alright so im just wondering as to what i should do next with the GTA as far as getting it set up for auto-x.
right now, i have done the following
-MOOG Front cut to where i want em
-BMR Rear Springs from a 4th gen
-Sway bar endlinks on front and rear
-Front sway bar bushings
-KYB GR-2 Shocks/Struts
-Wonderbar
-BMR Strut Tower Brace
-Founders LCARBS
-J&M Panhard Bar
-the stock huge GTA sway bars
-SFC's

as far as the motor, its stock other from
-3" catback
-Dual Magaflow cats
-Dyno Dons Headers
-Magnaflow Muffler
-CAI
-Tune

so my question is, what else can i do to it to get it performing even better on the track suspension wise as i dont want to mess with the motor for the time being

 

my suggestion woudl be to get rid of the kyb's , i had them in my old car and i hated them, i didnt to auto-x with it though, but from what most on here say they are like the cheapest shocks/struts u can get

 

yeah i just wanted ANYTHING to replace the stocks..so maybe ill get some koni's
shocks/struts really make a big difference in cornering?

 

You have cut springs? buy some good springs that aren't cut, cutting springs is baaaad bad bad for anything other than a lowrider.

 

so shocks/struts, would LCA's benefit me? torque arm? thats all just factors to adjust pinion angle right?

 

Dakota can you elaborate on problems with cut springs?

 

there is no problem, only people that have a problem with it are those that have not done it..you just cant get them hot when cutting. Pure ignorance speculation, bugs the hell out of me.

 

cut springs are extra bumpy, why would you want bumpiness in autox? also if you have the factory LCA's and panhard rod you should upgrade them, I'd get adjustable if the car is lowered. If you get a torque arm bar be sure that it mounts into a bushing. I'm not talking about heating springs either, I'm talking about if you got a hacksaw and cut coils, it would be unnecessarily bumpy.

 

i have cut springs all around and its a harsh ride but not bumpy at all..

and okay, next is LCA's..torque arm is expensive af

 

Did you check Founders?
Also you're correct about me being ignorant in regards to cut springs, due to the fact I've heard only bad about them.

 

just for the sake of it. there is nothing wrong at all with cutting springs, in fact its very common in most forms of racing.

The issue is cutting them wrong, or heating them to lower the spring. that creates weak spots and will cause a failure. Adding heat to the spring is whats bad, especially in the middle of a coil. Its impossible to cut a spring and by that alone, make the car bouncy. Any undesirable change in the cars handling is then caused by the lower ride height and the car bottoming out on the bump stops or having shocks incapable to control the car at that height with the now increased rate of the spring and lower roll height of the car

this all said, the OP's car is honestly too low to perform well. The rear not so much, but the front end will have trouble since the a-arms geometry is *** f-ed at this point. You would be better off with stiffer, taller springs to bring the car back up some and get some real shocks. Koni yellows if you can swing them. Spend the money once and be done with it, shocks are almost more important, if not more important to the cars performance than the springs.

Really good tires will help too

 

The other issue with cutting springs, at least factory springs, is the rears are progressive rate and the fronts are linear rate. So if you cut off enough on the front andb ack to keep the car level, the rears will increase in springrate way too far in relation to the fronts. The loophole is with our cars we can remove the rear spring isolator (the hose trick) and get a free half inch out of the rear of the car, so you can keep a decent balance.

But after about an inch of drop trying to make it work with stock springs isn't going to perform nearly as well as it looks. Beyond an inch of drop you need lowering springs or weight jacks.

But I am of the camp that there is absolutely nothing wrong with trimming springs as long as you avoid overheating the metal during the process of cutting coils... and by coils, about a half coil on the fronts and a quarter coil on the rears is about as far as you want to go.

But cut springs are just springs of a shorter height and higher spring rate. High spring rates and shorter heights make it harder for the shocks and struts to do their job. That's why quality shocks/struts are such a big deal for lowered cars and a big reason why people think cut springs are "bad". A lot of people cut springs and re-use their cheap parts store shocks and struts and the ride quality goes all to hell because those shocks/struts just cant handle it.

 

Details on the hose trick?

 

mine arent factory so everything said is invalid

but as far as the ride height of my car, it performs great at the height its at im just looking to improve even more..shocks/struts are next

 

Just remove the very thick rear spring isolator, and replace with 1/2 inch ID heater hose around the first full coil of spring. I think it was about 1/2 inch ID, 5/8's OD or somewhere around there. Reinstall.

Now heater hose wont distribute the load as evenly across the spring cup as the isolator will, but it does keep it from being squeaky and annoyingly noisy.

To everyone running lowering springs... do they keep the rear isolator also?

 

i have no hose nor isolator and it doesnt make noise or anything