ok I usta have a sunfire gt and it was pleanty stablil at like say 75 80. BUt now i got a 2005 base model cavy and it doesnt seem as stabil i tryed a strut bar but it didnt really help what do u guys think? Whats the difference in the 2 setups?
darkblade j
it could need an aligment
the wheels could need to be balanced
the problem is they jsut arent designed for high speeds. Trut abrs, sway bars, and COs help but mostly for cornering. best thing you can do it get all of the above and some decent tires and jsut keep it below 90...sorry
I may run 18s, but I can do your taxes in 10 seconds flat.
springs, struts, sway bars, brake upgrades, strut bars, wider wheels and higher speed rated tires will help... Hopefully ur doing this on a close course and not the open road were your endangering others along with yourself. do the speed limiter it will keep you safe and ticket free trust me on that
Team GREEN
Larger rim tires, stifffer springs, stronger struts, sway bars all will help alot with higher speeds. To say a car "just isn't designed for high speeds" and write it off like that shows a lack of understanding in suspension engineering.
The difference in the two cars mentioned are the sway-bars' sizes. And if the alignment is off that will kill high speed stability.
It's a base model so chances are it does not have a front sway bar, Get a front and rear sway bar, nice set of struts, I would recomend a eibach pro kit, a nice set of atleast 17" wheels with 225 45 17's and strut tower bars along with some poly bushings that should make you real stiff and not all floaty at the higher speeds,
2009 Ford Mustang V6
my setup so far:
GM front strut tower brace (soon to be bolted to the firewall)
rear strut tower brace
FE2 front sway bar (soon to be upgraded to the Eibach unit)
Eiback rear sway bar
Goldline drop springs (1.75" on all corners)
Tokico D-Spec adjustable struts
Wilwood front big brake conversion
17x8 rims with 225 45/17 BFG g-Force KDW tires
future:
rear disc brake conversion
sub frame brace
roll cage
as you can see, I've done quite a bit to my car to help with stability. the car behaves a lot different, and does very nicely as it is right now. I know it can be better, and I'm working on it. but I'm finally getting it to where I feel safer at higher speeds on the freeway (I'm not talking about racing either, but more along the lines of going around curves and tightly-curved on ramps).
the point is, don't just throw a set of strut tower braces and calling it good. read a lot in this forum, do a lot of searching, and pay attention to guys like C.T.S. and BaggedCav. they know what they are talking about.
Desert Tuners
“When you come across a big kettle of crazy, it’s best not to stir it.”
Nearly any car can be made stable at high speed, especially ours. If you disagree you obviously have not done the right things to your car. There are 2 reasons these cars feel unstable at high speeds. The first is that they need more roll resistance from bigger sway bars. The second is that in stock form there is a lot of aerodynamic lift.
First off lowering it will help a lot. This minimizes the amount of air that goes under the car causing lift. Its actually a lot more complicated than that but all you need to know is that lowering it will help high speed stability. Make sure to use high quality struts when lowering, koni yellows are one good option and what I have. The struts can also stiffen the suspension which helps in stability because of increased roll resistance.
Other than that a rear sway bar will help a lot. Suspension braces probably will not help much in stability at high speeds. You will notice their benefit under hard cornering but not on the freeway.
I also noticed an improvement in high speed stability when I blocked off my grill. This minimized the amount of air that bunched up in the engine compartment causing lift. A blocked grill, an extended air dam and a front splitter could all be used to improve high speed stability. You cant just pay attention the the front though. If you do all these things to the front you will need a rear spoiler if you dont already have one to balance it all out. A stock one from an ls sport will be fine.
My car is glued to the road at all speeds so do something similar and yours will be too. Pic for reference
02 LS Sport
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2135396
68 Firebird
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2135556
56 GMC
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2135587
66 Suburban
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2135589
ok i dont need anything super drastic. I want it to ride like my sunfire gt that i had. I go on road trips i like to do 75-80 mph in the middle of nowere!! I dont wanna spend a lot of money whats the difference in the suspension in the 2 different cars the 98 sunfire gt and 2005 1sv cavalier. is it just the wheels? that make the biggest difference? Isnt their some part that a ls sport/fancy sunfire has that i dont?
darkblade j
the biggest differnce is yout gt had a front sway bar and your base most likely does not.
Note that the wheels/tires will make a difference as well. With the GT you had 205/55/16's which will give you a bit of extra stability over the base model rubber.
That and the sway bars makes a world of difference. It's not a big deal on paper, but driving the two you can tell that they're worlds apart.
