944obscene

I am going to be interested in suspension here within the next year. Just so I can start getting educated on the subject regarding our cars, I was wanting some personal opinions from fellow listers.

Purpose:

The car is a weekend and nice-day car. It is driven sometimes very little and other times, at a week or more before I retire it to the garage to sit. I will be using the car for fun trips, auto-x days (I know I know.. It's a turbo bla bla), as well as fun runs at courses like Hallett, or simply to drive around town getting shouts from the chicas.

You know.. Something to sport around in and have fun with when hard driving is demanded!

Goal:

I want the car to be stiffer. I will be compensating for traction issues with tires later. For now I wish to address the way the car handles the road and how it holds its weight in corners. Given the way I utilize this car, I don't want a bone jarring ride, but if I wanted fluffy feel I would have gotten a Mercedes lol.

Options:

I've been noticing more people running helper springs, or springs only with coilover systems. I've also looked into replacing my stock torsion bars with beefier units. Which option will best suit my goals and my wallet? I don't mean to sound frugal. Spending money on something worth the cash shouldn't be an issue, but I am a means to an end kind of guy. I don't see fit to spend wads for a car that won't spend it's life on the track. Just looking to improve the handling.

Any help or suggestions are be greatly appreciated!

Also what would I want to run up front to compliment the rear setup? Combined spring rates for helpers and front rates? Rates between fronts and bigger rear T-bars?

roman944

ditch the t-bars and go full coilovers

Dimi 944

2nd!

Potomac-Greg

I think Paragon or Pelican has a nice set of coilovers with the solid spherical bearing ends.

The only reason to run "helper" springs in the back is laziness/cheapness/fear of t-bar removal. And yes, I run helper springs for all of those reasons. This Fall/Winter, I am going to have Dimi show me how to remove t-bars!!!!

shiners780

"Helper" springs? Aren't those the cheesy little springs some people use to keep their main springs seated while the suspension is unloaded (on a lift)?

krazykarl

Are you referring to the A1 Koni Cup kit?
http://www.paragon-products.com/Coil...ni_cup_kit.htm

Pretty good deal for a full set of coilovers, looking at those for next year.

Van

Frequently those are called "tenders".

roman944

I was

or, Ground Control

I wish there was a way to make these work on an early car

944obscene

Should have made this a poll. Hmm... So just go full coilover eh? I'll look into this. Laziness was also one of the reasons I was looking into helpers.

Potomac-Greg

Nope but I see the confusion. I /we mean the use of coilovers AND t-bars in the back versus just one or the other.

I actually wish I had those cheesy springs. I get some wacky clunks and clangs when pulling into ramps and driveways!

Eric_Oz_S2

Plan to get some kW Variant 3 which are setup to be used with stock tbars.

The 968CS used coilovers with t bars for the rear.

Van

951 cup cars also use a coilover helper in the rear (I even know of a set of springs for sale).

But, unless you want a higher ride height, you're going to be re-indexing the torsion bars - so lots of people feel it's easier to just remove them and choose a coil over spring that will do the full job.

Mike Murcia

I've been setting up a set of coilovers with helper springs on my car this week, with the hope of not having to touch the torsion bars. After much trying, the ride height is still too high, even with the spring plate eccentric tuned down and the springs barely seated when the car is on the ground. Plus, as Greg pointed out, the springs need to be partially loaded or they will make noise when going over bumps. Therefore, I'm now re-indexing the t-bars to remove some of their contribution.

Whether or not you track the car should be considered when you decide to keep or delete the t-bars. Fully deleting them is harder than re-indexing, but making changes to the spring rate is easier if the t-bars are gone.

jsaindc

I agree with the removal of t bars as optimal; however, the OP states how little the car is used. With this in mind I think the removal of T Bars is a little more than needed. Why not upgrade front and rear sway bars, put on some stiffer springs, and put adjustable Konis on front and rear. This with a good allignment and tires will serve you well and save some $$. It doesn't sound like you are tracking the car so IMO removal of T Bars is a little overkill.

Potomac-Greg

I thought re-indexing required effectively removing the bars, and therefore deleting them was not harder. Indexing is a trial-and-error process as well and can take a few tries to get it right. Deleting is pretty hard to get wrong!

I'm definitely leaning toward deleting, and upgrading the coilover springs to 500 or 550.