I could have posted this in the suspension section, but I wanted to aim it at 2.2 owners with suspension mods. What is the best mod you've done to improve the high speed stability of the car? I know tires are important and the stock Pirelli P6's will be out the door soon, but I'm looking for something else to make cruising at 80-90 feel more stable and planted. Currently I'm riding on Pirelli P6's, SS/SC rear springs (still haven't put the fronts in), and a DC Sports Front Strut Bar.

 

Lowering springs on stock struts will handle like poo at speeds because your stock struts will blow out. Bigger sway bars front and rear will defiantly stabilize the car. Lowering the car will help for high speeds so coilovers will help you out there. Wider stickier tires will also help.

 

tires...(I know not suspension but it's the first thin gyou should upgrade when you're lookin for high speed stability)

 

I forgot to mention a proper alignment with maybe a tad negative camber and a tenth degree of positive toe.

 

how would positive toe help stabilize it? just curious, sorry to threadjack. lol

 

I'm not so concerned with hard cornering as I'd like to be able to cruise at a decent speed without feeling like I'm driving the QE2.

 

Do the basics, lower springs and struts or a coilover setup, front strut bar, larger front and rear swaybars, and then if you want to you can do floor brace and harness bar. that will deffinitly tighten the car up alot and more stable wether your cornering or just cruising on the highway. Since you mentioned tho that its for high speed I really dont think other than cornering it would make much of a difference tho.... can you elaborate any more on the question?

 

you would not want any degree of toe, positive or negative, you would want the car as straight as possible, all the toe would do is help your tires ware down faster, especially at high speeds.

and i agree with 07MetallicSC, anything that makes the car stiffer would be great, larger swaybar end links would also be nice

 

Err toe in which is negative. My bad. You want toe in because as reach higher speeds your tires may begin to seperate away from each other. If you have some toe in, it will cause the tires to become straight at speeds. I'm talking a very small amount.

 

Absolute first thing you need to do is put in some FE5 front springs to match your FE5 rears(or replace oll four with aftermarket)

Driving around with FE1 springs up front and FE5 in the back is a big NO-NO. This will definitely cause some awkward(at best) handling.

Once youve got matching springs, and youre ahppy with your tires, the best thing you can do for high speed stability is gonna be adjustable(or modified) upper strut mounts. This way you can get an alignment with additional positive caster The biggest alignment difference between the FE1 cars and the others is that the FE1 only has +3deg caster, the FE3/FE5 both have over 5/8 degree more catser, this is what improves the stability of the steering and increases the "on center" feeling of the higher level cars

Get yourself a matching set of springs, and an alignment to stock specs but with 4.0 degrees positive caster and the car will feel much more stable and enjoyable to drive at higher speeds.( you can go with more, as much as 7degrees is what I think is possible without cutting the strut towers, but the more you add, the harder the wheel will become to turn, and this may not bother you, but your electric power steering may not enjoy the extra workout, I'll say 5.0 is probably a safe limit)

(adjusting your caster in this way also wont affect tire wear or fuel mileage like adjusting toe will)

FE5 springs and FE1 sdampers can live perfectly happily together for many thousands of miles

None of these things will actually cure the real reason that FE1 cars dont feel stable at hgih speeds. The springs and bars make body roll less evident, and stiffer springs reduce bump stter simplt becuase the the suspension doesnt travel as much over any given bump, but they dont truly address the biggest issue causing the loose/wandering feel of the base cars at high speeds directly.



All of these things help make you more confident in the predictablility of the cars handling though, and when combined with a proper alignment for high speed road driving, will completely transform the way the car handles/feels.

 

Still a suspension question, and belongs in the proper section.

 

x 2 a usual good advice from the Maven, add correct tire pressures....

 

you might want to skim through this:

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/supporting-vendor-deals-group-purchases-133/rebel-front-splitter-insert-gb-133433/

 

well you had to add to the confusion. This thread deserves a thorough answer.

There is no question splitters (this is not a splitter. See the Time`Attack Cobalt for a real splitter) help stability, as do wings. The cost may be drag.

But taking the chin spoiler from under the car causes all sorts of cooling issues, and drag, and you have to fence the radiator to replace the aero damage you do to radiator cooling by taking it off. Not a value added proposition. And Cobalt Ion do not have engine cooling issues. In fact, ALL GA Cobalts run stock radiators even though they can put in aftermarket. Stock is light cools well the car runs off the thermostat. So why screw with this part? Of course not. The Cobalt SS in LSJ AND LNF form is very stable at 145 mph...

How do I know? Well the GA Cobalts we built in 04 for the 05 season had the fenced rads from day 1 as when we built the cars Cobalts were not in production and in testing we overheated without the chin spoiler, we were too stupid to know better and did not know the car came with a chin spoiler.

So we added what you have there. But then this year the Koni Cobalts had to take the rad fences off and go to a stock chin spoiler. Oh wait a minute the cooling was....better...

if you know why the "stupid" chin spoiler works on all the cars out there, you probably would not suggest this mod. Sorry to be so direct, but why do virtually all auto makers make cars with chin spoiler? . Its not because they want to spend money. Its because they make the air exhaust from the radiator and improve cooling. End of rant..

 

Have you been in there lately? Are you even offereing this product?

 

Maven you know tech stuff post a 3/4 front view of the 05 time attack Cobalt with the splitter we made....thanks sent pics to bradg etc

 

 

thanks maven

 

No problem Qwik.

 

coil overs
front strut
rear sway
twin subframe bar
sticky tires with correct tire pressure
/thread

 

 

Sub frame bar is a waste of money unless you're a hardcore racer.

 

I m wit u and i dunno any hardcore racers using them but the undercar U race it parallel bar subframes have potential especially for my poor one and half door redline

 

How many racecars you seen with this thing? Ive seen quite a few(probably most) of the Koni cars up close and numerous T3 & SSC cars, havent seen one with this bar. If these guys arent running it, its probably safe to presume you dont need one.