Bandit 43

Hey y'all,

Im looking for some thoughts and opinions or suggestions for my possible set up.

Im thinking about going with the QA1 single adjustable shocks and the Hotchkis springs on my 99 Trans Am. Im thinking about the Hotchkis springs bc they only drop 1" and I don't want to drop her too low bc I have the Kooks TD system and at its lowest point only gives about 4" of clearance at stock height. Im also in NYC so certain areas can be like driving off-road lol. She's not a dd anymore so I'm not so worried about the roads as she's only getting pulled out on nice weekends for cruises, meets, etc... which will mostly be out of the city limits anyway.

Thanks in advance,
CJ

JD_AMG

What are you looking for out of the setup? Ride? Handling? Traction?
QA1s/Hals are non-gas charged drag shocks, expect terrible ride and handling, the car will be floaty and loose yet jarring over bumps at the same time.
If this is not what you want then stay away from drag shocks (Afco, strange, Viking) and get some gas charged sport shocks like KYB, Bilstien, Koni etc.

Bandit 43

Thanks JD. I was originally thinking Koni's but some one told me to go with the QA1's. I'm looking for a street machine. I want to be able to drive her anywhere with great handling and eventually wanna get her on some road course tracks. I'm not into just going in a straight line. I like to watch but just not my thing as a driver.

How about Springs? Anyone have the Hotchkis springs? I like the fact that they are only a 1" drop. Although I'd love to grab that BMR Koni combo if they do it again.

JD_AMG

May want to tell whoever you talked to to stop giving out advice.
Hotchkis springs are ok, stranos are better for handling. If I were you Id get the koni SA/Strano springs combo and not look back. You wont find a better off the shelf setup for handling.

Bandit 43

Lmao! I'll have to give Sam a call when I get closer to purchasing. Thanks for the info and advice.

NHRATA01

iTrader: (10)

I have had both QA1s and Koni's on my car. The Koni's are by far the much better shock for street use and handling. I put the 50/50 QA1s on years back when I was more focused on 1/4 mile times. They are nice for a track car since they are cheap and easily adjustable, so you can achieve good weight transfer off the line and dial in the rears to hook.. However they really aren't great on the road. Much too bouncy and the ride quality overall is poor. Makes the car handle like a civic on cut springs (I would imagine). The Koni's ride light years better, but of course you pay for it. Only drawback to the Koni's is the fronts are very difficult to adjust on the car.

BubaGumpShrimp

iTrader: (1)

I had the qa1's and stock rear springs (300lb fronts for the qa1's) and i will say they are great for making the car launch but street and everyday driving with them sucks *** and even more so if the roads are crappy like here in jersey. I currently have the stockers on which are way better for the street driving and everyone knows stockers suck for the most part.

LETZRIDE

iTrader: (6)

I never minded DD'ing my Qa1's. I had 300# springs up front and moog replacement springs outback. I had them on my v6 and I had the settings on #5 out back and #4 up front.

I'm actually installing the same setup in my LS1 right now.

I previously had KYB's in my v6 prior to switching to the Qa1's and I found the Qa1's to be much better (again I DD my car all summer/spring/fall). I've also been in a car with Koni's and it handled amazing, so no comparison there...but you can't really compare the two. If you aren't looking to corner carve on the street and want every last bit out of the car in the corners on the street, I don't think you'd be really disappointed with the Qa1's.

But like anything, it is a matter of preference... to each his own.

I should also probably add that my v6 was 3140 lbs and that may or may not have had something to do with it. We'll see how the LS1 likes it with quite a bit more weight

TA_Moscow

iTrader: (4)

Any ideas how the car will act if I put qa1 ONLY for the rear with the BMR springs?? Got them for 4 years, tried to drive them as a dd car and yeaaakh they were terrible. But now thinking about putting only the rear ones.

JD_AMG

They are terrible on the softer, taller stock springs so they will only be worse on shorter stiffer springs.
Honestly I don't know why any one would want drag shocks on a car unless they are going for every fraction of a second in the 1/4 mile and trailer their car to the dragstrip.
You can cut plenty good 60ft times on shocks made for street/handling and will have light years better ride quality, feel, stability and over all handling, there is no comparison. Dragshocks simply ruin the way the car drives.

99Bluz28

iTrader: (35)

QA1's have their place, and ride/handling isn't one of them!

LETZRIDE

iTrader: (6)

I'm curious to know what setting people who hated the QA1's had them on when driving on the street. To me they felt way better than the KYB AGX's I had.

Granted you can't compare them to Koni, but you are also taking two completely extreme ends of the spectrum and trying to compare them to one another. They shouldn't be comparable to one another at all

Personal preference plays a major roll here, if you're really unsure, find someone with those shocks in their car and go for a ride with both sets. Remember anything you get on here is people's opinions. It's like how there are a ton of us who could DD with poly or solid motor mounts, and then there are the other 50% of people who bitch the first time they feel their phone vibrate in their pocket and think it could be their car...

Bandit 43

Been a little since I was on the site so I just wanted to thank everyone for all the advice.

1981TA

iTrader: (7)

My QA1s have been perfectly fine, and I track it and do a little street use for giggles. I have no complaints at all. The frankenstein in my footer keeps up with (and passes) much more expensive cars on the track.