Originally posted by matt351:
im not totally poor, just in college. so that means im on a budget. so would the svt stuff be a bad idea if i can find it for a decent deal? just want to get the best mods for my money. im not into some all out roadrace beast just make the car more fun for daily driving. heck if i really wanted to roadrace id use my lightning instead of an atx contour, its sort of like ive started out handicaped with the auto trans.



I would not buy used OEM struts unless you know the car was wrecked young. If you go the salvage route, though, you could save a lot on springs and swaybars. Look for 95-97 SEs or any year SVT for the rear swaybar. Any SVT for the front bar. With springs, I think the SVT has a better package for understeer/oversteer balance, but the front springs on the early SE are firmer. Just remember that your front struts and springs have to match wrt early or 98+ model. For more on suspension specs, look here.

Buy new OEM SVT or Early SE struts (depending on what springs you find), and get new bushings and front LCAs. 50k isn't a lot of miles, but 9 years is a long time.

None of the stock components will lower your car, though, so if that's really what you want, I'd wait, too.

I thought the ST200 struts sold out a long time ago. It was $100 for a set of 4, and they were basically the same as an SVT strut. Would have been great for you.


Function before fashion. '96 Contour SE "Toss the Contour into a corner, and it's as easy to catch as a softball thrown by a preschooler." -Edmunds, 1998