[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by jhein

Thanks for all the replies. All very good. So it seems like street tires of any sort won't really solve this. Suspension changes would help but with potentially significant mods. Caltracs would be a fairly minor modification that's reversible. But since my car is street, not strip, just wondering how that would impact other street driving behavior, especially cornering? They say it's not compatible with the factory sway bar. It seems like if you trimmed the ends it would fit. Is there any other reason not to use the Caltracs and the sway bar? Does the Caltracs have anti-sway properties?

In general, the modifications and add-ons necessary to make a leaf spring work for straight line traction reduces it's handling prowess.

The problem with leaf springs is that they act as the suspension forward links, lateral movement control and a spring all in one. They actually do a pretty damn good job of being a jack of all trades, up until the point that they don't.

I've never run one, but theoretically, running a watts link or panhard bar with your leaf setup may help straight line traction. It takes one of the jobs away from the leaf springs and in doing so, allows the leaf to be a better spring and a better link. The propeller bolt of the watts link also takes over as the roll center (at least until bind occurs) and that is really helpful when it comes to putting power down on corner exit. If you look at vintage TA style race cars that are required by rules to run their original style leafs, almost all of them will have a panhard bar or watts link installed as well.

A Fays 2 Watts link is a completely bolt on deal and is reversible. I don't know that it's going to be as good as a cal-trac and it's certainly not going to be as good as a 4 link or torque arm.

I will say that most of the 4 link kits available are going to largely be reversible as well. The Ridetech system bolts the cradle to the frame rails and does not require physical welding to the car. Just a couple tabs that get welded on to the top of the axle tubes. This is fairly easily reversible if you're worried about that.

If you decide to go to larger wheels, that opens you up to a lot more tire options, specifically tires designed for autocross. The Falken Azenis RT615K+ is a 200 tread wear tire that will provide quite a bit more grip than what is available in 15" sizes. I had these on my previous 17" wheels and traction was really good. They aren't as comfortable as the NT555G2's are, but it's a competition tire with stiff sidewalls...some trade-offs are always necessary.

I recommend that tire, specifically because it's designed to last a bit longer. There are autocross tires with more stick, but they'll wear faster.