I drive my 02 z24 everyday about 40 miles. I need it to be a little more fun to drive. I am thinking about lowering it and strut bars. I dont want to drop the thing on the ground though. I still want decent clearance considering I drive it everyday and dont feel like dragging the under carriage. I have been looking at the prokit. So my question is what are you guys doing to make the driving experience more joyfull? I would love to take a corner with a nice solid aggressive feel!


02 Cavalier Z24- Free CAI I made, magnaflow muffler
02 Trans am ws6 - Pace setter long tube headers, off road y-pipe,magnaflow exhaust, slp lid, bored polished throttle body, throttle body by pass, some other free mods, jegster lower control arms. best ET 12.7@112mph Heads/Cam in future

here's what i did



^Front strut tower bar, and other braces



^Rear strut tower bar



^Rear tie bar

And a set of springs & shocks should get you on the right track

I am/was a big fan of the Koni Sport Kit for spring/struts, but Eibachs on konis or really any other name brand performance damper will go a long way. There are a lot more options now than when I last built a J.

Frame bracing and anti-roll bars (anti-roll bars providing a significant difference) will also improve the feel of your car.

I am seriously diggin' what 96RedCav has for bracing in his engine compartment, that looks like a great idea, I only had the bar across the strut towers.

Your tires are another component. Get good tires and that alone can change the driving characteristics of your car.


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Sleeper style, they don't see it coming that way.

^^ custom braces?

Aw thats not fair, I spend months trying to find bars that would work under the hood like that.
Still no luck.

Good job on that.

-M


Remember....syringes go in the RED waste basket.

thanks, I made the braces that go from the towers to the front, and the rear tie bar with some extra stainless tubing from work, wont fit with a stock intake, that's why I have that thing on it for now. The front and rear tower bars are just ebay cheapies. Still do the same thing as the expensive ones. In all, I have only invested $30ish into the whole bracing setup. And thats because I got the tower bars with free shipping lol

This is my planned setup:

- Tokico D-Spec Shocks/Struts (SEE THE AWESOME GP IN THIS FORUM GOING ON RIGHT NOW FOR THESE!!!!)
- Tein S-Tech lowering springs (1.5" drop)
- OEM solid rear strut bar (might get the x brace bar...haven't decided which)
- DC Sports front strut bar (very well made piece!)
- TTR lower k-brace
- OEM lower rear tie bar
- Addco 1" front sway bar
- Addco 1" rear sway bar
- OEM Solid Strut Mount Front W/ Camber
- OEM Solid Strut Mount Rear
- Prothane Upper Motor Mount
- Prothane Lower Dogbone Mount
- Prothane Front Tranny Mounts
- Prothane Rear Tranny Mount
- Welded Lower Control Arms with Prothane Bushings (don't remember brand right off the top of my head)

You can also do the Eibach front/rear sway bar set instead of Addco. I will be doing a GP that will put this set at $265 SHIPPED anywhere in the US starting April 1st. The major difference between the two sets is that the Addco bar is 1" or 26mm in diameter. However, the Eibach is 22mm in diameter. Depending on your driving style, some think that the Addco bar makes the rear too twitchy (further neutralizes the suspension). The Eibach, on the other hand, still allows a very minor bit of understeer to be present, and some think that it is a more streetable bar.

In the future, I may be switching out the Prothane mounts to either the Solid TTR mounts or LZM mounts for some further weight savings.

All this is in a daily driven 98 Sunfire GT.

nate van vliet wrote:I will be doing a GP that will put this set at $265 SHIPPED anywhere in the US starting April 1st. .

You should probably go premie then..

BTW the welded Lower Control Arms were made by Simmons Motor Group (or SMG)

Yep, premie is on the way!

step one would be better tires (if you haven't already changed out the eagle rs-a's that come stock) no amount of suspension is gonna matter if you don't have decent tires to adhere to the road.

after that, sways, strut bars, a decent strut/spring combo make for a pretty entertaining ride.