alright thank you ill give them both a call once i get back home

ssvert99

iTrader: (26)

MWC will definitely give you the best tech help available! We here are F-body owners and we drive and race what we sell. Years of experience with testing our products and the products we distribute from our vendors on both the street and tracks has given us the edge on f-body performance.

Popular racers like Andy Essary(LASTLS1), Ohio Boys Racing, Ray Litz(Koolrayz), Brian Black(SMKN TA 95) and Eddie Krawiec just to name a few all choose MWC for their complete suspension and rearends.

The results don't lie!

Give us a call and we will be glad to help you out in making decisions on the right parts for your car and budget.