Is it nessecary to do coil overs to handle well?

Well, not spending a lot AND getting coil overs don't really fit into the same sentence. That said, i personally think you can get great handling without them, and i also think you can get terrible handling WITH them if the person setting them up doesn't know what he's doing. They aren't some kind of magical handling equipment...they're just a different/better design, but even that is arguable. You would be just as well off on a budget if you got upper/lower control arms for the rear and maybe tubular A arms for the front, and then a nice set of 5 way adjustable shocks/struts and some handling springs. Caster/camber plates are primarily just for the extra adjustment range that they offer which is necessary to correct the alignment on lowered cars, but they also offer increased strength and less flex in the shock towers. You would also do well with a quality strut tower brace and even a roll cage if you can afford it.

I would look into Maximum Motorsports Grip In A Box kits as a great way to piece together the parts that you want, although you can mix and match from other companies if you know what you're looking for. Griggs Racing is also an awesome company for parts. They have a really crazy tubular K member setup that converts the front setup to a double A arm suspension which completely eliminates the shock towers alltogether, but its pretty expensive.


It just dawned on me that "take it to the track" might mean the drag strip and not the road course...lol. In that case, i'd just stick with some 5 way adjustable shocks/struts and upper/lower control arms and maybe switch to some springs that are rated for drag racing. This way you can adjust the shocks/struts to allow good weight transfer but still dial it back in for road handling.

The one big upside to coil-overs is the weight loss, if also doing a K-member the weight savings can be significant, and loss of weight will help in the handling department be that drag racing or road racing. That being said, you can get great handling out of a fox-body stang without going to coil overs as mentioned by 85_SS_302_Coupe.