how does sub frame connectors make traction worse?

also how much do you think i will lose running 18s in the 1/4, when i get slicks i will probably use the stock 16 swirlies, or would it really help to get some cheap light 5 spokes or something? but for now with street tires will it really effect my et that much?

 

It has been my experience that subframe connectors help traction a lot, especially with aggressive launches because without them the body itself will twist, or torque a certain direction and unload one of the tires a bit and the other tire can't handle all the load and pressure by itself, which results in spinning. While you are a hard top, and body flex isn't as severe as in verts/t-top cars, sfc's would stiffen the car up a lot. It is also necessary to remember that because your car is stiffer with the addition of sfc's, the rear end needs to be able to squat more as to gain more traction. Thus a nice spring, shock combo, coupled with lca's, lca relocation brackets, torque arm, panhard rod and a good pinion angle would allow the rear end to squat and effectively you can transfer the weight to the rear upon launching. As an example of sfc at work, I will try and get a pic scanned of my close friends vert launching. The entire front end of the car is at an angle in the air, and leaning towards the passenger side. Thus the passenger side is loaded with weight, whereas the drivers side rear wheel has essentially no weight on it to plant it. The addition of sfcs helped tremendously.

For your next question, 18's at the track are a big disadvantage simply because there isn't enough sidewall on the tire to wrinkle and hook. 16's some sticky tires are better, however a 15" lightweight drag wheel with slicks or comparable tires offer the best footprint and wrinkle characteristics. It should be noted that your brake calipers will require some grinding on certain aftermarket 15" wheels to allow them to fit.

As for how much et you will be sacrificing, that depends on tire selection, track prep, hp/tq output, and launching technique. All are variables attributed to the different suspension, wheel/tire setups respectively.

As a side note, a local speed shop's customer car had that I am familiar with had a stroked LS1 dropped into it ( a ttop car). When he launched on the street it twisted so bad that after a while he busted out a winshield. After replacement of that, and before the addition of sfc, he launched some more without the ttops on. The aftermath was a set of ttops that wouldn't fit properly without some serious effort putting them in. Other cases of aggressive launching without a stiffened chassis has resulted in a small crinkle in the passenger side quarter panel directly above the tire. 30thannZ28 on here can attest to that (im pretty sure thats ur name duncan). Be careful and do it right the first time to protect your car.

 

im willing to dish out the money for Sfc's, springs/shocks, lca's/relocation brackets, torque arm, and panhard rod, but not all at once. In what order should i buy all of this stuff?

 

i would do sfc's first off, lcas and relocation brackets second, then phr and torque arm last. the springs and shocks can be done whenever you got the money, but they help a lot.

 

esay way to keep the car level is to buy an airbag and put it on top of the spring to get the weight dristribution wright but sfc are a must for T-tops and convertibles.The removal of the swaybar is to get better weight on the rear weels due to weight distributin front/rear and the steering weel will be less sensitive and you´ll drive in a straight line,drag springs up front 300lb and adjustible shocks at the rear will get you set up fot a good 60"