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Boy, hard one to answer here. It would depend on how you feel the car handles with the stock setup. Typically, SAABs understeer and if you cut only the fronts, you stiffen up the front end which (in theory) would induce more understeer. You can also setup a situation where you could lift a front wheel on hard turns under power. On the other hand, I always thought that the 99/900 series felt a bit loose in the rear under certain conditions and thought that a bit more stick in the front by stiffening things up might work OK. On the 99s and 900s we have done, we cut the springs all way around and more or less kept the orginal 'balance'. We then tuned it more to our liking by using tire pressures.
In some respects, we get from this discussion into what JH is warning. That is, you have the theortical results from stiffening suspension (stiff front = understeer; stiff rear = oversteer). But I have actually seen different results becuase you are changing a number of things by dropping a suspension and there is more to it. That is and for example, by dropping only the front you stiffen it (thus understeer) but you also slightly shift weight transfer toward the front which can actually allow the front to provide better bite. In addition, on strut-type suspensions that are not adjustable for camber, you induce a bit more negative camber and you get a bit more bite in the front. In the end, you can get a car to feel a bit loose in the rear by doing the things that should create an understeering condition. VWs are good for this.
The facts remain that you are slightly modifying a street suspension versus what the books describe which are usually getting into all the dynamics around a full race suspension. In the end, these steet-oriented modifications will slightly affect the 'feel' of a car. How you like it when its is done, depends on what you thought you had when you started. Like I said when we started this discussion, if you are modest in your modifications and your expectations are also modest, you will be pleased. You get crazy and all kinds of ugly things can result which might be good for a particular handling situation but will probably be extreme for most street uses.
Hope this helps some.
posted by 192.197.1...
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