In what order should I proceed? What brands should I consider?

front strut tower brace,
front & rear sway bars,
front & rear tie braces,
rear lateral brace
springs with less than 1" drop,
adjustible shocks/struts

Should I use polyurethane bushings or energy bushings when applicable?

What's the difference between GTspec rear tie brace and GTspec rear lateral?

 

I personally would get front and rear sways first. Then shocks and springs followed by the braces.

As for bushings, the Energy suspension bushings default come in the red Poly. The black versions are graphite impregnated Poly, supposedly allowing them to be maintenance free in terms of greasing.

For $350 or so you can get the Nismo rubber bushing kit from mynismo.com.

As for the GT-Spec rear bars, they both connect in different areas at the rear tieing together different parts of the rear suspension. Both may cause exhaust fitment problems so I wouldnt get them until you have an exhaust on the car and then find out if that exhaust has fitment issues with either of those bars through forum searching.

 

I'm dissapointed with the handling on my wife's G35 sedan, but I'm probably just a tiny bit biased because of the level of work that I've done to my A4. However, since it's her daily driver and spends most of it's life sitting in traffic on I-95, I don't want to sacrifice her ride quality too much just for better turn-in and response when I drive it on the weekends. She and my 8-year old daughter already complain that my Audi rides too rough, especially on our trips into DC, Baltimore, and Philly. As a result, the roomier and softer G35 has become more of the "Family Car". However, as idrive MD will attest, there are some fantastic roads in Harford County and in southern PA. We drove up to West Chester and King of Prussia to visit some friends this past weekend, and I can't remember how many times I complained and wished that we had taken my car.

The first step will be to swap out the godawful tires that the previous owner mounted on the stock 17s. I won't even say what they are, but let's just say that they'd go great on my father's Ford Taurus. I was thinking of going the sway bar route, but I was also considering trying the OEM 350z suspension suggested by others on the forum. From reading the comparison on this site, it appears that we wouldn't suffer too much of a ride quality hit. I've had great results with the rear sway on my Audi, but it's hard to tell if the ride quality has suffered since I installed along with H&R sport springs, Bilstein HD shocks, OEM S4 wheels, RS4 Engine mounts, and an APR snub mount.

Oh and Off Topic to 'idrive MD' - I actually grew up in Bel Air (Bright Oaks) and lived there until I was 12. My parents still live in Severn, and after living in Annapolis for 8 years, my wife and I bought a house in Abingdon last year, about a mile from my old house. It feels great to be "back home", and the great roads here somewhat make up for the long commute into DC. I'll definitely keep an eye out for you around town......

 

Ask HER first.

Sways, shocks, bushings will significantly change the ride quality (harsh). If it's a daily beater, don't mess with it unless she agrees. IDrive MD has got it right on the order and what you should do. I've done it all but bushings. I went from stock "sport" to lowered with Hotchkis F/R (set med/hard) and Tokico D-specs, and 19" tires/wheels. Before the Tokicos, the ride was very harsh. They improved the ride and it handles better to boot. I can dive into a corner now, brake, set the line, and just mash the gas. It just goes, I love it.

 

iDrive - how much have the handling and ride quality changed with just the addition of sways and D-specs? I have sways, I'm thinking of switching to D-specs in the near future and am wondering if I would really need to do 05+ coupe springs as well at the same time.

Sways didn't change my ride quality much, but shocks certainly will if they're not adjustable. Urethane bushings definitely will make the ride harsh. OP - you can also look into Noltec polyester bushings - supposed to be a bit softer than polyurethane- or the Nismo which are still rubber.

 

Which sways should I go with Hotchkis or Stillen? Should I replace the endlinks as well?

 

Either is fine, what ever is cheaper, they both do the same thing, however each has a different set of stiffness points. (see the sway sticky in the supenssion section). My end links have been on for two years now and no problems. If your car has a lot of miles (75K+), I would concider replacing them (they're cheap > $40/axle).