Im a little confused....suspension gurus step inside!

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Hey Chris, welcome to the forum! That looks like a good looking Malibu to start with!

A couple more quick thoughts-

I agree with the height not needing to be extreme. My first round of the build on my wagon saw about a 3" drop by simply cutting springs. Over time it sagged down to 4". It looked killer, like it was on bags or something, but as a driver it rode terribly and bump steer was out of control. Then I went to school and used the wagon as my class project. Part of the build included redesigning the whole suspension for better handling. I bought 2" spindles thinking that was the thing to do but found they created clearance issues. The steering arm put the tie rod right next to the wheel rim, like there wasn't even enough room for a clip on wheel weight. Not sure what to do, I made some phone calls to some experts and was educated on some dynamics of suspension. A couple things I learned was that a car doesn't need to be slammed to handle well, and changing geometry weighed more heavily than lowering the car. I decided on some good parts and although still a little skeptical I went with only a 2" drop through shorter springs and stock spindles. Lots of folks saw my car and I often heard "It's not low enough, you gotta put that thing in the weeds to handle well." Truth is, once I got all the good parts on the car, drove it for a few months and did some tuning on sway bars and shock valving, the car corners like a roller coaster, and not being slammed still rode pretty nice. Unfortunately over time the bargain springs I bought are starting to sag and I can feel some handling changing for the worse.

I've changed a lot of springs over the years to lower a car, and if anyone asks my opinion now, I always suggest looking seriously at coilovers. All the trouble to install springs only to find that they're not the right height, or spring rate, or "Whoops! I cut too much spring off and now the car is lower than I wanted!", added to money wasted to go out and buy a different set of springs when things weren't right, well, I could've had coilovers and had an easy task of changing ride height and shock dampening. Not saying springs are a bad idea, just suggesting if it's in the budget coilovers are better. With your intentions of flogging the car a bit, you may want to seriously consider this as an option. Combine that with the right parts like Blake suggested that put your geometry in a useable and well performing range and you'll have a decent handling car rather than a 15 mph fairgrounds cruiser.