Better handling without lowering

[Dayzedandkonfuzed]

My Malibu is my year round driver, it has the f41 package and handles a lot better than my cutlass, but it's not good enough. What is the best way to make this car a corner carver without lowering it? Only reason i dont want to lower it is for the snowy BC winters.

Now the thought of airbags has crossed my mind. This way i could keep my ride height up when i'm plowing snow with my bumper on the way to work, as the city doesnt even start their plow trucks till noon lol. Then i could get my center of gravity lower when the snow is gone and thus achieve better handling. But will that mess with my alignment? Would i have to re-align the car twice a year to avoid chewing through tires?

If I dont go with air-ride, what are the best suspension components for gbodys?

 

[pontiacgp]

The problem you're going to have is you want softer suspension for handling in snow and rain and stiffer suspension for handling on pavement....

 

[Dayzedandkonfuzed]

I'm only after better handling on pavement, i dont think good handling exists on snow lol

 

[307 Regal]

Never underestimate the importance of a good set of tires. Maybe you could have 2 sets of rims. 1 set being regular wheels equipped with a good set of snow tires. (I've used skinny studded tires in the rear on some 15x7 rallies and I got good results.) The other set, maybe wider and larger rims, equipped with some good, grippy street tires.
I'm also a fan of adjustable shocks. Sway bars are good too but I've been told to always start with springs and shocks and not to rely solely on the sway bars to reduce body roll.

 

[Dayzedandkonfuzed]

Never underestimate the importance of a good set of tires. Maybe you could have 2 sets of rims. 1 set being regular wheels equipped with a good set of snow tires. (I've used skinny studded tires in the rear on some 15x7 rallies and I got good results.) The other set, maybe wider and larger rims, equipped with some good, grippy street tires.
I'm also a fan of adjustable shocks. Sway bars are good too but I've been told to always start with springs and shocks and not to rely solely on the sway bars to reduce body roll.

Definitely going to have 2 sets of rims and tires. I'd like to go up to a 17" wheel for the dry seasons, but dont know how they would look without lowering the car a little at least. Nobody likes a DONK.

 

[seawolf18]

Better springs and shocks for sure. Factory springs have a pretty low spring rate. A lot of people swap in s-10 springs. Here is a good link for spring info http://www.maliburacing.com/coilspring.htm . You can also replace all the worn out factory rubber suspension bushings with poly ones for better handling as well.

 

[Jeff k]

The best you could do to help with handling issues, is to learn how to do your own alignments at home...

No rack with generic one size fits all specs can come close to dialing everything in by feel...

 

[kustomss]

The secret to home alignments: 8' fluorescent light bulbs. Bungee cord them to the outside of your wheels, parallel to the car. Then simply measure between the bulbs front and rear (you may need to get creative with framing squares to measure he rear). Adjust until he measurements are the same. I did my car this way a year ago and the tires wore evenly.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

Better springs and shocks for sure. Factory springs have a pretty low spring rate. A lot of people swap in s-10 springs. Here is a good link for spring info http://www.maliburacing.com/coilspring.htm . You can also replace all the worn out factory rubber suspension bushings with poly ones for better handling as well.

Poly bushings are prone to sticking and causing snap oversteer, poly also cold flows. Best to use poly only for the body mounts and sway bar end links. For the A arms and rear control arms factory rubber is best.

 

[jlcustomz]

Shocks are referred to as the brains of the suspension. Many are single or double adjustable. Not sure what our sponsors here have in shocks only. Ridetech has shocks only (now made by Fox Racing) for our applications. I got their airride shocks, but have yet to install them.