66droptop

Hey, all.

I'm new. My name's Rob. I have two puppies and I like watching the sunset every day while I'm at work. Oh wait, wrong site. Um, so I've had a red 951 for a few years and now I've picked up a silver 944 to turn into a race car.

I picked up the silver 944 n/a from Craigslist while perusing for a rally car candidate. I was planning on going AWD, but the 944 was too cheap to pass up and I love my red 951. I had planned on building a turbo stroker, but I just can't argue against an LS swap for power, price, and reliability. Kinda hate myself for it, but I'm coming to terms with it. I plan on running the car in NASA rally & road course events. Build it first, get it sorted on road courses because I understand that, and then develop a dirt setup for it.

That's the main reason why I'm posting on this board and will be looking around. Time to buckle down and learn. Mainly the differences in suspensions between early 944 n/a and later 951. For example, for ease of aftermarket support, I'd like to swap the 944 over to 951 suspension pieces like fabricated steel control arms.

- Curious to see what spring rates & suspension setups people are running on their race cars.

- Are big reds still the best brakes, or has something else come up?

- Looking to see if there's anything definitive for which is stronger: the 951 gearbox or the 968 gearbox.

The silver car hasn't run in about 10 years. Had 43,000 miles on it. It was in the process of being restored when it swapped hands. So some parts are really nice and practically new, and other parts are sunbeaten. Whatever seems nice that I don't swap over to the already-nice red car, I'll just give away here. I haven't inventoried the silver car, so I don't know what it has in there.

66droptop

Meant to include this one:

ccaarmerciill

I remember when planning a huge project on my last 944 I ended up going with a 951 transmission. From what I remember the turbo, S2, 968 transmissions were all considerably stronger than a base 944 but it's mainly the gear ratio's that were different. (I could be wrong here though)

Looks like it'll be a fun project, gorgeous 951, and even a more gorgeous S1000RR in your garage.

thirdgenbird

Welcome!

The 951 and BMW look great. The 944 needs some attention

951 suspension is a basic bolt on to your 944.

Van

Before giving you any advice on race 944 setups, it's important to know what class/organization you'll be racing with. Then we can help.

p.s. who doesn't like puppies and sunsets??

66droptop

Thanks for the compliments. Not sure what springs the 951 is on, but they're really low and stiff for a street car. With the fiberglass splitter the car won't clear sideways coke cans or dead rabbits. Have had to do some fiberglass work on it a few times. The sway bars are beefy and aren't what the ones in the shop manual look like. I'm happy with it. It runs a few psi extra, it has 285s front & rear, and the stereo is nice. The red car doesn't need anything else.

The S1000RR has an Arrow pipe and a PC5 with AutoTune and a map I made. Couple other things like rear sets because I prefer inverted shift patterns. Feels heretical to say, but it doesn't seem like it needs any more power.

The silver car is going to be the opposite of the red car, like a good twin/evil twin thing. Black with red wheels. That's the idea for now at least. We've always run NASA events, so that's what I was going to stick with. I've helped friends build & set up their cars since we were in high school, but I've never had my own until now.

Rally regs are pretty loose for Open 2WD. Stay under 7.5L for a pushrod n/a engine, and I'm pretty set. Haven't looked to see where to classify the car in the road course rules since deciding to go LS3 instead of turbo 3.1. I know it'll bump me out of the German car series.

66droptop

I know 951 parts will bolt on to the 944, but it's the little details like offset when going to late-951 arms and spindles and Big Reds that will catch me up. Already had to play the offset/clearance game when doing the wheels on the red car.

NM'87 951

real pretty turbo you got there. very clean.

16valver

Hey cool, a 951 with NT03's!! Thats not a wheel you see on these cars every day. Mind elaborating on wheel and tire size some?

66droptop

There's not a lot out there in a 5x130 pattern. I found somewhere on the internet about them, talked to another forum member on here with them on his car in Australia, and went for it. They're 18x10 in a +60 offset, according to what I'm finding through Google right now. The Enkei size chart keeps crashing my phone's browser. I have an early offset 951 so I had to run spacers,which I measured out by test fitting with washers on the wheel studs. Pressed in longer wheel studs to accommodate the spacers, and did some hoping. With 285s they baaaaarely fit in the front. Plenty of room in the back still, but I liked the square setup. I'm not at home right now or I'd go out to the garage to tell you the tire measurements too. They're a tight fit, look good.

ditch68

Those wheels (and the rest of the car) look awesome. I really like them.

Cool, another AZ Rennlist 944 guy!

Jeff

reno808

hahaha awesome look at my thread i made today hahahahahahaha. at lease now i know my car is going to look good
https://rennlist.com/forums/944-turb...the-951-a.html

66droptop

Oh no we're gonna be samesies

reno808

Yess

Dino V

Nice wheels on the 951!