What car benefits most from simple off the shelf nonadjustable shocks, springs and sway bars?

OK, interesting mental exercise /game, not a serious Q, just mental floss.

We all know that a Miata can set FTD at a local autocross with some cheap KYB’s, e-bay springs and some second had sway bars. But a as it’s label of ‘The Answer’ suggest, it’s already a stunning handler off the shelf. Conversely a Fox body (or SN95) Mustang can be made into a serious handling machine (at the cost of ride) if you throw $6-7K at new springs, 5 link rear with panhard, new K member with corrected geometry plus chassis stiffening etc. etc.

So. The challenge is. What car can you think of that would benefit most from dead simple bolt ons, would exhibit a mind altering improvement in handling without killing the ride. Could be done in a day on your driveway with hand tools. Carefull shopping could do the whole thing for $5-600. Something fun to drive that could be a ball to autocross or track (fun emphasized, not stupid autocross classification to win a class of one car)

Rules. Nonadjustable shocks/struts easily available. No Komi’s, no separate reservoirs, just cheap, but decent quality off the shelf units like Bilstein HD’s
Springs, off the shelf direct replacement parts only
Sway bars, commercially available or sourced from another car in the same platform.
Sway bar end links, can be bought or made, they are cheap and easy enough.
Bushings, assume stock parts in good condition
Assume reasonable streetable sized wheels and tires, no more than +2” width or +/-1” on diameter for the wheels.

Banned:
Coil over conversions
Replacement control arms
Added links etc.
Needed chassis bracing etc.
Camber castor plates etc.
Crash bolts or the need for crazy tramlining alignment specs
Basically nothing but serviceable replacements for stock parts

My vote: 8th gen civic with hfp suspension 24mm progress bar and some camber bolts up front.It should be fun enough and the ride should be tolerable. If the budget allows a 2006 si coupe should be the ticket.It will put you in STX though. at which point you can add intake, headers flashpro...oh wait, you wanted simple

2nd vote e46 with sport package and decent dampers.

3rd vote Lexus is300 With trd something or other.

Does no coilover conversions mean no changing from leaf springs / torsion bars or no threaded coilovers at all?

I know an EP70 Starlet will benefit greatly from the "LeMons Special" suspension system - cut springs and KYBs.

Gm a-body from the 60s. Hotchkissprings, shocks, and sway bars. IIncredible difference.

They all benefit. Seriously, everything in my driveway from the old Cadillac to the WJ Grand Cherokee would benefit from having all the active parts of the suspension replaced with performance oriented ones. Big enough bars, stiff enough springs and aggressive enough shocks and you can make anything dance better. As the saying goes, any suspension works if you don't let it

Assuming that our only criteria is autox time, that is. The Jeep would lose what "trail rating" it has.

I'd think that most old BMW/merc big sedans would show huge improvements with simple mods like this. Like for example, the 80-90s BMW 5s and 7s.

Probably better than others their size to start with, but should have pretty stiff and solid foundations that when slightly lowered and stiffened would be a blast. What, at the end of the day, is the difference in the suspension between a regular 5 and an M5? probably dampers, springs, and bars.

I-beam Ranger. Btdt after putting on a rear bar, mine handled 1000% better still on stock springs, ft bar, and worn out shocks. It's just like Keith said, the best suspension is the one that isn't allowed to move.

It's true that "any suspension works if you don't let it" (paraphrased Colin Chapman quote) but that's definitely not the best suspension: That would be one meticulously designed to have an ideal camber curve for some pre-chosen amount of body roll, and it doesn't have to be be hard - the McLaren F1 is a perfect example. It had downright floppy suspension and plenty of body roll but still had great cornering. McLaren later figured out how to have their cake and eat it too with their FRICS-type suspension - now on the P1 (and I think 650S), springs are chosen only for ride comfort, the hydraulic system controls body roll, heave, and squat/dive.

(Of course you could do the same thing with active suspension, but this is an adjustable passive system)

Anecdotally, an XJ Cherokee was transformed with off-the-shelf performance suspension parts.

Made the owner giggle on off ramps etc. Of course good tires was part of the package.

I think tires can make a night and day transformation as well.

