223HAWK

iTrader: (11)

My Firehawk wont hook up at the track at all. It doesnt try to transfer weight at all really. Before I took it to the track I wanted to lower it with stranos and some bilstiens. I wanted a car that corned better than stock but still hooks up at the track..This prob. isnt a goods street/strip combo is it? I dont have a race car just a strong running car. I cant affored to buy konis...but anyway..now Im thinking about single adj. QA1s but idk what to do about rear springs? I still want to lower it but I dont want to cut the rear factory rear springs. I dont trust that..but thats me..Should I just stick witht the stranos and bilstiens or get the QA1s?

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

If you want to keep the lowered car, there are other ways to try to make it hook while working around the lowering springs. Things like tires, LCAs, relo brackets, etc. Maybe you already have these? I don't know. It all depends on how you want your car to work for you.

223HAWK

iTrader: (11)

Iv got full adjustable UMI rear parts, torque arm, panhard bar lca's..Im just wondering if the bilstiens and stranos will be a good choice over QA1s...
6 speed car thats geting 15 in wheels and a 26 in slick..thats one thing I know I need..

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

There are alot of different things that effect the way a car hooks at the track. Something else to consider if you decide to go with a coil over style shock are the Strange single adjustables. They are less expensive than the QA1's and work very well for a multi purpose car. Give me a call here at the office and we can go over your setup and see what is best for your situation.

therealcreeper

iTrader: (37)

i lowered my car on hypercoil springs in front, slp eibachs in back, and bilsteins. springs are progressive but still somewhat similar in spring rate to stranos. i lowered it, absolutely no traction whatsoever. added lca relocation brackets, they helped quite a bit. lower control arms helped a tad bit more. torque arm helped a tad bit more again. still had trouble launching on my 245 coopers though(these were probably the real problem all along). threw on some bfg dr's and now it 100% dead hooks, even when cold and a 32psi on the street.

with supporting suspension mods and good tires you should be fine with stranos/bilsteins

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

You simply need to decide if how the car works everyday on the road is more important to how it works at the track (and fwiw, having QA1's is no guarantee it's "hook". In one case we had a guy cut better 60's on Koni's set to his street settings than he did on his Afco/QA1 shock combination.... and he changed to the Koni's because driving the car on the road drove him nuts because it didn't ride or handle particularly well....

My springs are among the best lowering springs for still allowing a car to get power down. That's why my springs aren't super low or super stiff in the rear--to help plant power. Even though there are others that are "only" about 10 lbs/in stiffer in the back--that rate difference is about 7% between the two. That's not nothing.

223HAWK

iTrader: (11)

Well whats the next best shock to a koni? I dont know if I can spend that on shocks..

ssjason232

iTrader: (14)

ordered Konis with sams springs. Would give a report, but springs arent in yet.

Any news on the springs Sam?

Hopefully the slow boat from germany makes it in. My car sits higher than tigers escaled perched up in that tree.

fbodyman1026

iTrader: (11)

yeah I want to know this also.^^^

I'm looking for a good setup for a DD but meant to hook at the track. Really confused by all these threads I feel like no can give a general consensus on spring/shock combo's. I haven't heard anything about bmr?? Sorry for the

223HAWK

iTrader: (11)

At least Im not the only one!! Im about to say forget the 1/4 and put some stickeys on all 4 corners and make it corner like a beast!! Ohh wait I dont have the money for that ether! DAMNIT!!!

JD_AMG

Before anyone answers the question I want to address an issue here, you clearly don't understand how much of a difference shocks make (and I can't blame you, I was in the same boat at one time) since you are being specific that you "can't spend that much on shocks".
You know the amount of money you spent to get your 434hp/371ft.lbs and how much of a difference that is front stock right? Getting good shocks (like konis) would be like metaphorically adding a huge supercharger and the supporting mods to your suspension, its a HUGE difference and one you don't want to just go cheap on and end up with lackluster results because the car won't just have less grip, but it will be harder to control, more finicky and nervous and all around more sloppy. Konis are a steal for the performance gain you get. I just recently did LT headers and an ORY, and paid way more than I did for konis and got WAY less of a difference than they made (almost non-existent in comparison).
If you want to skip out somewhere skip out on something else that wont effect performance or how the car drives.

JD_AMG

Search more, read the stickies.
https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...eal-world.html
You have to pick your poison.
Generally NO lowering spring is "ideal" for launching. You want a soft rate and a tall spring for good weight transfer, a lowering spring is generally a higher rate and shorter.
A good "handling" shock (like bilstien, Koni etc.) will ride better, handle better and have the car feeling all around more solid and connected because it transfers weight in a slow controlled manner (among other things).
A good "drag" shock (like QA1, Strange, Afco etc.) will let the car transfer weight faster but will leave the car feeling disconnected, floaty, and generally crashing into bumps because they don't "control" the spring or the car, they just let the weight go where it wants.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Due into the country on the 9th, then ship directly to me (or so I'm told). So we're getting closer. I appreciate the patience.

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

If you're really trying to get your car to REALLY hook better, I'd say ask in the drag racing section. Pretty much 95% of everyone posting in here is geared toward handling oriented applications. There seems to be plenty of guys running single digits in the drag section. Maybe there isn't a Sam Strano in there, but there's guys who have single digits.

Like we said, depends on how far the rabbit hole you want to go in each application. You can improve your car to be simultaneously good in both handling and drag racing from a bone stock setup. You can only be good though... if you want to be great then you'll have to begin sacrificing handling for drag or vice versa. Suspension tuning between autox/road racing is a lot different from suspension tuning in drag racing. Lots of completely different factors come into play. I'm pretty sure that I'd want a double adjustable shock for the rear if I was going to be serious about getting suspension right for a really fast drag racer.. (from my minimal knowledge of it)