suspension upgrades?

Trojmn said
i currently drive a SRT in GS and a have recently retired my regular neon in STC. this season i started to also drive my 67 barracuda in CAM. Car is mostly stock 1.03 + hellwig FSB, 3/4 rear swaybar, FF UCA, 73+ abody disks and willwood proportioning with manual disk/drum brakes. 17x8 and 225/45 ZII's, and a shot power steering chuck and slow federal pump.

the A-body has potential. even with my weak 273 commando, slaloms where pleasantly surprised by the turn in even with PS going out on the 3rd cone. no doubt that is mostly due to RWD.

Neon SRT4 track and WB weight
58in 105in 2900LBS

Abody cuda
57.5 108 3200lbs(?)

so its approximately the same "size" as a neon (minus the overhang) and RWD and better FWD geometry, nearly unlimited mods allowed in CAM and only a few hundred pounds . Yeah it SHOULD be faster in RAW. however it needs to beat my SRT by 1.14 seconds on a 60second course... add power, wider wheels and tires, thats doable but is going to take some work. the SRT is turn and burn and top 5 on index every time.

AutoX is won by weight and wheelbase, period. IMO the A body is in the ballpark and could be locally competitive without getting wild.

Exactly my point, and you're still running 225's and relatively small torsion bars for racing.

The change in handling when I went from 1" bars to 1.12" bars on my Duster was massive. Same for changing the 225's out for the current 275/295 combo. That alone is nearly night and day. With the 2.94 gears I still have out back I have to try pretty hard to break loose the 295's, and that's with 400+ hp. There's a lot of grip there.

My car isn't anything crazy. It's street driven, and will soon be my daily driver. All of the suspension modifications are "bolt on" and off the shelf with the exception of the welding I did to box the LCA's and move the rear perches in a 1/2". The chassis stiffening I did isn't mandatory to pull 1G on the skid pan, although its beneficial. Even just adding subframe connectors would get you most of the way there. And everything I did was done in my driveway or garage, no fancy fabrication necessary. I also probably have about half as much money into it compared to a full coilover replacement.

Even that '74 Charger started life as a "real" charger. Sure, it was a factory "body in white" that's now a full cage car with a Charger skin, but all of the suspension points and geometry are the same- its a torsion bar and leaf spring car. Sure, its a ton lighter and stiffer, but the suspension itself isn't anything you can't get from Firm Feel, Hotchkis, etc now. And honestly, that Charger has a massive disadvantage in the weight bias category with that 426 up front. A small block stroker will make just as much power and push the front/rear bias to much more manageable levels.