Mopar A-bodies come to mind. They had pretty good suspension geometry for something from the muscle car era, but used spring rates intended for highway cruising and roll stiffness based on the sorts of G's you could pull on bias ply tires. Retuning the suspension based on the grip you can get with modern tires can produce a HUGE difference in handling.

most fwd cars with a beam rear, bonus if it has a factory LSD. they can be completely transformed. See B15 SE-R

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

My mk3 Celica. I have eBay civic springs in front. Fox body springs in the rear. Rear sw20 struts in the front. And rear camaro shocks in the back. All poly bushings replaced. Car handles like a Miata with a slower rack. I've spent 400$. All brand new parts. Nothing used. My factory sways are great.

captdownshift wrote: most fwd cars with a beam rear, bonus if it has a factory LSD. they can be completely transformed. See B15 SE-R

^^^^^^Came here to write this, but captdownshift beat me to it. My B15 was transformed with conservative Tein springs and KYB shocks & struts. A rear sway bar would add even more adjustability to the handling, but with raised tire pressures, it's already pretty adjustable.

Ford Focus (Gen I). OTS Koni Yellows, H&R "race springs", bigger RSB--instant STF car with wheels/tires added. (See 2014 Nationals--STF/Chris Perry). Bilstein Sports would work in lieu of the Konis.

I know they are banned but we put konis, eibach springs and rear sway in a 05ish civic (the one no one modified with the d17) and totally transformed that car. Alternatively I put bilstein hds in dads 300,000 mile 2000 expedition 4x4 and it actually handles quite well, used to wallow and try to flip if you did the speedlimit around a turn now theres no need to brake for turns. Weird feeling in the tow pig but gives me a smile.

I guess that means any crappy or even not so crappy car is transformed by good shocks at least, toss in all the other goodies and youll swear you just turned your lumina into a "racecar"

ebonyandivory wrote: Anecdotally, an XJ Cherokee was transformed with off-the-shelf performance suspension parts. Made the owner giggle on off ramps etc. Of course good tires was part of the package. I think tires can make a night and day transformation as well.

I've always found good tires inflated properly for what they are doing at that specific time was the most cost effective handling trick out there. And tire pressure that is correct on the road probably, and in my case never, works as well as the correct tire pressure for an autocross or track day! And vice-versa.

Don't want to derail the thread, but are there any cars that are the opposite? Is there a turd out there that's just "beyond being competitive"??? How about those GM turds from the late eighties- early nineties?

My friend's a body barracuda was a huge difference with the Bilstein shocks, bigger Torsion bars, A front Sway bar, Adding a leaf in the rear, reverse shackles, and bigger tires. we borrowed a set of 17's from my car for testing but It would do really well with the 225/45/15 Autox tires that are common. We basically doubled the spring rate front and rear.

I liked it so much I basically copied the same setup for my car.

Some fun answers here.

To those misquoting ACB, I wan't asking about stopping the suspension working completely, nor was I talking of improving a 5 series to M5 capabilities. The people suggesting the beam axle FWD or old Detroit iron from the 60-70's, thats the stuff I was thinking off.

Taking a painful turd of rocking and rolling under damped terminal understeer terror and making it something fun and chuckable for low low $$"s

As I said, not a real Q, more of a brain teasing fun thought process. I wonder about MGB GT's. Keeping the stock rear leaf springs, replacing the leaver arm shocks with bolt on hydraulic units and a front sway bar.

NC Miata, RX8 Sway Bars, Bilstein HD, Are Groundcontrol's excluded?

Double wishbone hondas don't take much to get them handling well...

Trackmouse wrote: Don't want to derail the thread, but are there any cars that are the opposite? Is there a turd out there that's just "beyond being competitive"??? How about those GM turds from the late eighties- early nineties?

mk4 VWs are turds in most every way imaginable (save for TDI and the TT/R32)

I have a crew cab Chevrolet pickup that I put the biggest sway bars I could get on, and a set of upper arms that gave me 5 degrees of caster. Dramatic transformation. I really kind of want to do the same thing to a standard cab short box but with a 3-5 drop and decent tires.

IIRC "Family Truckster" on here only had some crazy stiff circle track (cheap) springs in the front of the wagon, with some OTS dampers and a bigger front bar. I took it around an autox course once and that car was the polar opposite of what you'd expect from a '78 Country Squire.

aw614 wrote: Double wishbone hondas don't take much to get them handling well...

But DWB Hondas handle great from the get go, I'm looking for a night and day difference.