Does anyone have any suggestions? I stopped halfway in to my garage yesterday to see what kind of clearance I had (very steep driveway) and found I have less than an inch between the rocker panel and garage floor
The most effective way of improving handling without lowering is rims and tires. Larger diameter rim with a much lower profile tire is very beneficial. Also, if you get custom rims that you can pick the backspacing lower the offset some more, you gotta becareful when doing this because even with a factory size tire theyll rub.
At any rate, larger rim lower pro tire, pump the front to 42 keep the rear @ 36. Also, another thing you can do is get larger sway bars. On my '85 I had 1 15/16" fr and a 7/8" rear, but my car weighed less than yours. A few more things, fr. strut tower brace, rear shock tower brace. Sub frames, panhard rod, poly bushings, and so on. But the most noticeable improvement will be from the wheels arnd tires. Make sure you get some nice sticky ones.
-P.
I wouldn't fool around with rims and tires. You can get great handling without swapping rims provided you have real good tires but, tire choice also depends on if it's a daily driver or not. Matched front and rear sway bars, WATTS link, strut and shock tower, front g-load bar.
I have to disagree with the strut tower bar and rear shock tower bar, but other than that like they said. Bigger sway bars, better tires. Rear lower control arms and panhard bar, or watts link for a bit more money. Biggest SOTP difference is going to be tires and sway bars, though LCAs do a lot to plant the rear and stop wheel hop.
Dan
Shocks can make a big difference too. I'd be looking at good Summer Tires and Good shocks for mine if budget allowed. Then fixing any understeer with swaybars after that.
That's true, shocks can be a very good addition, however they need to be matched to the spring rates so they may or may not be the shocks a lot of people are buying for aftermarket springs. Also, I forgot to mention a bumpsteer kit. Adjusting bumpsteer correctly can make a huge difference in how the car feels in a corner.
Dan
Shocks. The stock dampers are way too soft. The dampers damp the up and down movement more effectively and thereby stop the car getting out of shape in the first place. SWay bars will resist roll but many softly sprung cars handle extremely well, it's all about controlling the body.