Make my car handle better, CHEAP!!!!!! Options

[ninefourteener]

Ok..... forgive me for buying / owning a teener that pretty much underwent a ground up restoration less than 10K before I bought it......... so I really haven't done anything "mechanical" to it at all..... only appearance upgrades.

But I'd like it to handle better.. you know, hold the curves tighter, less body roll, etc.

Anyone have any ideas on what to do that isn't going to break the bank? Maybe some tips? Tricks? Cheap parts? Where can I get them? Where do I start? Whats the easiest upgrade, and will produce the highest desired effect??

Look at it from the perspective of a car that the suspension is 100% original.... as mine is. I know there are a lot of auto Xers on here, so any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[jonwatts]

Find out (or tell us if you already know) what you have. You said suspension is 100% original. Do you mean original as in it's 30 years old or original in that all original spec parts were used during the restoration?

What year is the car?

Do you have swaybars? If not then even a stock front bar would be a great improvement but the installation is a bit involved; i.e. it's not a simple bolt-on part, drilling is required.

A rear swaybar is not as critical as the front. New coil springs will be your biggest bang-for-the-buck on the rear suspension.

Then there's new shock absorbers, upgraded suspensions bushings, front torsion bars, etc. I prefer to do things one piece at a time so you can feel how they affect handling and you learn more about your car. (worthless side note: the biggest and cheapest upgrade I made on my Corrado was a $70 front strut tower brace. I had no idea the strut towers would flex as much as they did with an engine and transmission bolted between them but this cheap and simple part made a huge initial improvement in how the car handled).

Notice I said I prefer to do things one at a time even tho I'm doing it all at once on my 914. The suspension was scary 30 year old stuff when I bought the thing so I didn't need have a good basis to work from but now I have no basis to know which upgrade did what to the handling characteristics (so I'm behind the learning curve).

As for costs, budget what's cheapest and then buy whatever you want. It's called living in denial and has worked well for me so far (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool_shades.gif)