tyler

Hello,

Contemplating upgrading to t-bars and struts..or getting the LEDA coilovers, with t-bar helper springs from Racers Edge. Anyone ever done this? Heard about it? Curious to see if it is worthless as far as a upgrade for an early 911. Price is comparable from what I have been told. I am curious to see how the early 911's ride after this supsension choice. Or maybe no one does it and I should stay away from it. Thanks
Tyler

Chris Martin

First I will say that I am not an expect. I remember reading about this in the past, as I was doing some research for my recent suspension upgrads. I recall that coil overs in general are not a good idea for pre 964's because our cars were not designed to have the stress member where the coil overs move it to. I also remember that is you are using a roll cage that ties the suspension mounting points, top of the struts, together you now have lots of options. There is also the issue with wheel clearance. Since the springs and struts have a different diameter than the struts on the car now, at least spacers are needed.

I could be off base on some of this, but I think it's good info. For a street car I say go with the stock stuff that came on the car, it seems to work pretty well for a lot of people! If you are building a race car, you have lots of options. I know the parts for my car where not cheap, but once installed it handles and drives much different than before. I am in love all over again.

Best of luck!

Chris

tyler

yes, good info...makes great sense..i too wondered about tire rub against coil over, it is already close to the strut....thank you for your reply


tyler
i am leaning towards sticking with stock set up

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Hi Tyler:

You did not indicate what you use your car for and this, as well as some other factors really dictates what your suspension upgrade you should pursue.

Unless this is a dedicated race car, I would not recommend converting to coilovers as this will necessitate a full roll cage to do this properly without damaging the car's chassis.

A properly selected, installed, and setup torsion bar suspension with well-matched shocks and adjustable swaybars is an awesome car in the hands of a competant driver.

If you have the budget, you can use either custom-valved Bilstein RSR struts & shocks or
JRZ or Moton adjustable shocks with the T-bar setup and take advantge of raised spindles, offset-bored spindles or any number of modifications for better handling,.....

A strut brace and turbo tie rods are also helpful.

Hope this helps,..........!

Cookie Porsche

Morning Tyler,

How 'early' is your 911? The G-series body had slightly larger rear shock turrets, and you can actually fit coils when using suitable hats, etc.

For fun I have fitted my 'SC' with coil overs. I use Bilstein shocks with rose joints, together with H&R coils and special adapters.

It wasn't easy. We had to change coils and damping rate several times before reaching a proper setup. Bits 'n pieces had to be made up and fitted. The stabilisers had to be changed because of radical changes in on-road behaviour, and I have fitted solid bushings everywhere. As the experts above confirm, you also have to strengthen the body in crucial spots.

The result however is unbelievable! .

With all the 911 parts and expertise available your side of the waters, I will suggest you stay with 'conventional' wisdom. My car is used for track, etc, but for a road car the exercise is over-kill.

Who in their right mind drives a racecar on the street? - except for me of course!

Another nice alternative is to fit small helper springs on the rear only (with suitable shocks), and keep the standard torsion bars. For the front you can upgrade to a thicker torsion bar. Together with proper sway bars, this will allow for super handling and easy setup.

Best Regards, Tom.

Ed Bighi

You don't need coil-overs. I pass people all day long on the track with coil-overs. Now, if your car came with conventional springs, instead of bars, that would be a different matter since conventional springs cannot even be adjusted for height, which you can do with torsion bars. Just do what I did if you want it stiff. Put on the biggest torsion bars available in the front, and the biggest available for the back. In my case, since I used solid, they are 23/30. Then throw on some Bilstein Sports since they are probably the most durable shocks out there. After that, just learn to drive the **** out of the car at ten-tenths, since that is where the speed really is.

tyler

thanks for the replies...appreciate the help

tyler

Carrera51

Ed's right on. Big T-bars, adjustable anti-sway bars and Bilsteins will give you a great handling car. Cookie Porsche, I also drive my racecar on the street on the weekends. The 23 and 31mm t-bars make for a bumpy ride on less than perfect roads, but since I invested the money in the car, I might as well drive it. Does you mechanic give you grief for driving your car on the street? Mine does. However because of the numbers and the supertrapps, every kid in a tuned up Honda wants to race.

tyler

my 911 is a 1972...any of you use megaphones??..i am curious to see who makes the best ones, i have race headers with a sport muffler now...also could there be any issues with the MFI, I doubt my engine would notice given that it has race headers....i am not too concerned about that extra percent, i would just like louder exhaust and no muffler for the track

thanks
tyler

Ed Bighi

My buddy is running megaphones in his 72 911s. What a car by the way. They are loud, but a great classic RS/RSR sound. Reminds me of Daytona 24 every time I hear it. I think he got his from GT racing. They look pretty good. But shop around. Also, on torsion bars, the largest solid are 23/30 and the largest hollow ones are 23.5/31. But the effective rates are about the same, so they should feel very close. There is some weight saving on the hollow ones, but not that crucial since that weight is concentrated in the lowest part of the car. Do ride around in cars with beefier torsion bars so you can gage how stiff you want to go.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Hi Ed:

Indeed the megaphones sound nice but they REALLY kill the low and mid-range torque,........ Its a classic case of "sounds good but you go slower" for both street or race engines.

The other thing is that you can get 33mm rear tubular torsion bars,...got some sets here. We use these in wide-body street cars and RS bodied race cars.

Ed Bighi

Steve, why did you have to tell me about the 33mm torsion bars! Now there is something else to think about and want.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

ROFL,....Sorry pal,.......

(they are not all that expensive and I think you will enjoy what they will do for you)

Always911

I agree I installed an original Porsche RSR set up on my 911SC, tuned out to be inferior, and the setup didn't handle as well.