It`s not about brands,it`s about function and what you want from the car. If you just want to have "cool tooby arms" just about anyones will work fine,select the color you like best and go for it. Don`t expect them to do much for the performance of the car though because arms don`t physically have the ability to to much besides alter static alignment a little despite advertising hype to the contrary. Consult any 1st year geometry text book for proof.
Now if you want the car to walk the walk you should consider making some actual serious improvements to the front end geometry. These cars have very poor factory geometry and that`s a lousy basis for a car that`s supposed to corner. Do things right and it`ll work really well on the strip too. In order to make a serious difference you need to move pivot or pickup points in the suspension and in this case you need to move them mostly vertically. The good old G Mod is a good example how SCCA TransAm teams did this back in the day. Penske also had Chevy make a few sets of taller spindles for them. These ultimately evolved into the tall aluminum AFX spindles made by ATS. We can also make significant vertical changes with our modular tall ball joints as used in out Street Comp packages. Either of these will correct the camber curves (which increased grip),greatly reduce lateral roll center migration (which makes the car much more predictable),raise the roll center (which reduced body roll) and correct the factory bumpsteer (which makes the car dart or wander). This gives you a solid foundation to build on. Spring and shock selection is also very important,depending on how you intend to use the car and your budget they could vary from stock Z28 springs through Hotchkis or DSE or GW springs to fully adjustable coilovers and rear 4 link. Shocks range from Edelbrocks to Bilstein to adj. aluminum shocks like Alston Varishocks. We`ve been working with Alston on a new direct fit front coilover for 1st Gens that should be available soon. If you select your parts carefully you can even do it as a modular approach and kick it up another notch whenever it suits you. Some parts lend themselves to that and others don`t. Careful planning will save you time Ebaying
almost new parts.
Tubular lowers are traditionally just for looks or easier coilover mounting with no geometry or performance gains at all,they`re usually heavier than stock too. If you like them because they look cool,there`s nothing wrong with that but try to select something with other than poly bushings and proper mounting points for the swaybar,bumpstops etc. There is a new tubular LCA on the way that does have geometry benefits,adj. ride height,same weight as stock but much stronger/more rigid,greasable delrin bushings std. etc. etc. but I`m not at liberty to say much more about it just yet. Suffice to say we`ll be the first to have them.
Mark SC&C