Like the subject title says.

I like a car that handles; I like a car that hooks.

I don't see much track time a the drags anymore for a number of reasons.

So I've been trying to make my next car, (likely my last car), the best balance of the two schools of thought, but this car will be mainly a driver that should be able to drive anywhere.

I have been freshening the body of my 1974 Challenger. It is structure wise the most sound it has been since new. The frame is tied, the 6 point cage was removed, the whole back half of the car has been rebuilt with new steel panels, all structural steel repaired or replaced. A cage could go back into the car if I choose; the steel plate has been welded into the key structure points under the new sheetmetal. At this time I want to avoid a cage.

I believe in the Hotchkis components, but have only chosen the upper control arm and strutbar kits. I am going to reinforce the lower control arms, and likely get the Hotchkis front sway bar. I would like to believe that the chosen components, other an using a front swaybar will help with occasional trips to the drag strip. The front torsion bars are the stock .96 bars that came with my car. I have a mild 440, 727 GV, for the drivetrain.

The rear has a new set of XHD springs that came with the car. I have an e body 8 3/4, dana, and a b body 8 3/4 to choose for the rear axle.
I also have a Dr. Diff 1 1/2" spring relocation kit to use if I choose. I also have a Finelines rear disc break kit. I know the rallye wheels won't fit over the rear brake kit I chose.

I have always had an assortment of wheels and tires for previous cars; ralleys, plain steel with dog dish, and centerlines. I do realize that I may need a 9" set of matching rims and tires for cornering. I'm not really sure how to choose a rim for both the front and rear that can be rotated for tire wear. I will keep a set of dedicated rims and tires for drags.

I thought about the Hotchkis rear springs, but think the XHD's with the optional hole in the Dr. Diff hanger kit may suffice for the level of performance my multiple purpose car needs. A stock rear sway bar or a new Hotchkis will go in the rear. Choice of shocks will have to be determined after ride height is established.

Anyone else trying to build a multi purpose car that can do a little of everything substationally better than stock?

I had a Camaro years ago that had to remain smog compliant to get annual registration. Being limited to smog legal engine mods, I turned to handling as my focus. When I got the Charger, I kept some of my interest in handling, but went a little wild in the power department. I ran it at Sacramento raceway a few times, but not enough to improve my technique. I'm a better driver where turns and braking come into play.
I set up the car with a front end rebuild plus a few bolt on upgrades, but to make a good thing even better, I'm going to need to roll out the welder.

No reason at all why a well build cornering car couldn't be used for anything, even drag racing. Some people say to unbolt one end of the sway bar when drag racing, but others have done fine with it bolted together.

I think the term we can throw out there is "Pro-Touring". I know some guys may not like the term but at least it gives us point of reference for the type of car you are looking for.

There are too many degrees of how versatile your car can be to get into it one post, but I think you are on the right track.

Let me give you one pointer with the rear springs, at least with B-bodies, they do not come with the same rates left and right. The best thing to do is buy two left's or go with Firm Feel or Hotchkis. These are designed to balance the car out.

My car is built to the versatility you are thinking of. It can be tracked, drags or road course, but it can also be driven cross country comfortably.

I think it all comes down to expectations. I do not believe you can have a do it all exceptionally well car; by that I mean each discipline requires specific things to make it as good as it can get in that area. A road race car will have different considerations than a drag car and the other way around. All that said, there isnt any reaon that you cannot make your car do everything to one degree or the other reasonibly well, so long as you are willing to accept some limitations. In my case, I am not interested in drag racing my car, however I definitely want it to handle exceptionally well. For this reason I braced the crap out of everything. I also want it to be comfortable on the street as that is where it will see most of its use. Subseqently, I have added Hush mat (very heavy) and will have a sterio, carpet, etc. As mentioned, I think "Pro Touring" is probably the best description available. The advent of the modern "muscle" cars, we have become spoiled and want a car that does everything and gets 30 mpg (not saying this is the case here). I am the same way, however through the process of my build have had to compromise with reality due to finances and overall desired outcome. I stuck with power steering but went with manual brakes, stuck with manual roll up windows but went with a tilt wheel and push button start.

I know I am not saying anything you dont already know or have thought about. Just offering my opinion.

I fully understand that that there is give and take involved with having one car that tries to do it all. Component choice, ride height, the wrong kind of driver seat, etc., but having some components that suit all considerations, and others that can be taken from the shelf, bolted on or unbolted and shelved, is what I am leaning toward.

I am not afraid to spend time prepping a car toward a goal for an activity, event, or series of events; then put the car back to being a good ride. That is one thing that I learned about drag racing, or what makes a street car a good car. I have had a car that handled and turned it into a race car, but this is taking it a few steps further.

I already have way too much car stuff that I don't want to part with, and housing just one toy is becoming more of a necessity.

I put 80K miles on this setup in 14 years. It's been autocrossed, driven across country, 80 mile round trip commute to work through Los Angeles, driven in snow, sleet, ice....

