Handling

[Rubered00]

There may be some posts on this somewhere but i couldn't find anything specific enough to my question.

I love the way my alero handles, i've drove my friends camry quite about and it just feels like poop compared to the alero and same with a few other cars i've drove but i want more.

What is the easiest/cheapest/best buy for the results that i can do to my car to get better handling and just a better feeling in curves.

springs, struts, or strut bars.....that was a no-brainer

[r53silver91s]

Eibach springs, stb's front and rear, new tires, and front and rear sway bars, but that willn't be very cheap, you'll be at around a grand give or take, plus installation. Good Luck though.

Yes! Another person who appreciates the value of good handling!

Probably the biggest asset to a corner-carver is a set of sticky tires. Think about it - those 4 little patches of rubber are all that connects your car to the road. A good set of tires can make a mediocre suspension handle, but a cheap set of treads on even the trickest suspension setup can make things miserable.

The next best on the scale of bang for your buck is a larger rear swaybar and a performance-biased alignment. Then finish up with stiffer springs and tuned dampers.

[Rubered00]

I already got good tires....after ending up in some guys front yard taking a turn racing back to a friends house i decided it was time for tires

[Fast Eddie]

and strut tower braces to keep everything true.

Wouldnt a larger rear sway bar on an otherwise stock suspension make the car awfully twitchy and prone to sudden oversteer at the limit?

Make sure you test this in either a parking lot or an empty road with a large runoff (IE no trees or ditches) because you want to know what's gonna happen when you exceed the handling limits of the car...

I put my completely stock alero sideways for a second taking an onramp onto the 401, it was pretty rough pavement and I had just rotated the tires (so the rear tire treads are almost down to the wear bars), and admittedly going in a little hot at ~50mph, but it still surprised me that the rear end snapped out on me with pretty much no warning, luckily it also came right back in line with some steering correction and I was no worse for the wear, although I'm sure the people driving on the highway who saw me sidways on the onramp were freaked out

[Redog]

I put Eibach springs and a set of Speed built tower braces with a set of good tires on all four. Handles a lot better but I probably should have changed the struts too

Originally posted by Redog@Mar 11 2004, 01:44 PM
Handles a lot better but I probably should have changed the struts too

Yeah, you should've...

17 inch wheels combined with good tires, eibach springs or coilovers, strut tower braces, and sway bars. Then you better upgrade your brakes too.

[jeremythebear]

Best bang for your buck and a slow way to get into modifications.
In order:

1- Rear strut bar
2- Front strut bar
3- Springs and Struts together (don't be an idiot like me)
4- When you have a ton of coin to throw around - Front and Rear Sway bars - front is very expensive to install

[BLK03GXS]

Do you need to dropp the whole front mount to install it?.. cus its kinda inbeded in the front suspention

[jeremythebear]

This is a note on the PFYC website

NOTE: The front bar requires removal of the front subframe assembly and many people won't want to do this at home. It typically requires about 2 hours of shop labor time, so to find out the cost to get this installed at your local shop or dealer, multiply their hourly rate by two. Check with them to be sure they can do the job in two hours.

RSM Racing (where I go for work) says the front is closer to 3 hours - rear is 1

Just so I don't confuse anyone but this is for sway bars not strut bars

[BLK03GXS]

Oh well that is G E T T O.. i'll still do it at home hahahaha
If i can do a 5spd swap on a camary in 2 days in my driveway, then i think i can dropp the subframe :P

Originally posted by jeremythebear@Mar 11 2004, 09:26 PM
Best bang for your buck and a slow way to get into modifications.
In order:

1- Rear strut bar
2- Front strut bar
3- Springs and Struts together (don't be an idiot like me)
4- When you have a ton of coin to throw around - Front and Rear Sway bars - front is very expensive to install

Best bang for the buck is this (IMO):

1. Rear sway bar
2. Springs / struts
3. Strut braces front & rear (don't do one and not the other)
4. Brake upgrade (nothing fancy, just not stock rotors)

I played with all of these on my car. Testing each one out by itself, and then in combo with other setups. This order gave me the increasing performance I was looking for in the Alero, and without a doubt provides the best way (again, IMO) to mod the car with the current parts out there for increased handling performance.

Mind you I had close to 45,000 miles on my car when I went with new springs, so I did the struts as well... this is the only item I didn't test independantly... but by the time you've got everything else in the setup together, you might as well change the struts and move on from there.

Why hasnt anybody mentioned stiffer bushings yet? That can make a big difference in steering feel and accuracy