have an '89 Formula WS6 w/ a 305 tbi and a T5 transmission.

I originally bought the car as a project to be driven on weekends-only, but I enjoy the car so much it has become my daily driver.

The engine is fairly close to stock; I've done headers and exhaust, installed an '84 T/A functional cowl induction, etc, but nothing internal. I will eventually drop in a crate motor, ending up somewhere around 400-450 flywheel hp. That will be one of the last things I do, however. I plan on getting the chassis, brakes, suspension, etc sorted out before adding horsepower.

The car has a set of Lakewood lower control arms, a Hotchkiss adjustable panhard bar, polyeurethane bushings and performance struts and shocks (I'm not sure of the brand, they were on the car when I bought it). Last summer, I replaced the bolt-n SFCs with Spohn weld-in models and saw a big improvement in rigidity. The car handles very well, but the ride is pretty rough, especially since I've moved back to Tulsa, OK, where the roads really suck.

I'm in the process of swapping to a 9-bolt rearend with the big, 1LE brakes (with the aluminum calipers) and a 3.45 posi. I'm also doing Ed Miller's C5 front brake swap. As i do these swaps, I want to lower the car to the height I want and make any suspension upgrades needed. I just ordered an adjustable wonderbar and a set of LCA relocation brakets from Spohn, and could use some advice on what other upgrades I need to make.

The car is going to remain primarily a street car. While I plan on eventually making 400+ hp, it will always be with street tires, so I believe my 9 bolt will be strong enough. I plan on adding a Spohn adjustable torque arm, but only after I swap out the T5 for a T56; which will happen just prior to the engine swap.

I've been having a problem with the car "wandering" a bit when cruising between 30-45 mph on surface streets. It tracks perfectly at higher speeds and on highways. Everything in the front suspension is good and I've had the car re-aligned several times. I'm hoping the wonderbar will help with this; am I on the right track? Do you guys have any other suggestions?

I'm also trying to decide about springs for lowering and further suspension mods. With the WS6 suspension, I already have big swaybars and stiff springs (boy do I ever have STIFF springs). I'm happy with the handling at this point. In any further mods I make, my goal is to improve the ride without losing any handling. If I can also improve the handling, all the better, but the primary goal is to keep my back teeth where they are presently located.

I know I'm going to have to change the springs to lower the car. I don't know what spring rates to go to, however. I've looked, but can't find the WS6 spring rates anywhere Would I do better to just change the springs, or should I switch to coilovers? Which setup would ride better? Which setup would handle better? If the coilovers offer improvement, is that improvement significant enough to justify the cost differential? What about spherical upper strut mounts? Will they offer any improvement in ride quality?

Any other suggestions?

 

what you have and what you plan looks good. - that said, I'm running on the Eibach "sport" kit. I like it, and have liked it for several years now, but I'm soon to be switching to coil-overs all the way around. With what you already have and what you intend on doing, I'd go straight to coil-overs. Much more capabilities, and if you change something or simply change driving styles, coil over springs are pretty cheap(around $100 pr), which gives you much more room to try a couple different spring rates to find something that suits you...not something that suits a manufacturer...