Sausalito123

Hey everyone I would like to begin upgrading the suspension on my 98 ws6. I have only a tower brace in the front which I'm pretty sure did nothing. My goal is to have a street car not drag. I'm probably running 375-385 hp with performance upgrades. When I launch I feel like there's no control and I'm going sideways. Would also like to take corners a little better. I do not want to lower the vehicle at all. Suggestions????

HCI2000SS

iTrader: (2)

Better tires are a good start

black sky

iTrader: (3)

As said, tires are a great start. New shocks are an excellent purchase as well. LCA's, LCA Relocation Brackets, and sway bar upgrade to name a few standard suspension mods. What are you looking to spend?. Providing a budget will help others offer a better game plan and advice.

Sausalito123

I'm thinking SFC's and whatever else I can afford. My budget is around 1k for parts and labor.

FirstYrLS1Z

iTrader: (4)

Since it's an A4(from your profile 'about me'),for launching,LCA re-los and rear shocks,and tires.
For handling, shocks and swaybars and tires.
For future performance,a Yank SS3600(or equivalent) torque convertor.

JimMueller

iTrader: (9)

If your rear is sliding to the side from a dig, you could reduce that with a combination of stickier tires and a higher rate rear antisway bar. If you were a serious drag racer I'd say go at least 24mm solid rear antisway bar, but for a normal daily driver without a lowered rear roll center I'd not go bigger than a 22mm solid rear bar. The larger rear bar, the more oversteer you'll have around corners. You could also look into adjustable rear bars so you could slightly tweak the amount of oversteer.

You could also try weld-in LCA brackets. For normal street driving, you want the arms to be level or just slightly lower in the front. To help with drag anti-squat, you want the arms higher in the front.

If you can hold off until January (I hear he's out of town until then), I'd suggest calling Sam at StranoParts. He's always told me what I don't need, but if I'm hard headed he'll still sell it to me.

BTC

Yeah, call Sam. As mentioned above, he won't sell you stuff just for the sake of taking your money. He talked me out of some brake stuff once, which was a somewhat odd & rare experience considering I was calling to buy stuff. I'm pretty sure most people would have just taken my money.

I put his springs and Koni Sport shocks on my car last Christmas. I was pretty impressed during my initial drive, which was a couple of weekends ago. Some of that may have simply been due to having not driven the car at all in 17 years, but the ride and handling seemed really nice and that was on 17+ year old tires. If you aren't interested in lowering the car, I guess that would rule out springs.

HioSSilver

iTrader: (8)

A set of strano bars and slp bilsteins shovks are your best bag for the buck.

quiet_storm98

iTrader: (48)

The biggest improvement i have seen from any suspension mod has been shocks. I recently put koni yellows on my car with the factory springs and it honestly feels like a totally different car. That being said even budget shocks like bilsteins or koni strt's will make a big difference. Trust me the other things like lca's, sfc's, etc. will not make as much of a difference as decent shocks will. I did all those mods first and really didn't feel much difference.

Sausalito123

thanks quiet storm that's good advice. Will definitely do rear shocks. What about suspension in the front, anything to gain ?

JD_AMG

If you like to take corners and have better ride quality, then yes definitely.

BTC

Are you able to do any of the work yourself?

Any particular reasons you aren't interested in lowering the car?

If you can do the work yourself, and might reconsider springs, Koni Sports and Sam's springs would be just a hair over your 1K budget. Perhaps he'll be running a Christmas sale that would get the pricing closer to your 1K budget.

He has free shipping on Koni shocks through the end of the year.

HioSSilver

iTrader: (8)

Personally after having both the konis sa's and the slp bilsteins that came on my car the konis seem over rated......especially for the price difference.

Sausalito123

I'm really not too handy but "I got a guy". Never wanted to lower the car more than stock and deal with the bottoming out issues that come with it. My goals for the car is to have some controlled power for the streets. I don't need a 10 second car, just something to have fun with on the street and terrorize the neighborhood from time to time. That being said, I don't need the top of the line products or necessarily all of the possible upgrades either. I'm sure there are others here who are less concerned with their quarter mile times than just taking the car for a drive and having some fun.

quiet_storm98

iTrader: (48)

If i were you i would first do front and rear shocks...since it sounds like you want better handling and aren't just focused on 1/4 mile performance bilsteins or koni strt's sound like they would be good for you and aren't too expensive. Plus you can still run your stock springs with them and it will still be a major improvement over what you have.

HioSSilver

iTrader: (8)

Bilsteins and strano bars op......simple and effective.

Chris Paveglio

iTrader: (2)

Koni shocks, and front bar. Koni are the best, more than worth it.

OwieVT

Based on my experience, I would get Koni SA shocks all around first. Those shocks will make the biggest difference in how the car handles. You can add poly bushings and end links to your factory sway bars for pocket change and you'll have a much better handling car.

I have Koni STr.Ts on my 99 Z and for the money they are pretty good, but they get overwhelmed easily when you are on a bumpy street. They are great on a flat highway or track, but their rebound performance is not great.

Maybe go with the Strano sway bars next. I have always stuck with factory springs, but you could certainly throw on some Strano springs for a little more money.

HioSSilver

iTrader: (8)

These cars come with some type of poly'esqu endlink bushings.

Biggest improvement i have seen is definitely the strano bars. The car stays nice and flat now. I still have some tuning to do but it's pretty good with cut z28 springs.

stp001

If you are going to stick with OEM spring rates, the ST solid bars 35/25 will definitely give you a nice amount of roll resistance. If you go with stiffer spring rates, as in 600f/200r or there about, ST's still feel good on the street, but oddly enough are too stiff for the track.