Good day,

I was hoping to get information on what advantages there are to lowering your GP? ....beyond the aesthetic aggressive look.

What are the performance enhancements and the performance degradations?

From a handling perspective, would it be better to put that money into better wheels and tires and other suspension improvements?

Thanks.

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2009 G8 GT -Sport and Premium Pkgs, Roto-Fab CAI, Cortex 93 Octane Tune, Billet Prototype Catch Can, BMR Front and Rear Sways, BMR RTAs, BMR Rear Cradle Bushings, BMR Steering Rack Bushing, GXP SW......and much more to come.

Mine corners without body roll now and its more responsive especially in an emergency situation (scc's)

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TOP SWAPPED-LS6springsXPcam3.4MPS-SD'sCustomDHPtuneMsdCustom painted/polished genV SSCsGXPforged alcoasSPOgrilles/spoiler/SElip/GMPPhandling
14.02@100 2.294-60'
L32Swap 13.7@102 O.o

Lowering your car is based off of the 2 simple principles of lowering the center of gravity and stiffening the spring rates. Both of those factors will give your car a more confident feel around corners and lessen the amount of body roll (however, beefier sway bars will really decrease the amount of body roll if you want to really have a corner hugger). Lowering the car also means less front to back weight transfer during hard accelerations due to the added spring rates and less overall movement of the front end. Braking is also sometimes improved but usually not that noticable however, the nose may not drop as much as before when lowered i.e less back to front weight transfer (mostly becuase it's already dropped in the first place). However, if you're still running stockish tires and wheels cornering still might be as good as you want it since higher sidewalls will cause the tires to roll onto thier sidewalls slightly instead of always staying on their tread patches (negative camber would solve this though). As mentioned before though, from a safety aspect of things, your car will be able to handle panic situations better and the handling should be more predictable and responsive. It should really cut down on the "Turn the wheel.... okay... now we have tons of body roll..... alright the back end is starting to step out...... Oh... there we go, now it's starting to take the turn." When lowered more surface area of your tires will be in contact with the road surface (due to less body roll forcing weight over to one side) which obviously equals more static friction allowing you to grip the road better.

Lowering does create some problems though, especially if you want to drop it pretty low. Clearence of course, axles problems (which can be solved with engine/trans mount spacers), premature wear and tear on your current struts (if they are higher milage and you aren't intending on replacing them when doing springs), and of course ride quality. SSC's seem to be pretty good about the ride quality part of things and the 99 GTP with 05 compG struts and SSC's I've riden in rode very nice for being a lowered car but it woudln't be mistaken for a Buick on air ride that's for sure. SSC's also should cause an issue with axle geometry since the drop for 04+'s is only 1.7" in front and 1.7" in back. Also, stiffer springs usually equal a little more road noise and if I'm not mistaken you were the guy that mentioned noisey tires, so just wanted to throw that out there. If you do get springs, you may want to invest in some anti-pogo washers too.

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Dubs:00 VW GTI VR6, Low and Slow 91 VW GTI 8v, Shave the Bay!! 91 VW Cabriolet 8v, bitch Basket
GP's:04 GP GT, Past now G-Ma's Girlfriend's 97 GP GT, "Project Pink Power"

Ahh very nice write-up thank you! I am just trying to figure out a few things with my suspension and what I want to do short term and long term. I want to replace my struts within the next few months (will help an issue with the left rear camber and that may help reduce the road noise I hear in the rear) and in the future potentially get 18" rims with higher performance tires. or do I just replace the struts and use my current 17" rims with higher performance tires. The next question is do I want to lower the car as well?

Yes I have some road noise, but if I had better handling it would make the road noise worth it....if you know what I mean.

Thanks.

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2009 G8 GT -Sport and Premium Pkgs, Roto-Fab CAI, Cortex 93 Octane Tune, Billet Prototype Catch Can, BMR Front and Rear Sways, BMR RTAs, BMR Rear Cradle Bushings, BMR Steering Rack Bushing, GXP SW......and much more to come.

I just lowered mine on agx struts and ssc springs. Its a huge improvement. Add the GMPP handling kit and the car will handle like a dream. Its well worth the money (about 1k)

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Sorry if this is considered "thread jacking" but can I get links for 04+ companies offering kits or whatever?

