Dave W.

Clarks also has a nice writeup on suspension.
http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/susp-15.htm
Near the bottom of the page are general recommendations for different setups.
They seem to like 28mm torsion bars with 250 lb front springs. I choose a softer setup with 225 lb front springs and 27mm torsion bars and the front/rear balance is very nice.

JJR512

Who makes a 260 lb front spring for the 944? I see lots of places and people talking about them, but when I look for springs, the closest I find are 250. Usually from Weltmeister.

MAGK944

iirc you only have a choice of 4 with stock struts, stock rate, 200, 220, 250. You need coilovers to fit anything else and then you have almost an infinite choice of spring rates. You can convert stock struts to fit coilovers if you need to have a larger choice of springs.

JJR512

Ugh... Clarks-garage recommends 220lb front springs with 27mm torsion bars, or 260lb springs with 28mm bars. Pasha recommends 210lb springs with 26mm bars, or 260lb springs with 27mm or 28mm bars. And it's my understanding that increasing the rear spring rate relative to the front will increase the oversteer tendency. I don't want a tail-happy car, I'd prefer neutral at most. If 260lb springs aren't available for stock struts, then I guess I'd go with 250lb and 27mm bars as a starting point. I was just hoping to eliminate the trial-and-error, but I guess there are too many variables, some of them subjective.

fred27

Hi JJR512,
I ran 250 lb springs up front and 27 mm bars on my car. You will be happy with this set up. It is very neutral and the ride comfort is reasonable.
Regards.

MAGK944

You are right but don't forget our cars come with built in under steer so adding some oversteer generally won't make them tail happy.

+1 I also had a car with this setup and agree with Fred, it's a good sporty street setup. IIRC the 250's also dropped the front about 1in and you can drop the rear about 3/4in to give it a slight forward rake. I'm sure that's what I was running for years and it's a decent improved ride.

JJR512

I'm getting mixed messages about the forward rake. I seem to recall reading elsewhere, as well as being told, that the 944 was really designed to have no rake, to be level front to back. I also vaguely recall reading that for some years, US versions may have had a slight forward rake, due more to the rear being slightly lifted to meet US bumper height regulations. My car now has a pretty level set, and I like the way it looks like that. I also don't know if I would like it lowered...the tires already fill out the wheel wells pretty well, I think lowering it might make it look slammed. I realize 1" isn't a lot...I might see how it looks. The Weltmeister 250lb springs all seem to be lowering springs, at least I can't find any for stock height. But I've also seen they have spacers to return to stock height if desired, so I'll keep those in mind, too.

mikey_audiogeek

Good advice, thanks. Just to clarify: you measured a rear motion ratio of 75% with the Racer's Edge adapters?

Cheers,
Mike

mikey_audiogeek

Rake affects roll centre height, which affects handling.

Raising the front increases understeer caused by weight transfer, raising the rear increases oversteer.

A nice way to tweak handling. Even 3mm is noticeable.

EDIT: actually it's more complex than that, as simply raising/lowering affects multiple variables. Let's just say "all else being equal".
Cheers,
Mike

333pg333

Perhaps look at this in reverse. What is it that you'd like to change about your current setup?

JJR512

I don't want to raise anything, I just want to go to firmer springs without lowering. Since it seems that the commonly-available firmer springs are also lowering springs, that's why I discussed raising the front. Raising it back to its original height before the lowering springs. The height it is now, with the car having an even, flat set. Which as far as I can tell, is the way Porsche intended.

JJR512

It's a bit difficult for me to say at this time because the shocks at all four corners are blown. I have new shocks for the back (not installed yet), and I'm getting a set of used struts (with good inserts) for the front soon. Obviously right now I can't really tell what the handling is, because it's a bit uncontrolled.

Once I get all that replaced, I'll finally able to get a sense of how the car really handles. (I bought the car last month, so I've never experienced anything other than blown shocks/inserts.)

So right now, I don't really know the balance of the car. I know I won't be able to say anything for sure regarding the balance until then, in terms of if I have too much understeer, or too much oversteer, or whatever.

But I do know that I'll want to get firmer springs in general at

JJR512

Sorry for the multiple replies. I've just been thinking about this as I go, and something else just occurred to me. I was just thinking about the importance of rake as you describe, and thinking about how there's not really a lot of choice in the front suspension ride height (aside from M030), you either got stock, or lowered. A few different choices, but no fine adjustment (again, not including M030). Then I remembered seeing this kit at Paragon, which if I understand it correctly, converts a stock strut into effectively a coilover, with the ability to more precisely set the exact ride height at the front end. It's $265 and would come with two springs, so it seems like a pretty good deal. But obviously I'm far from expert, so what do you all think? Worth it? http://www.paragon-products.com/Coil...arhk-r-xdo.htm

MAGK944

Have you measured the current body height to see if it's to spec? It's likely that your springs are somewhat worn and the car is sitting lower anyway. I've heard of people here fitting lowered springs and they actually raised the car. You have to check your baseline first.

Personally I would get the 250 springs and 27 torsion bars and see where the height sits. It's a common upgrade, or at least was until people started to fit coilovers. It is however a proven combination for a sporty street driven car. You can then adjust the front using the spacers and the rear using the eccentric to some extent to get to your desired level stock ride height.

EDIT: I mentioned the coilover conversion kit in post #18, didn't think you had any interest in it as you didn't follow-up

JJR512

Ah I'm sure I could look this up but it might be easier if I just ask: what is the baseline for ride height?