Ok, this is not a Mercedes question, so berate me if you must.

I got a free 97 Buick LeSabre with low miles from my mother-in-law. I plan on driving the wheels off the thing as my commuter car. My delima is the marshmellow suspension. Now I know these cars were engineered to ride like a water bed, but the travel on these struts seems beyond ridiculous.

The roads around me, while not potholed up, are pretty wavy. The clay soil causes the concrete sections to buckle a bit. If I keep up with traffic, I can hit the bump stops on some of them. HIGHLY annoying.

Now, to the question. I've spotted some strut replacements from KYB (not too many choices out there), but I fear that I will wind up with the same or similar ride. Is the ride of this thing more dominated by the softness of the springs or the damping ability of the struts? I would hate to replace my struts only to learn that they were engineered to OEM (read crappy) specs. I really want to make the car more drivable, but I doubt I'll be able to find stiffer springs.

For those that can't resist the temptation of offering up the smart-ass remark about turning a POS into a race car, well..... pttttttttttt!

Please, help me get my sanity back. Thanks!