SUSPENSION
•TORSION BARS: .99" 184 Lb./ft wheel rate stock .87" 109 Lb./ft, livable, stiff
•REAR SPRINGS: Stock for 8¾ 68 Formula S. Car seems balanced now. Might need stiffer so don't need rear sway bar. If so, will just add leaves to dial in. But soft helps planting and rear transfer. Good shocks might have to come first. Need testing to sort out.
•73-76 K-member: reinforced
•FRONT SWAY BAR: Hellwig 1 1/4" hollow, before that 1 1/4 solid Addco, before that stock.
•REAR SWAY BAR: ¾" dia. Addco aftermarket ($35 used)
•SHOCKS: Front QA1 single adj ($75 used) blew out all my hand-me-down used Konis, Rears: Hand me down KYB's
•POLYGRAPHITE: sway bar, brake strut rods, lower control arms. Leaf bushings; can hear slight resonance when added to rear. Would not use LCA poly again.
•UPPER A-ARM BUSHINGS: offset, Moog prt.# 7103 installed opposite, more caster, more road feel, more high speed stability
•STEERING STEERING GEAR: Replacement Mopar remanufactured. Large steering gear spline, crisp, firmer, but not Firm Feel
•PITMAN, IDLER, CENTERLINK: all ‘73-‘76 A-body, to accept large spline gear
•POWER STEERING FLUID: Justice Brothers heavy duty, don't change often, so extra cost is cheap assurance
•POWER STEERING CAP: later style multi knobbed style with rubber baffle to stop spitting up.
•Future plans: Adding factory power steering cooler, in-line filter, and braided lines for power steering .

BRAKES
•PADS: Discontinued Mopar Police Spec Semi Metalic units ($15 swap meet score)
•DISKS: 11.75" dia junkyard single piston disks
•BRAKE LINES: braided, w/banjo on caliper end for rear caliper placement
•BRAKE FLUID: Justice Brothers High Performance Dot 4
•MASTER CYLINDER: Mopar Performance alum. 2 bolt, 1-1/32" bore, firm immediate pedal, feels great, not for your grandma. Started with manual drums. Thicker master cly adapter to adj. pedal height down. Be aware of pushrod length.
•PROPORTIONING VALVE: Willwood adjustable, had drum brakes so need some proportioning valve
•DRUMS: vented "bell or hat" drums for cooling
•REAR AXLES: 4 ½" bolt redrilled pattern

WHEELS
•15x8 4 1/2" backspace Rallye rims 245/50/15 BFG Comp T/A's ZR all around. (That size is totally discontinued)
INTERIOR
•STEERING WHEEL: LaCarra 15" padded leather, better grip, small dia. gives more responsive feel ($30 never installed swap meet score)
•SEATS: Used Toyota Celica GTS increased g’s so need better seats, must race car from drivers side

I'm not going autocrossing and I'm not going drag racing, I'm driving my stuff as often as I can. That means, first and foremost, a car that handles good and brakes good. After that, as much power as I think I can afford to drive anywhere I feel like it. All while spending as little as possible (so the "Pro Touring" tag certainly doesn't fit, I like "amatuer touring").

Basically I have always looked for the best road manners out of my Mopars. Some have been better than others and we did go a bit farther in the handling department in my son's Barracuda. I got hooked on that idea in 1977 when I met a guy with a 66 Commando/four speed/handling package/disc brake Barracuda (but not a Formula S). That car became mine about three and a half years later.

Yep... Im probably wrong here, so can some post pics of a Pro-Touring type car before I put my foot in my mouth. Most Pro-Touring cars ive seen listed for sale look to be more bling then function, so id like to see the real ones.

Look at the pics I just posted in the "Cornering Post"... both pro-touring, both fully functional, both cars can and are used as daily drivers if desired.

Thats more what I picture myself Mr Angry, just recently ive seen a few cars listed as PT cars on 20s and airbags that would rub a fender if they ran over a soda can.

Ive the R/T and I just got my 85 capri out this past week thats been put up since 87, minor mods for its day, actually looks like a capri in the back of Toms cuda in the one pic.

This for sale and is refered to as a PT car....Id really like to see it in action. Very minor mods, asking 30k. Nice bling car...

A couple of suggestions based on running a '70 E. With the suspension parts gusseted and stiffened up and frame connectors added (important) the car can handle higher spring rates without being harsh. Matched with good shocks, 1" T bars work well without being punishing. Some folks like 1 size bigger for street use.

For tires, the E can handle wider tires on the back than the front without modifications. Front can be in the 225-245 range and rears in the 255-275 range depending on your particular car and tolerence for close fit or rub. You could put 235's or 245's all around or take advantage of the added room in the rear and use wider tires like the factory did on the road race cars.

I am running XHD springs. Height was just about right when new but they have dropped since then which turns out to be OK... they are a little soft also. As a winter project I plan to visit my local spring shop and get a leaf added to get the stiffness and height I am looking for.

I touched on this topic in my B-body book. Basically any car will benefit from reduced weight, good weight distribution and a stiffer chassis. The high performance OEM cars these days are very quick at the drag strip even though they are optimized for road and track type use. But light weight, good chassis, traction control, high engine power, etc. all combine to also provide excellent drag strip performance.

The high end Mustang, Vette, Porsche, etc will run quicker 1/4 times than anything ever made in the muscle car era including the factory built drag cars. The 2013 Mustang is supposed to go low 11's with a 200+ mph top speed right off the dealer floor. So that is a pretty versatile car.

If you want to go faster at the drag strip then at some point you start to compromise handling, but the new Mustang and Vette are examples of cars that can run 11's while still being fully capable of daily driving in most any type of weather for most any distance.

My only advice is to use as wide a tire as possible. You will only eat what you can bite!

Too wide a tire will be detrimental to the fuel milage. And can wear out some of the steering components quicker, puts more stress on them.