more effective to least effective suspension mods?

[Tra2xx]

Right now my car is bone stock suspension wise, and pretty much stock engine wise.

I know tires are pretty much the most important thing when it comes to handling, but I am wondering what to do beyond that. To handle better there is a whole list of things to get, my question is which is the best for the money. I'm 16 and don't really have time for a job right now (only a few months until my schedule is cleared up some).
So - I want to buy whatever is the best bang for the buck for handling.
Should I start with swaybars or strutbars? Should I skip those and look at shocks and springs? Should I bypass all of that for now and do brakes with upgraded brake lines and such?
I just want to spend $200-300 the best way that I can.
Thanks

[OneSlowEclipse]

I think it depends on what you are wanting. If you are just wanting a car that handles better than stock for some spirited road driving then just upgrade the springs. Strut bars are mainly for looks in my opinion, but I noticed some subtle changes in my car after I put them on. If you are wanting to do all out then it doesn't matter where you start, because you will need it all.

[Tra2xx]

I would say yes, I would like to do some spirited road driving but also some laps at SC. Right now I have not so hot handling...sometimes when I am taking a turn in front of traffic I go quickly to avoid waiting for a long time..and it just doesn't feel very good around the corner. I am looking for less body roll and a solid feel. I want to do the best I can with 2-300 dollars. I probably won't do all, because $ isn't very common in my wallet.

[OneSlowEclipse]

Well at the very least you will need some springs and better shocks. For 400-500 dollars you can get some decent ones. My car did OK at SC, and all I have is Tokico struts, 2" springs, and 17 inch wheels/tires. I could really tell where I was lacking on some of the bigger turns though. But I was keeping up, I was happy.

[hoffman]

the best bang for the buck suspension mod you can do is getting sways.

www.rmdsm.com

you will get more out of this mod than shocks or coil-overs.

[OneSlowEclipse]

Hes absolutely right, I always forget about sways since my car came with them stock.

[Tra2xx]

Originally posted by hoffmangsx
the best bang for the buck suspension mod you can do is getting sways.

www.rmdsm.com

you will get more out of this mod than shocks or coil-overs.

Thanks, those look really nice - But I noticed they don't have the front sways for the 90-94. Is a front just not that necessary because you can't fit a much bigger one in there, or should I just get a rear there and a front from some other store?

And OneSlowEclipse thanks for the input as well, I appreciate it.

[V8SpankR]

I think the rear sway is all that's really nessecary since the front has a connecting brace that the 2nd gens don't have.
If you want a front sway bar Suspension Techniques makes them and I think Buschur sells 'em.

[hoffman]

just get the rear. even though the car is AWD, it has a suspension similar to a WWD (FWD =p). by putting on a thinker rear sway you will get more neutral steer and less body roll out of the car.

its the sways that hold the wheels in line making it feel like its on rails. it is by far the best bang for the buck.

talk to jake latham about a good setup for a 1g. hes running the best 1g in scca racing in colorado right now. so tap his brain.

cheers

[Erron Spalsbury]

Originally posted by hoffmangsx
just get the rear. even though the car is AWD, it has a suspension similar to a WWD (FWD =p). by putting on a thinker rear sway you will get more neutral steer and less body roll out of the car.

its the sways that hold the wheels in line making it feel like its on rails. it is by far the best bang for the buck.

talk to jake latham about a good setup for a 1g. hes running the best 1g in scca racing in colorado right now. so tap his brain.

cheers

Uh, yeah. We welded Jakes rear trailing arms so there is no more rubber bushing, solid.

Most members that have just done 1 sway bar, usually the rear, gets oversteer immediatly. Some say it doesn't happen, but they don't push the car as hard as you would on SC to truly find out. If you have the means, do them both at the same time and keep the car "neutral". Oversteer is much more scarry than understeer. It's controlable, but not optimum if you do only one. For a 1g, the 1 inch is the thickest we've found. We just put one on Keith T. car. The oversteer was a new feeling for him. This was with the kyb's all the way around and the H&R springs, and the RRE front and rear tower braces already on the car. This condition was solved with a little more rear camber. 1.5 degrees neg. Mike Baker, has the JIC FLT-2's on his car. Awesome setup, by far one of the best. Also spendy!! Having full adjustability is more than just looks. His car is set up nice, very nice. The fastest 1g on street tires ever, at 1.22 around SC.
Imho....

Erron S.
SpalsburySpeedCamp

[hoffman]

yeah, i've been looking at the JIC stuff for a while. right now they are producing new upper arms for 2g's. so that would be nice.

but for now i'll stick with the koni/GC setup.