There Are A Ton Of Different Aspects To A Good Handling Car.....
Drivetrain Slop, Tires, Spring Rates, Dampening/rebound Rates, Sway Bars, Chassis Stiffness, Alignment Specs, And The Most Important Driver Ability.
On A Fwd Car Drivetrain Slop Can Cause Huge Amounts Of Understeer Or Snap Oversteer Depending On When It Rears Its Ugly Head. If Your Engine/trans Is Planted And Not Moving Much It Will Make The Front Tires Have More Grip And Less Hop Under Hard Cornering And Acceleration.
In All Cars Getting A Sticky Set Of Tires Will Be A Night And Day Experience. I Bet If You Went With Tires That Were Better Than The Stocks Like The Bfg Kdw2, Azenis, Kumho Mx, Parada Spec-2, Gs-d3, Etc. You Would Notice A World Of Difference In Edge Line Abilities And Road Holding Capabilities.... Although You Could Never Drive The Car At 10/10's With These. If You Went To Victoracers, Toyo Competition Tires, Hoosiers, Etc. These Would Increase The Cars Abilities Ten Fold If Not More. Tires Are The Biggest Bang For The Buck And A Essential Part To Any Combo!
Strut/spring Assemblies Play A Big Role In Handling And Control.... And Yes You Can Over Do It. You Need To Find The Proper Set Up To What You Plan On Doing (sport Driving, Daily Driving, Auto-x, Time Trials, Etc.) And Just Remember If You Over Do It You Could Be Hurting Performance By Overstressing Tires, Lifting Wheels On Hard Corners, Creating Understeer With Too Much Stiffness, Etc. This Area Of Upgrades Should Be Addressed After Your Entire System Is Designed So That You Can Match Your Strut/spring Assembly To Your Car And Not Adapt Your Car To The Strut/spring Assembly You Chose.
Sway Bars Are Essentially An Extra Spring...... These Bars Swing Into Action When There Is Any Difference Between The Left And Right Corners. The Sway Bar Increases The Spring Rates To Reduce Body Roll And Keep The Tires Planted To The Road. But, If You Over Do It You Could Lift A Wheel Under Hard Cornering And Create Understeer. This Mod Is Very Important And Can Make A Huge Difference In Performance Handling And Can Actually Increase Your Cars Abilities Even With Stock Springs. There Are Also A Ton Of Different Types Of Sway Bars: Hollow, Solid, Progressive, Adjustable, Etc. They All Have Their Own Pros And Cons That You Should Research Before Making A Decision.
Chassis Stiffness Plays A Huge Role.... Think Of Your Car As A Giant Slinky That Will Move In Any Direction When Pushed. Your Car Will Twist And Stretch Counteracting What Your Suspension Is Trying To Do. If You Increase Ridgity Your Car Will Increase Its Road Holding Abilities And Let Your Suspension Do Its Job. You Really Can't Over Do This But There Is A Point Where There Is No Need For More. Like You Really Don't Need A 100-pt Roll Cage, And A Complete Underbody Cage, Etc. Because There Is No Need For All That Weight And Tension.
Driver Ability And Alignment Are Huge Roles In Handling.... These Two Should Go Together Because Everyone Is Different And Every Driver Will Have Different Alignments To Maximize Their Abilities. Proper Specs On These Only Come With Seat Time. There Is No Way For Anyone To Tell You What Alignment Specs To Choose, They Can Only Give You Ranges And Help You Dial In Whats Comfortable To Your Driving Style.
