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Looking to tighten up the handling on 08 GP

xDIRTYMARKx

xDIRTYMARKx

New member
I want to upgrade the handling of my GP. I have been reading forum posts for about an hour and I hear a lot of do this and do that but no real first hand experience and no links to somewhere to buy anything from. If possible,
I would like to hear from someone that has upgraded there handling, where to look to buy these parts.
 


the first thing that would help the most out of anything is lowering the car. lowering the center of gravity of the car will always help with handling to some degree. however, there is a point where you start to hurt handling if you go lower. that is where springs like SSC come into play. they lower the car around 1-1.5" and the spring rates are stiffened up to keep the car more stable at higher speed corners. you can buy these from ZZP.

the next best thing for you to do would be to invest in some trailing arms and a set of bigger sway bars. these can be found in multiple places, but for the really nice beefy ones you're going to have to pay for it (speedbuilt, BMR). if you decide to go this route you can also order the GMPP handling upgrade kit which comes with the majority of this stuff at a good price. it just isnt as heavy duty as some of the other aftermarket upgrades that youll find.

good luck.
 
I hope this helps future GP modders...a lot of research to find the right stuff

Wasn't wanting to lower it any, would like to add the sway bars, trailing arms and strut braces, if thats not over kill...maybe add them one at a time until I am happy.

What about strut braces? Are they worth it?

I looked for the trailing arms and it looks as if there are not any after market ones for an 08 or at least none that I can find anywhere



For Sway Bars, I only found one front set
Found this in several places, but they have it cheapest

http://www.jcwhitney.com/sway-bar-kit/p2025562.jcwx?filterid=c11320d1833j1

If anyone knows where to find this stuff let me know, thanks.

:th_skull:
 
anything off the 97-03 chassis also fits, so you've got a lot to choose from.

strut tower braces will do the least out of all the upgrades you've looked at.
 
So after some research and procrastinating I ordered these.

Trailing arms... UMI has some also but you don't have choice of color... and I wanted red so paid a little more $$ for the BMR's

http://www.3800performance.com/Merc...Code=BMR-TA&Category_Code=SB&Product_Count=12

Sway bar kit, supposed to be the thickest bars on the market
http://www.addco.net

Ordered these from Shox.com
Addco has a bunch of distributors but Shox was the cheapest.

So we shall see what happens in a week or so when install is done.

:th_king-evil:
 
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i have a comp g with the "performance tuned" suspension and i gotta say its pretty awesome. i couldnt ask for better handling. completly different than my 2001 grand prix. but im not sure on what parts were different in the comp g suspension compared to the normal. might be something to look into because i am very happy.
 


this post has a little info on the comp g
http://www.automotiveforums.com/t524542whats_the_difference_gtp_and_a_gtp_comp_g.html
Seems like it would better than the base version

I have an 08 bought it stock and the suspension and handling was ok, at best. When I added the MSD wires and coils the added power seems to have thrown the handling off, esp. if I hit a dip/reflector going above 60 on either the drivers or pass. side it will jerk or jump to one side or the other.

Fixing to add my CAI tomorrow, figured it wouldn't get better so dropped the 500 to get the TA and SB.
 
How many miles on that 08 GP? Sounds like the dampers are shot since the the car is reacting loosey-goosey to a bump or dip.
 
yeah id reccommend it its honestly incredible for the size of the car and how fast you can take turns without body roll. its like driving my dads honda fit or something haha.

you can order the handling package from a gm dealer but i think its on backorder right now im not sure.

zzp sells the stuff and a few other things under the suspension page.

like heres a link to GMPP sway bars:
ZZ Performance
 


WhatNext said:
How many miles on that 08 GP? Sounds like the dampers are shot since the the car is reacting loosey-goosey to a bump or dip.
Click to expand...

34k and change...

It doesnt do it alot but enough to notice

Got the CAI installed today and now when I take off from a dead stop the back will get away a little bit. But I assume that is because of the stock suspension and less of a malfunction. That will be upgraded in a week or so.

Do dampers fall under normal wear and tear or is this a special case them going out at 34k?
 
With 34k or so, the struts shouldn't be worn out. Maybe the strut mounts are shot but don't chase that just yet. Put the struts on your upgrade list for later. I'd go with the sway bars first as others suggest. You can install sway bars independent of everything else then tackle the springs and struts together.
Since you are doing a lot of good advanced planning, the struts for 08 are going to be a head scratcher as the lower cost options like KYB GR2s (IMO) aren't high performance. I installed a set this spring on an 05 GT and they are a good stock replacement but not where (I think) you want to take your car. The KYB AGX adjustables are not available for 04 and up (would have gotten AGX for the 05) and Bildstein high performance are crazy expensive. Maybe GTP/GXP replacement struts should be considered (not cheap but less than Bildstein HP). I also heard someone putting Koni catridges inside stock struts. Like I said, a head scratcher.
 
you can do the kyb agx struts if you change the LCA to the 97-03 and the swaybar end links and then you have adjustable struts
 


Comp-G suspension is something like an inch lower - but to me, that would be something to do when you've worn yours out ~80-100k and you're not interested in going lower/switching to 03 parts. Just another option.
 
Well I didn't really want to spend to lower it...but adj. struts sound nice...but with the sb and ta on we will see what the handling is like. Maybe in the near future they will have adj struts for it and I wont have to change to lcas to make whats out there work.
So hopefully a little while before I have that headache.

Since I have the ext warranty on it I gonna take it to the dealership and have them look at it and see if theres anything going on that shouldn't be before I get the sb and ta in. Especially since the sway bars I ordered are on backorder for 2 weeks.
 
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