Handling

Auto Crossing Your Turbo Regal

Introduction

Having seriously AutoX'ed my '87 GN for three years, I'd like to document my approach. The car can be made to handle quite well, but you have to ask yourself at what speed you want to achieve maximum cornering performance. A GN set up to handle at 120 mph will have a stiffer suspension than one set up for max handling at 60mph. With that in mind, I offer this list of what I feel are the modifications that will have the biggest effect on handling (with negatives), in order of performance gains. I will admit that SCCA rules for Street Prepared class did not allow me to change trailing arms or brake rotors and calipers and I was looking to maximize the 40 - 60 mph range.

Procedure

1.	Tires- AutoX or Road race tires (BFG R1, etc) are fantastic. They are not practical for the street. Buy a good name brand low profile street tire.
2.	Shocks- I use Koni Adjustable set at full soft in the rear, half stiff in the front. I like the adjustability of the Koni's. They can be changed to enhance other future changes in your suspension. Many GN owners I have talked to like Bilsteins as well. Bilsteins sound like an excellent choice for those who do not want to spend their time adjusting shocks. The stock shocks are very soft. Any high performance shock should yield improved handling.
3.	Springs- I use Suspension Techniques springs and they lower the car one inch. Lowering the car is important, but do not go overboard on stiffness(unless you spend all your time at very high speeds). These springs remove all of the soft handling of the stock GN. For everyday driving, especially if you put a lot of miles on your car, I would suggest looking for a more progressive rate spring. A progressive rate spring shock should be soft at first, then get stiffer as more work is required of it.
4.	Front end alignment (All the negative camber you can get-equal on both sides, 4 degree caster, 0 toe) This is not practical on the street as it makes the steering heavy and will wear tires very fast on the inside edge. You will get maximum 'turn in' with this set-up.
5.	Lighter, wider, bigger wheels. (Less rotating mass, better tire to ground contact, better steering response).
6.	Bigger rear sway bar. Do not use a bigger front sway bar unless you like plowing(front end push) I have tested my car's sway bars on a skid pad. A larger front sway bar made my car push at a lower speed than the stock bar. This was in spite of the fact that the car was flatter.

I did not do a whole lot of brake testing, so I will leave that one alone. Polygraphite bushing made the car feel better, but did not make it faster in my target range. They also started to squeak after about 10K of driving.

It is important to make sure your cars existing suspension is in top order before adding any improvements. Check all bushings for wear. Look carefully to see if your car is one of the ones missing body bushings. Some GN owners have found they are missing the #3, #4 (both are between the front and rear tires along the frame rail) and/or the #7 bushing (behind the rear tire). I added the 'extra' bushing that comes on the GNX (it's above the rear tires). In addition, any handling GN should start with the front triagulated strut bars and rear seat brace. These items will prevent the frame from twisting and cracking the bodies A or B pillar.

I feel the biggest handling improvements to my car were made from driver(that's me) training. Go to a few AutoX's or the local road race course, you will not regret the experience. And finally, never forget that a good driver(that's us) can make a piece of junk(but not our car) handle better than a bad driver(that's them) can make a great car handle(if we let them drive our car).

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