The KYB kit #2 comes with front KYB shocks, KYB rear struts, a heavy duty front swaybar, an add-on rear sway bar, and four Eibach one inch lowering springs. Polyurethane mounting hardware included with the swaybars. KYB's are an excellent street/performance replacement for the factory shocks and struts. They will provide a little firmer ride than factory yet will make handling better. Their self-adjusting quality makes them get stiffer as more load is applied. This kit will give the best street performance handling for the money by reducing understeer and front end "push".
Note: All suspension kits come with red poly bushings.
The Koni option is a another $450 and I don't think I need ride-adjustable shocks.
I'd be replacing the ball joints at the same time, since they are almost 30 years old.
We have the same kit on our 86. With stock tires and wheels, 15"...... Cheap tires.....let's just say this.....your butthole will run out of pucker before the car runs out of stick. We also have a gran am brake upgrade on car. The one downside is the eibachs are a lot stiffer spring. If the roads your are rough....it becomes a kidney killer. On the autocross course. Or an aggressive driver. This is an awesome kit. A great upgrade for performance handling!!!! Hope this helps Brian
I don't have that kit specifically, but I did have all poly bushings, KYB shocks/struts, new ball joints, and some Suspension Techniques springs, all installed on my car about 6 years ago. That setup wasn't too harsh, but it was like a night and day change for the before and after ride and handling. That was without changing the sway bars, and on stock brakes and wheels/tires.
BTW.......it's olejoedad's 86 se........I have 2 88 formulas it love to drive. I didn't believe him about how well the car handled until I drove for a year.......made both of my formula's seem like they didn't handle....lol
Any suspension parts that are new will vastly improve the ride.
I have basically the same setup on my 87 GT. Just took my car out of storage recently. I have 22,000 miles on this suspension over the course of about 6 years now. Drove her another 1,300 miles to Oregon last week. Still very comfortable on the highway, performance was stellar on the 101 by Cannon Beach, but do not expect Cadillac ride quality on rough roads.
Order extra poly grease. Do not be shy in it's use. I have placed full poly on a half a dozen cars of mine in the past 25 yeas, and nary a squeak ever. Michigan winters for a long time to. Order extra grease.
I believe I have this kit installed on the 87 I just bought. How does it compare to the Arraunt slolam kit? I imagine the Arraunt is better, but is it worth the $2500 to upgrade for Autocross use?
I had that kit on my 86 and found the ride to be too rough although cornering was greatly improved. It dropped the car down so far that I couldn't run it thru an automated carwash because the rear swaybar would drag on the track. It installs below the cradle. Because of the lowered stance, I also had more problems driving in snow which may not be a problem for you. After a couple years, I put the stock springs back on.
I have a very similar Fiero Store lowering kit installed on an 87 Mera. This was supposed to drop the vehicle one inch but I ended up with something in the 1.5 to 2.0 inch drop. There were some difficulties in clearing my driveway, gas station tank fill locations, and some hillsides. After a few years of enduring this situation I now have air shocks on the front as well as rear coil overs and can jack the front up with the on board air compressor. This helps tremendously in the battle against dragging the nose of the car.
My ride is fine and rock steady but I also have 265 x 50 x15 tires all around and that helps a bit.
Nelson
[This message has been edited by hnthomps (edited 09-15-2015).]
Originally posted by hnthomps: This was supposed to drop the vehicle one inch but I ended up with something in the 1.5 to 2.0 inch drop.
Anything over an inch is too much. Damnable neighborhood roll-up curbs. Unless I can get the city to grind mine down. The Bugeye and Sky already scrape unless they go out at an angle.
Well I bit on it the kit during the sale today. Since my daughter went off to college I've been driving the car more and the 30 year old suspension parts really need some attention.
Hopefully it really is just 3/4 to 1" or the car is going to be stuck in the driveway
I didn't get the whole kit, but a few years ago I got a package of front and rear KYB shock and strut kit. The car handled much better( I also went with poly front swaybar bushings), but the front shocks were super hard. I changed the fronts for Monroe Sensatracks, Much nicer to drive now.
Originally posted by lorennerol: Hopefully it really is just 3/4 to 1" or the car is going to be stuck in the driveway
I'm surprised you don't already have issues. My 87 GT had issues getting in some driveways, at stock ride height, where the curbs and driveway entrances were similar to how you described.
