Originally Posted by HAZ-Matt

The shorter torque arm drastically alters the instant center, it improves anti-squat but reduces anti-lift so what you are gaining in acceleration traction you lose under braking. The best thing to do if you encounter both acceleration and braking in your form of racing (ie everything except drag racing) is to either use a stock length torque arm or a decoupled torque arm if you want to add some suspension complexity and try to get the best of both worlds.

If the OP didn't have shocks already that would have been one of the best mods per dollar. Taking that into account if you are talking about handling I would say something like this:

-Best handling mod is probably tires. Cost somewhat a concern, but improvement all over the envelope. If you don't want to call it suspension then skip down to read the next item, but don't forget to upgrade them.
-Shocks go here, ignore since you have them
-Good brake pads and fluid
-Next is sway bars. Low cost versus good benefit
-1LE style LCA bushings are high benefit per dollar as they have low cost and pretty nice benefit.
-Springs (need Koni shocks for just about any aftermarket spring rate though...)
-Full length non adjustable torque arm
-Watts (cost somewhat bumps this down even though it is useful and I have one)
-Aftermarket LCA's would be next. Need to be rod end or maybe the rotojoint. Not poly ended.
-TA relocation crossmember (durability more than performance)
-Aftermarket front arms
-SFC's are pretty far down on the list in my opinion as they are a marginal gain, cost money, and add weight.
-STB

A nice readily available higher bias differential would be above SFCs, as would light wheels... Neither are suspension though.

This isn't quite how I would order the list if money is no object, but it is pretty close actually with only a couple of exceptions, but they aren't a big deal and would only swap a few of the things about one place. I think benefit per dollar makes some of the ranks even more arguable than if this was a straight "what order should I do the mods" or "what are the rank in terms of importance" kind of discussion.

A lot of people like to swear by SFCs, partly I think because the buy in isn't too outrageous. The problem as I see it is that the chassis stiffening is not as drastic as people believe, and if you skipped all the parts on the list above them, you still haven't addressed more fundamentally flawed pieces of the platform as a whole. Which means that if you skip to SFC's and leave out one of the more crucial pieces of the puzzle your car will be slower than one that fixed something else that is more wrong with the car. STB is also an example of this as it adds rigidity in a place that only dubiously needs it in the first place, and adds a little weight up front which doesn't help the weight distribution and slightly hurts the overall weight. Every little bit adds up though. At very best it is a wash, but any money for no benefit is bad.

If you go down the list only 4 or 5 spots then the car is going to be so much better than stock it is actually sad how bad the car is from the factory compared to its potential with a few well placed mods. There are also some more specialized things that I omitted (and probably some I forgot) but their relevance is probably questionable for a street car. And in fact some of the stuff I listed is questionable for a street car

You're entitled to your own opinion about these things obviously, but I stand by mine. If someone with a boatload of experience chimes in and tells me I am crazy maybe I will listen, heh.

Originally Posted by HAZ-Matt

The shorter torque arm drastically alters the instant center, it improves anti-squat but reduces anti-lift so what you are gaining in acceleration traction you lose under braking. The best thing to do if you encounter both acceleration and braking in your form of racing (ie everything except drag racing) is to either use a stock length torque arm or a decoupled torque arm if you want to add some suspension complexity and try to get the best of both worlds.

If the OP didn't have shocks already that would have been one of the best mods per dollar. Taking that into account if you are talking about handling I would say something like this:

-Best handling mod is probably tires. Cost somewhat a concern, but improvement all over the envelope. If you don't want to call it suspension then skip down to read the next item, but don't forget to upgrade them.
-Shocks go here, ignore since you have them
-Good brake pads and fluid
-Next is sway bars. Low cost versus good benefit
-1LE style LCA bushings are high benefit per dollar as they have low cost and pretty nice benefit.
-Springs (need Koni shocks for just about any aftermarket spring rate though...)
-Full length non adjustable torque arm
-Watts (cost somewhat bumps this down even though it is useful and I have one)
-Aftermarket LCA's would be next. Need to be rod end or maybe the rotojoint. Not poly ended.
-TA relocation crossmember (durability more than performance)
-Aftermarket front arms
-SFC's are pretty far down on the list in my opinion as they are a marginal gain, cost money, and add weight.
-STB

A nice readily available higher bias differential would be above SFCs, as would light wheels... Neither are suspension though.

This isn't quite how I would order the list if money is no object, but it is pretty close actually with only a couple of exceptions, but they aren't a big deal and would only swap a few of the things about one place. I think benefit per dollar makes some of the ranks even more arguable than if this was a straight "what order should I do the mods" or "what are the rank in terms of importance" kind of discussion.

A lot of people like to swear by SFCs, partly I think because the buy in isn't too outrageous. The problem as I see it is that the chassis stiffening is not as drastic as people believe, and if you skipped all the parts on the list above them, you still haven't addressed more fundamentally flawed pieces of the platform as a whole. Which means that if you skip to SFC's and leave out one of the more crucial pieces of the puzzle your car will be slower than one that fixed something else that is more wrong with the car. STB is also an example of this as it adds rigidity in a place that only dubiously needs it in the first place, and adds a little weight up front which doesn't help the weight distribution and slightly hurts the overall weight. Every little bit adds up though. At very best it is a wash, but any money for no benefit is bad.

If you go down the list only 4 or 5 spots then the car is going to be so much better than stock it is actually sad how bad the car is from the factory compared to its potential with a few well placed mods. There are also some more specialized things that I omitted (and probably some I forgot) but their relevance is probably questionable for a street car. And in fact some of the stuff I listed is questionable for a street car

You're entitled to your own opinion about these things obviously, but I stand by mine. If someone with a boatload of experience chimes in and tells me I am crazy maybe I will listen, heh.