I don't know of any real kits out there other than coilovers, but SSC, Eibach, B&G, and some other companies make springs, and KYB (AGX and GR2, apparently there are issues with KYB' AGX's on 04+ due to the control arms), Bilsteins (HD's are a great choice, or the GXP's tuned Bilstein's), OEM (Comp G struts would be a good choice) and your typical off the shelf Monroe and such make the struts.

http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix ... php?id=138

http://www.wbodystore.com/grandprix/Suspension-c-6.html

04-08-grand-prix-discussion-f19/ssc-lowering-springs-on-04-gt-t21050.html

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Dubs:00 VW GTI VR6, Low and Slow 91 VW GTI 8v, Shave the Bay!! 91 VW Cabriolet 8v, bitch Basket
GP's:04 GP GT, Past now G-Ma's Girlfriend's 97 GP GT, "Project Pink Power"

Good day!

Where is the best place to purchase replacement Comp G Struts? I could not find them online anywhere. Also, I looked at the GXP struts and they were a bit over $300 per strut! Wow....they better be really good!

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2009 G8 GT -Sport and Premium Pkgs, Roto-Fab CAI, Cortex 93 Octane Tune, Billet Prototype Catch Can, BMR Front and Rear Sways, BMR RTAs, BMR Rear Cradle Bushings, BMR Steering Rack Bushing, GXP SW......and much more to come.

http://www.monsterpartsonline.com

88955411 - Comp G Front Struts (2) required
88955413 - Comp G Rear Struts (2) required

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Bright Red 2008 G8 GT

Mods: DRCUSTOMPARTS Center Gauge Bezel
Superchips ECM/TCM Tune- Volant CAI
Solo Axlebacks - HID's
Holden V8 Badges
My Website

Hey there!

Thank you Don! Approx $430 for all 4 Comp G struts. Why are the GXP struts so expensive? I think I found them on the same site for $237 per strut. Are they that much better?

So if I decide not to lower my vehicle, would getting 18" rims help my handling much? or would it be just as effective to stick to the 17" rims I have?.....

...and of course get new tires and struts on either solution.

Would I need to replace my springs if I did not lower? 70k miles on my car.

Thanks!

_________________
2009 G8 GT -Sport and Premium Pkgs, Roto-Fab CAI, Cortex 93 Octane Tune, Billet Prototype Catch Can, BMR Front and Rear Sways, BMR RTAs, BMR Rear Cradle Bushings, BMR Steering Rack Bushing, GXP SW......and much more to come.

The GXP struts are a little better than the CompG's but not twice the price better. The CompG's are hard to beat for the money. 18" wheels and tires will allow you to go through the corners faster since they have lower profile tires than the 17's, 55 series vs 45 series. I had 18" wheels & tires on my CompG and they handled much better than the stock 17's. I have 18" wheels & Eagle GT 45 series tires on my G8 and it handles fantastic in the corners.

_________________
Bright Red 2008 G8 GT

Mods: DRCUSTOMPARTS Center Gauge Bezel
Superchips ECM/TCM Tune- Volant CAI
Solo Axlebacks - HID's
Holden V8 Badges
My Website

Thank you once again!

Perhaps to save me some headaches and cost I will just replace the struts and save up for some 18" rims and new tires and not lower the vehicle.

But...do I need to replace the springs along with the struts? or do springs not normally need to be replaced. I know if I were to lower, SSC springs would be my choice, but if I do not lower, just use stock replacement or are there better ones out there?

as I have said before.....so many mod options, so few bucks!

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2009 G8 GT -Sport and Premium Pkgs, Roto-Fab CAI, Cortex 93 Octane Tune, Billet Prototype Catch Can, BMR Front and Rear Sways, BMR RTAs, BMR Rear Cradle Bushings, BMR Steering Rack Bushing, GXP SW......and much more to come.

The springs don't usually wear out, they'll out last the struts that's for sure. If your car isn't sagging the springs are ok.

_________________
Bright Red 2008 G8 GT

Mods: DRCUSTOMPARTS Center Gauge Bezel
Superchips ECM/TCM Tune- Volant CAI
Solo Axlebacks - HID's
Holden V8 Badges
My Website