forester

why not just put a watts link on the rear end and change your settings on the front sway bar and try that, it will handle like a dream

SoulBurn18

Interesting, I'll have to look into that, I definitely want to improve my car's handling.

Sam Strano

I can help you out here, and I'm sure I can do it with a lot fewer parts.

I'm very familiar with the car as I won SCCA Solo Nationals in a Shelby in F-Stock last year, as well as the ProSolo series title. I also daily drive an '07 GT as my personal car.

First, I think it's a big irresponsible for folks to recommend parts based on the vague notion of "better handling". What that means is different to most everyone. I'd like to know what it is about the car and how it drives, that you'd like to change.

Parts are used to deal with issues, and the biggest issue IMHO by far are the dampers on the car. I will only use Koni or Tokico D-specs. Koni's are my first choice, but the D-specs are good second choice. I would not bother with anything less, and certainly not anything that's not adjustable. You can do so much to effect how the car drives, feels and reacts with shock forces it's pretty amazing. Best of all, the ride quality also improves vs. the OEM dampers too.

I want to note that I'm also a Steeda dealer, so if there are parts we need that they make, and are suitable for what we want, we'll use them. I have some Steeda parts the car I autox, but I also have some things we made, and others we had made by reputable companies because there are times we can offer as good, or better parts for a better price. Not always, but because I sell a variety of brands, you can feel a little more comfortable knowing that you aren't being boxed into something because I have nothing else to offer.

SoulBurn18

I'm looking to improve the overall handling of the car. I want it to respond better and corner better. It's my daily driver. I don't take it to the track, although I'm considering taking it to one every now and then to test my quarter mile times and see how it handles.

Sam Strano

I don't want you to take this the wrong way.... but who doesn't want to make their car handle better? It's like saying I want it to be "faster". Quicker? Faster? More HP that you can't hook up? Do you add a supercharger? Nitrous? Deeper gears?

The one thing you said that helps is that you want better response..... That's shocks, they effect the roll and pitch rate of the car. But then it's right back to the generic things like "corner better" which is beyond vague.

Parts are used to fix an ill, or should be. I don't think you could walk into the doctor and say "I want to feel better" and have them give you a bunch of prescriptions based solely on that statement. Now, this isn't life and death to be sure, but it is money and I hate to waste people's money.

FWIW when you say you might take it to the track to see what it'll run in the quarter, that's fine.... but that won't tell you how it handles because you'd be going straight.

Here's the deal. The swaybars you have are excellent, the springs aren't hateful. The dampers are not anything to write home about. Given what I know and feel about the car, I'd start with the dampers. Add an adjustable low-deflection PHB, and because the cars are sometimes prone to wheelhop (though generally not when lowered, that's why Bullitts are lower than GT's and GT's wheelhop the worst, Shelby GT's the least).

SoulBurn18

Yeah, I understand what you're saying. My SGT does actually do wheel hop when it shifts from 1st to 2nd (and it's an automatic). I had some mods done that increased it to 285rwhp. That's one thing I want to get rid of. The other thing I want to make it do is take corners better and it responding. I don't want to have as much play in the steering wheel. A friend of mine has a 350z and his corners like a dream at higher speeds.

I know I'm not being very helpful. LOL I don't know a whole lot about cars.

Sam Strano

Actually that's the most helpful post yet....

Now here's where we are in my mind. A rear control arm setup. I work a company called UMI here in PA.... in fact all the products they make and I carry for the car were developed on my own car. I digress, sorry. Basically I'd recommend some combination of better rear control arms. We have non-adjustable upper and lowers, we have adjustable upper and lowers. We even have a combination lower that's not only adjustable, but has a front urethane bushing to isolate rod-end noise. And we have two kits that combine an upper and lowers at a discount. All the UMI arms/links can be seen here: http://www.stranoparts.com/searchbym...&ModelID=5

Personally, I try to avoid non-adjustable lowers as the urethane bushings combined with the tube doesn't let the axle pivot and articulate as freely as it should when the car is in roll, or when you hit a bump with one rear tire. I prefer the 1036 Single Adjustable lowers because the rod-end allows the axle to articulate nice and freely but the arm mounts to the body with a urethane bushing to help isolate any potential rod-end noise. I do want to mention that we don't use cheap rod-ends, in fact they are about $30 each because they have tight tolerances and a teflon liner that lubricates the ball to keep play and noise down.

Up on the top, the 3rd link we have both adjustable and non-adjustable parts. You can dial in some pinoin angle change with the adjustable one, or save some bucks with the non-adjustable one.

I'd recommend eitherof the follow two setups

#S197AdjCAkit: http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...&ModelID=5

or:

http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...&ModelID=5(same lowers are the above kit), with the non-adjustable upper: http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...&ModelID=5

A non-adjustable upper doesn't bind like the lowers because it's right in the middle of the axle and has a lot more leverage acting upon it than the lowers do which are outboard.

That's the arms... not onto the shocks/struts...

Dampers control the rate of movement, just like the little shock on your screen door at home. If you add damping force, the car takes a set faster, changes direction faster, and changes the feel of the ride as well. Now, to show you just what a difference dampers can make, here's a quote from a customer who had gone through a variety of setups, starting with the FR3 package that your car comes with.

"My local Ford dealer installed the Koni's last Tuesday. They have a technician there who is very meticulous. He said that he set them at your recommended settings. I have driven the car about 45 miles since the Koni's were installed.
Sam, to me they make a very noticeable difference over the D Specs. The roads I have driven on would have really upset the car in the past. It feels more planted with the Koni's but at the same time they have a very nice feeling of compliance that I cannot put into words.
Its like I can feel a quality difference is about the only way I can describe it.
My cornering feels better also. I have not driven far on an interstate yet but the short drive I made felt very good.
I appreciate all your help and the time you took over the phone.

THANKS AGAIN!

P.S. And I know what you mean about the koni's providing a "BMW" ride, the Konis jut feel like quality and thats not my trying to justify the cost. Take Care!"

He worked his way through the FR3 dampers to D-specs (which he felt were better, and I agree) and ultimately to Koni's, and you see his thoughts on those above. In trying to make the car better, before the D-specs or Koni's he changed from the FR3 package spring to Steeda Ultralites, but that really didn't give him anything he was seeking. As we talked about the Koni's (he had D-specs on when he first called me), he asked about a spring swap. I recommended against it because I didn't think that would help or hurt and that we needed to weigh the resulting change from dampers alone. Again, what you see quoted above was only changing from one shock, which was already better than stock to another, and *before* any playing with the settings had been done on the Koni's (tried a variety of D-spec settings).

Link to Koni's: http://www.stranoparts.com/partdetai...&ModelID=5