I'm looking to add a saleen sc in the coming months and was wondering what kind of suspension upgrades I should be looking into? My car's a dd and a vert, I don't have the rigid construction of the coupe. The main thing I'm looking to get is the same kind of ride quality as close to stock as possible. I'm not familiar with upgraded suspensions other than riding in a few of my buddies lowered cars which rode terrible. I also have 20's and the ride is great to me the way it is now.

Thanks.

 

I did some research on this when I was in the process of adding the supercharger last year and found that most will recommend a minimum of LCA's to help keep the rear wheels planted. At the upper end, the sky's the limit....LCA's, UCA's, shocks, struts, springs, panhard bar, sway bar, etc. My vehicle doesn't actually handle all that much differently with the addition of the supercharger but I am headed to Brenspeed in a little over a month to have some suspension work done. If you're still curious at the end of April I'll let you know what it's like after the suspension upgrades.

 

Get some LCA’s and an adjustable UCA for the rear with urethane bushings. That will keep the back end from going pear shaped.

Next best upgrade is tires. The stock ones BLOW! Tires will do more for the cars “handling” than just about anything short of getting shocks, struts, springs, swaybars, etc, etc, etc.

If you want to lower your car a bit and not ruin the ride get the BMR springs. They have a very street friendly rate which will work fine with the stock shocks and struts. If you lower it you may need a panhard bar to re-center the axle but you can lower it and then check. Driving with the rear end not exactly centered won’t hurt a thing. I have seen a lot of S197 without centered rear ends stock. Add a set of camber bolts to the front (BMR has them) and get an alignment. The car will be fine with the added horsepower and unless you have had professional driver training probably more capable than you.

 

Thanks guys, good info Pistol. I hope you will keep us updated. I'm not looking for a full suspension upgrade, just something that would best keep me planted with the addition of a twin screw with the troque down low. I also am trying my best to keep my vert's ride quality as stock as possible as it is today.

 

A few deals can be found on over-stock 2005-2009 Saleen Racecraft suspension kits. Springs, shocks/struts, sway bar & bushings.

 

Buying up rated suspension components (aside from control arms) is a complete waste of time before getting better tires. The stock suspension can already overwhelm the abilities of the stock rubber. Buying suspension components that will load the tires harder will do no good.

And as far as up rated suspensions goes the stock suspension is more capable than 99.9% of the drivers out there are. Everyone thinks they are Mario Andretti but sadly that is not the case. Spending money on a “fast guy” suspension before increasing driving skills is a waste of money and won’t offer much more than a stiffer ride. 99.9% of people will have more car control and be able to push it far closer to its limits spending $1500 on a good driving school opposed to $1500 of suspension gear. $.02

 

I would go with a 3-point frame-rails brace from Steeda (comes silver powder coated), a set of stiff springs, and a front arm relocation and bumpsteer (lower tie rods) to preserve steering geometry.

I would see how the steering feels, then decide if you want shocks/struts, UCA, LCA. Unless you can't stand wheel hop, then tubular fixed center LCA is a good idea.

New stickies are always fun too.. just make sure the beefs clear your wheelwells on your 20s.

 

Can't hurt. Along the same note donte waste a $$ on a strut tower brace unless it ties the strut towers to the firewall with a very stout mount. I have measured the chassis deflection across the strut towers on a frame machine and short of running slicks and a full blown race suspension you can't possibly load the strut towers enough to make them deflect in relation to each other.

Did you miss the part where he wants a stock like ride?

Can’t hurt but a waste of money unless he slams the car and plans on loading up the suspension very, very hard while cornering which is the only time that bump steer will even be noticed. A set of camber bolts are plenty for getting the car aligned correctly for a daily driver that strafes an on/off ramp every once in a while.

If he is not happy with how the steering feels after lowering it a bit but wants to keep his stock or near stock ride quality his best bet would be to go with swaybars before springs/shocks. The stock springs/shocks are good enough for intermediate track day or autocross use. Upgrading shocks/struts and springs with a higher rate than stock is for those that take cornering seriously or think they do. Swaybars will reduce body roll and unless both front or rear wheels hit the same bump at the same time will increase the wheel rate a very small amount preserving a near stock ride.

Upper (adjustable) and lower rear control arms do more than cure wheel hop. They do a tremendous amount keeping the rear end centered in the chassis which gives the driver a lot more feel and reduces the chance of snap oversteer (which usually end in a ditch….backward) a lot. And the UCA can be adjusted for a more ideal driveline angle which reduces driveline harmonics which is a huge problem with the S197 chassis.

Absolutely correct, good tires should always be the first “suspension” mod. Be cautious though, just because a “sport” tire looks like one, is advertised like one, says sport, race, Pro, Extreme, GT, etc, etc on it does not mean that it is a tire that performs well. On the flipside it is not necessary to get a set of high dollar “R” compound tires with a 220 or less tread wear rating to get a superb road tire. That being said even though someone has switched out the stock tires I see more cars than not with crap rubber that is doing nothing but hurting the handling.

With 20’s and the correct offsets you can run 275mm tires in the front and 295mm tires in the rear with no issues. If you want to do a little homework you can run 315’s on the rear. Everything has to be perfect though.

Keep in mind that the tire width quoted above assume that the rims are wide enough to accommodate tires in those widths. A sure fire way to destroy a cars handling is to spoon on tires that are too wide for the rims.

Good luck

BAMFingOh10, I’m not trying to come across like you are giving bad advice or rip your post apart. You just happened to bring up a few misconceptions that are based on “forum common knowledge” that is incorrect and I wanted to make sure this guy got steered in the right direction.

I used to design, build, produce and modify suspension and chassis components for track duty and even some consulting for the OEM’s on their high end production cars. I also spent many years getting paid to do tire testing. I hold multiple race licensees and used to be Pro licensed when I still raced full time. I also teach track schools that concentrate on technique and setup. Just wanted to let you know I am not trying to start a back and forth of any kind. I’m just relaying what I have learned over the past 15 years of doing what I do.

 

Stiffer springs won't keep the ride more stock-like - I was incorrect but otherwise I think the front arm relocation kit with bumpsteer kit would keep the ride more stock than trying to correct the lowered roll center with sway bars.

 

I never suggested “fixing” the changed roll center with roll bars. I suggested that he may like roll bars in the future if less body roll and perceived quicker turn in is something he desires.

In the real world during anything short of front of the pack Koni Challenge pace racing the changed roll center will be undetectable. Especially by your average, above average or even exceptional driver.

Don’t pick my posts apart looking for loopholes to exploit and debate because you are bored at work. Suspension is infinitely complex and there is no ultimate right answer. It can literally be debated forever. I’m not going to conduct a suspension seminar in a forum post to pass on some advice. The OP will either take it, or he won’t. I don’t have to drive his car and I have no ego issues to settle so I don’t care if he takes it or not. And I am certainly not here giving him advice to get into a back and forth with someone who has a very limited understanding of suspension and tire dynamics. Take that as a slam if you like. I won’t respond, because it is not. Debating practical suspension application with you is pointless. You don’t have enough experience to be able to do it effectively.

Again, not trying to “start something”, just presenting the facts. If you want to make this a thing I will gladly go elsewhere and you can be the suspension expert.