Suspension Modifications and Your Ride

  

Suspension Modifications and Your Ride

Tuning you car for performance includes numerous different options. Body kits, cold air intakes, turbo chargers and super chargers, performance ignition systems and many other options provide benefits. However, tuning your suspension is just as important as adding horsepower under the hood. In fact, if you do not tune your suspension as well as your engine, you can actually decrease the performance capabilities of your car. How do you tune your suspension? Below, you’ll find a quick outline of what you’ll need to do (A visit to AndysAutoSport.com will give you options from body kits to coilovers and more).

The place most people start tuning their suspension is by lowering their vehicle. There are two ways in which this can be accomplished: lowering springs and coilovers. Here’s what each offers:

• Lowering Springs – Lowering springs do exactly what it sounds like they do. These replace your OEM springs (on your struts/shocks), lowering your ride height. While these are the most affordable option, they only provide a single height setting for your ride.
• Coilovers – If you’re going to lower your car or truck, coilovers are the only way to go. These usually come as a complete set (coilover sleeve, strut, spring and camber kit). In addition, they provide you with the means to adjust your ride height to an almost infinite number of settings.

Once you’ve decided to lower your ride, you’ll need a few other items. First up, add a set of strut tower bars. These span the distance between your strut towers, both under the hood and in the rear. Their function is to tie the towers together, eliminating sway and providing better handling, but they also look great.

The next addition will be custom sway bars. Most vehicles have OEM sway bars underneath, but they are usually thin and lacking in performance. Aftermarket sway bars are available in a number of thicknesses. Like strut tower bars, sway bars tie your suspension together, reducing the amount of flex and sway in the system; however, these are installed under your ride, rather than on top. In addition, you’ll find some vehicles only have a single sway bar in the front, while others have one in the front and rear.

The purpose of tuning your suspension is to provide better handling. A properly tuned suspension can allow you to accelerate through a turn, rather than slowing down. This is handy for racing, of course, but enhanced suspension can also provide benefits for a daily driver.