I am assuming that all stock 951s suffer from chassis squat when accelerated. I know mine does, and I am sure it can easily be corrected by some aftermarket parts. I was just curious if anyone wants to give me some advice in this department. My '86 951 is completely stock. Would this be a good time to beef up the whole suspension if I am going to alter the rear suspension? Thanks for your time!

 

I know the shocks in my 85.5 944 were pathetically empty/no resistance when I picked it up... then again, over pot-holes it was squirrely in the back...

If it's all original your whole suspension would see a benefit from replacement...

Maybe starting with rear shocks... =)

 

You're looking for is stiffer rear springs (aka torsion bars). If you alter the rear, you'll need to alter the front as well to maintain the same front-rear balance.

Given that 951's typically understeer slightly from the factory, you could possibly increase the rear slightly without modding the front, and actually come out ahead... but too much of a change will definitely make your handling worse. Your best bet is to go to stiffer springs & shocks front & rear.

For street cars my suggestion would be front springs in the 250-300# range, with corresponding rear torsion bars (27-28mm?), koni yellow shocks, and 968 M030 sway bars. Should run you about $1.5 - $2k for the whole setup at paragon-products.com. You can of course do more or less, but that would be my "cookie cutter" answer.

 

Bad shocks will cause squat.

 

bad shocks will cause the car to bounce up and down when you hit a bump- the shocks should not support the car from squatting. my car has 525lb springs in the rear and it still squats alittle when you excellerate hard.

 

Dan, if you've ever dyno'd your 951, how much torque does it put down?

 

Installing Koni's reduced the squat in my car a lot.

 

Ideally I just want to replace my rear end. When you put Konis in, did you just do the rear?

 

If your rears are shot, most likely your fronts are shot also. If you just replace the rears you will get odd handling characteristics.

 

havent dynoed my car yet- soon.

konis w/ adjustable settings - set on a tighter adjustment will reduce squat- and ive used them that way before- but ideally you want squat and movement of the car to be on the springs and the shocks to dampen their movement as to keep the car from moving too quickly. Over tightening shocks to make the car real stiff will cause them to blow out pre-maturely. This is why i went to a higher spring rate in the back of my car because i realized that i was making up for lack of spring by over tightening the rear coilover shocks. Now i have them set pretty soft and its still very stiff in the rear.

 

Dan, I suggest going to http://www.precision-autosports.com/ to get the car dynoed its worth the drive.

There is no finer shop for your dyno needs or one that provides everything you need including Boost and A/F at such a great price. The guys there are in a entirely different leauge compared to some other shops in this area. I have been to every dyno in the cincinnati/dayton area and none of them come close to this type of service.

 

Best way to reduce squat would be to trade me your LSD for my Open Dif. My car doesn't squat at all, it just spins the tire

 

i may wait until the shootout at the fest- or do one to check the tune on the car first...dunno- we may have a cincy shootout before the fest just to get the cars squared. I dont have my boost turned up yet so dynoing wouldnt do me any good- still breaking the car in so to speak- 11.5lbs max right now turned all the way down- cant wait to see what 21lbs is like.

 

I did both ends at the same time. I would not replace just one end for the reason Chris already mentioned. As Dan mentioned, stiffer springs will prevent squat but my car has the stock springs. The old worn out shocks that were on it did nothing to dampen the squat that happened as the weight transfered to the rear upon acceleration. The koni's were much better at dampening the effects of the weight transfer.