Quote Originally Posted by malfeas99
An autocross event wouldn't do it, because I'd need to be familiar enough with the car and comfortable with it's handling characteristics, which would require doing what I'm trying to do initially... so it's a catch 22.
honestly, if you think suspension changes are going to throw you off that bad then leave the thing alone. it's not going to be an amazingly new car to drive as you keep saying, at least you're not going to see anything at 20mph that will open your eyes. the speeds you will need to reach will be much more at home on an auto-x course where you are tossing the car through all different types of turns as well as braking and accelerating hard. unless you're going to spend an entire day in the parking lot making measurements and comparing performance between stock and aftermarket suspensions, there really is no point to that. and auto-x costs generally $35-$40 to enter and you'll get plenty of runs to get the feel of the car at the limit.