G-BODY Suspenion comparison.

[Mechanic Nerd]

Spent some time searching threads today and last night. Found some good stickies on suspension upgrades, also found some information on what allot of guys are currently running. I Have a 1981 cutlass base with a sbc and 400 turbo. (Powertrain listed for weight purposes). Im currently looking to upgrade my suspension set up. Car is a street car. Might see a track once a year if i get the hankering. Firstly i thought about refreshing the suspension with all the things listed in the #1 sticky thread as my suspension is mostly just tired. But i have some money to spend, i plan on keeping the car and continue upgrading it to make it my little street monster.

Now to get to the meat of the question. I talked with UMI performance. They recommend the stage 2.5 handling kit. And it looks like it will do great, specially comparing to stock suspension. Anyone have any experience with the kit? Would it be worth it to just spend the extra $$$ and get the stage 4 kit? For the same price or less is there a better kit to go with? Does anyone have experience with actual seat time using different UMI kits, or even UMI versus other manufacturers. Its one thing to look online and say "well that looks great and sounds great" but some real life experience input would be awesome.

 

[melloelky]

I should mentioned in the previous post that you should be making a choice based on how you intend to use the car. If you are only interested in straight line racing, then I'd go a different route, etc. But that kit will work awesome for a great cruiser that adds 20-30 years of handling increase. Tire size and alignment will turn it into a truly friendly car to drive on the street.

1000% this^ it's important to be on the realistic side of thing's when spending your $$ on upgrades.that said you won't regret investing into the foundation of that ride, it really sets the tone.my set up's 99% UMI and if i could do it again i'd save my paper route money and go for the kit instead of dragging it out over time/making changes. I had a big issue issue with something years ago and i thought the customer service was going to be less than helpful but they were great.i sent them some pics/other info they asked for and They sent me new versions of what i had and didn't require anything else on my part.couldn't ask for anything more.

 

[Mechanic Nerd]

1000% this^ it's important to be on the realistic side of thing's when spending your $$ on upgrades.that said you won't regret investing into the foundation of that ride, it really sets the tone.my set up's 99% UMI and if i could do it again i'd save my paper route money and go for the kit instead of dragging it out over time/making changes. I had a big issue issue with something years ago and i thought the customer service was going to be less than helpful but they were great.i sent them some pics/other info they asked for and They sent me new versions of what i had and didn't require anything else on my part.couldn't ask for anything more.

Appreciate the response. Im glad to get allot of input from people who been there done that. Working in a shop setting my whole
adult life i have always been humble and considered and appreciated peoples information. It goes a long way and we are never done learning!