I thought that the Air Ride system was all ghetto hype too, but I watched a segment on Horsepower TV yesterday where they installed the system on a Camaro and it actually improved handling almost 5 sec around a road course and the slalom numbers where much better too.
I actually think the kit is sort of neat because you can raise or lower your car at the touch of a button. Slam it at the track or raise it when you are trailering the car to a show so you don't mess up the paint on your front spoiler (among other scenarios)