N/a 944

I am about to pull the trigger and rebuild my suspension with Koni shocks.
SO I was going to buy:

2 front Koni shocks
2 rear Koni shocks
1 balljoint replacement kit (rebuilds both front balljoints)

My question was, when I go this route(I hope to be ordering today...) Will I be ok if I get 250lb front springs? I will not be upgrading the rear torsion bar, but I may be getting a set of 951 sways. Will the front springs cause the car to be.... I dunno, "wonkie" or weird or have too much tendency to oversteer?
I don't track the car, so too much unwanted oversteer could be a definite learning experience, I am hoping for more of an improvement over stock rather than making the car extremely tail happy, or understeer-y. I like the car to be neutral with a bit of manageable tendencies.

Btw, I may have forgotten something I was getting while writing this, so please tell me if you see somewhere I have missed.

jstand22

I think with heavier springs, and 951 sways, without upgrading torsion bars, that would increase the tendency for understeer, not oversteer....correct me if I'm wrong.

N/a 944

OH great, maybe I had it backwards?

What weight would YOU people out there do, if it was your DD?
250
225
200?

Fractured

On my '89 NA, I have Koni orange at the rear, Sachs Boge up front, and 250lb springs (not an ideal setup, but it's what I could afford at the time). The handling is pretty neutral—I have no complaints. It's driven mostly on the street, a little track play here and there. The springs lower the front of the car, so make sure you lower the rear as well.

N/a 944

that is what I wanted to hear!

How would I go about lowering the rear? Does that mean I have to re-index the torsion bars?
Will 250lb springs at "stock height" lower the car at all?

knfeparty

You can lower or raise the rear of any 944 with the torsion bars. That's what indexing is- height adjustment outside the range of the eccentric bolts.

Ask marky522 how fun it is; he just did my car.

The front will only be lowered if you get a coilover adjustable ride height kit (not too pricey from paragon and other places) or if the springs you buy are shorter.

I got m030 front springs (which are around 175 lbs I think) before I upgraded to 25.5mm torsion bars, and it understeered too much for me, even with 26.8mm front sway and 20mm rear.

I am really used to a loose setup, though.

You will save some time/money installing front springs "while you're in there" and the struts are out, though. I would either ditch any suspension upgrades for awhile or go ahead and spring for the adjustable collars for your struts. That way when you buy new torsion bars, you can index them for lower ride height and lower the whole car.

N/a 944

I was trying to get away from indexing the T-bars completely,
I want to lower the car, but after finding out what it takes to do anything with the T bars I said NO WAY.
Stock height springs up front will not require me to reindex right?

Can someone give me a link to what adjustable collars are/how much they cost?

Fractured

My car was done some time ago, so I'm relying on my memory here. When I bought my springs, there was also an adapter kit availabe. I called (Paragon, I believe) and asked about the adapter kit. It's necessary if you want to keep the stock ride height—the 250lb springs are shorter. Coilovers weren't necessary. I didn't do the work myself, so I can't comment beyond that. If you ever want to lower your car, now is the time to do it.

As an aside, I have a friend (also with an '89 NA) who has his car set up for track use only. He runs Koni yellows, Weltmeisters front and rear, 200lb springs, and a strut tower brace. He's really fast through the twisties and the car is flat.

N/a 944

What weltmeisters does he run out back???????????

Gator_86_951

I have front converted 86 struts off of my 951 with koni inserts as well as rear konis. Both are yellows. The struts were converted with a lathe so they are very nice. Very low miles, I suspect like 4000 at most. 4-6 track days iirc. I also have some 951 sways. If you are interested we can make a deal. PM me.

Fractured

I think he's running these:

http://www.automotion.com/productpag...282&pid=106797

N/a 944

Well for an update...

I ordered 2 koni front shocks, 2 koni rear's and a pair of weltmeister 250lb springs for the front.
When I am done the car should be so much fun!

What kind of experience would it be for me (not very mechanically inclined...) to change these out myself? I would be doing them in autoshop, so I have access to a lift.
How long would you anticipate it taking to do the job with you and maybe one other person helping? (of equal skill level)

chrenan

On my 924 I've got Bilsteins all round and 250 lbs springs up front with the factory 3 way adjustable 19mm sway bar in the back. Its neutral through corners, the only time I feel the rear torsion bars (23.5mm) are mismatched to the springs is over a hump in the highway, the rear feels softer.

Anyway, should be very easy to get the work done in one day with 2 guys, I did it myself in an afternoon. It will take you longer to jack up the car than it will to change the rear shocks, seriously.

Tom R.

three of us with hand tools did the front and rears in a lazy afternoon, but the springs were already on the struts. on person did 90% of the job.

N/a 944

Hmm this may turn out easier than I had originally though

Oh wait, I am replacing both front ball joints also... that could take a bit longer.