Suspension pointers

[MR.ADAMS]

I'm looking to improve the overall handling of my vehicle and gear it more towards auto-x road course duty since it's becoming more prevalent in my area. Any input you open-road guys have for set-ups would be much appreciated! As of right now the suspension is stone stock but i'm looking to eventually go with a tubular K-member/A-arm set up with coilovers, and in the rear possibly an IRS swap with other additions. Add in a little bit of chassis bracing with subframe connectors and some front and rear strut tower braces with beefier swaybars.

I'm looking at front coilover kits for now so I would like some suggestions as to which brand and which spring rates are ideal for this purpose. Also, does it matter which kit/shock I go with if I hope expand to a tubuluar K/A in the future?

Any help with where I should start on this path would be great.

Thanks in adavance!

 

[Gallows]

Subscribingop:

 

[Tabres]

The easiest/best place to start, in my opinion, is a good set of full-length subframe connectors.

 

[tt54l32v]

pick with a company and go with them.
Maximum Motorsports :: The Leader In Mustang Performance Suspension
the sport box

 

[Ciotti]

If you are going to get into autocross, hold off on the coil overs as they will put you into a very fast class with purpose built race cars. Your car is a 96' so you should already have a front strut tower bar and there's no need to do a rear one as they have been proven to do nothing on our cars. An IRS swap is something that should only really be done if you're looking for a more comfortable ride on the street, but it won't make your car corner any better.

I've been autocrossing my Cobra for quite some time now and I'm also an instructor in my region so I've got a pretty decent idea of what's what and here are the things I've found to be the most beneficial to our cars but will still leave you in a class where you can be competitive in order of importance in my opinion...

F Stock
As sticky of a tire as possible (love my new Kuhmo XS's but you can run an r compound slick such as the Kuhmo 710's)
As much negative camber as you can dial in on the factory plates (probably around 1.5 degrees)
Koni Single Adjustable Yellows
Steeda front sway bar

E Street Prepared
All of the above and then...
H&R Race springs (or Super Race if the roads you drive on are all smooth)
Full length subframes (MM or Steeda are the most popular)
MM 4 bolt Caster Camber plates
Poly a arm and steering rack bushings
Watts link or Panhard Bar (MM or Fays 2 are the most popular)

STU or STX (street tire only classes)
All of the above other than the subframes (they're not ST legal) and then...
MM lower control arms


If you go in that order you will be working mainly with your front suspension first to work on the understeer issues these cars have and you will be replacing the parts that make the most difference early on. Autocross is the best place to start for an accelerated learning curve on how to drive quickly and Randy Pobst was actually quoted at one point in saying that "good autocrossers make good road racers but good road racers don't always make good autocrossers."

I always suggest that you stay in the stock class for as long as you can and you'll be amazed at what a difference a good tire, negative camber, adjustable shocks, and a big front bar will make. For under a grand it will no longer understeer like a fat pig and you will be able to concentrate on becoming a better driver.

 

[MR.ADAMS]

Ciotti thank you very much. I appreciate your input and from what you're describing that is exactly the kind of set-up I want.

My daily driver is a 1991 Sentra SE-R which, as you might know being an auto-x instructor, has a cult following for delivering one of the most surgically precise driving experiences in recent memory. It has killed me recently switching back and forth from the Mustang to the Sentra, essentially traversing to opposite ends of the performance spectrum when I get into either car. On one hand I have an anemic, underpowered vehicle that handles like it is quite literally on rails, and on the other I have a powerful cruiser that handles, as best as you and I can describe, like a fat pig. Whenever I'm in the Sentra going through the twisties I have a smile stuck on my face, and the Mustang yields the same result but only on the straight sections.

I'm just looking to have my cake and eat it too and you have set me straight on some issues such as the IRS and coilovers. Many :beer: are in order!

Oh, I also forgot... I have a JLT CAI and my strut tower bar will not clear this intake. Are there any STB that do or should I take my bar into the machine shop and modify it to fit?

 

[Ciotti]

Ditch that intake, you'll be much happier with your STB back on and there are other options on intakes that will clear it which I hashed out here a while back http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/sn95-cobras-24/292624-final-answer-upr-c-l-wms-intake.html

My roomate in college actually had one of those year SE-R's and as much as I loved the way it cornered, the torque steer and lack of power really ruined the driving experience for me.
With those F stock mods your Cobra will be transformed and then when you start into the ESP mods you'll really start cookin. To put things in perspective, at Sunday's autocross I had second fastest time of the day in a 3600 pound convertible cobra with Kuhmo XS street tires, MM springs, old blown Tokiko blues, MM subframes, and 1.5 degrees negative camber. The car that took fastest time of the day from me was a gutted trailored completely modded X Prepared Porsche 912 on stupidly sticky r compound race slicks that he only gets 6 events on before they're corded.

That being said, I was a half second faster than a national level pro autocross driver that was co-driving my car so the driver mod must definitely be in place for these cars to go fast. Driving that SE-R won't do you any favors in trying to get used to the Cobra, it is a completely different beast at the limit and on an autocross track, but that's where the fun begins. With the Cobra you need to be thinking and setting the car up 2 or 3 corners ahead of where it currently is but when you get it right it's a thing of beauty!