wino5150

I know this has been asked too many times, but I'm interested in replacing the shocks and springs on my '91GT and wanted some opinions. My primary use is street, with a few DE's sprinkled throughout the year. I've been told that B/E is the way to go, while others like the adjustability of Koni's along with Eibach springs. Thoughts? Not looking to regress to the ride of a horse and carriage, just would like to firm things up a bit.

Best regards,

Roland

GlenL

Ummm...

Go with the Bilstein/Eibach package. Or just add the Bilsteins to stock springs.

Lemme add a question here:

Does Koni offer a _double_ adjustable shock for the 928?

slate blue

Can somebody tell me if the Eilbachs are stiffer than the GTs springs?

wino5150

My thought was this...everything is 14 years old, and in my opinion, the car rides a little soft and leans a little too much in turns. I know that both shocks and springs contribute to the overall firmness as well as dampning ability. I believe that Koni has an adjustable shock that would be great for changing the settings for street versus track. That being said, if the B/E package offers the best of both worlds, then so be it.

Opinions appreciated,

Roland

Bill Ball

The Koni reds have rebound damping adjustment only and are very underdamped in compression in my experience. Others are free to disagree.

Shane

Bilstein/Eibach is what I put on my '86, and I am quite happy with them. The package was described to me like this: They are not overly harsh for around town driving, but the harder they are pushed the harder they push back, so that when you run your DE they perform they way you would want them too.
I've ran my set up on the track twice and am quite pleased with the way they perform there and on the street.
However to flatten my car out in the corners more I added the adjustable Ott drop-links front and rear, and with the Bilstein/Eibachs I have a very pleasing suspension.

wino5150

Thanks Shane, that's the info I'm looking for. As for the drop links...I'm not sure. I'm going with this setup first, because body roll is inherent to corning and some is meant to be. If you make your car too flat you lose the dampning ability of the body of the car and make it more prone to stick when it sticks, but break loose suddenly with much less notice. That being said, most racers would probably want that as a similar effect is accomplished by driving on true racing tires versus street tires...much less forgiveness when it breaks loose.

Best wishes, and stay warm up there...

Roland

Shane

Precisely why I set my droplinks at neutral, they are still better than the pencil thin stock ones but not so much that I slid off the track. My biggest weak link now is my stock "S" brakes.

GlenL

Let me follow up with some specific opinion:

I've got the "old" performance setup with the linear rate Eibachs (again the old ones) in front and the former front springs in back. This is with Koni Red shocks. The thing handles well enough but is really stiff on pavement joints and such. I don't consider it to be comfortably streetable, but as I track it (or try to) 6+ weekends a year, it's just fine by me. I take the tire pressure down to keep the bang-factor tolerable. I can't recommend this setup for general use.

The later dual-rate Eibachs are, from all reports, much nicer on the street. And the Bilsteins match them well.

Thilo

Why is everyone so keen on adjustable shocks? It's virtually impossible to set these to the same damping properties without a test rig, out of the car. Not good. Better to use shocks factory adjusted to the same specs. IMHO.

I'm communicating with someone who works at Sachs/Boge and who used the Konis before. He couldn't adjust those within 100 N or so even at low damping speeds.

Thilo

Shane

Thilo, very good point and besides I had to be realistic with myself, I would probably just set them once and never touch them again after that, o I went with the Bilsteins.

Thaddeus

I use the Koni Reds adjsuted to about 1/2 firm. I like it. The ride is acceptable with the 16" wheels.

As far as rate-matching them, I put all of them to full compression on the bench and allowed them to spring back. When they all took the same amount of time to reach full extension, I considered them matched. YMMV.

GlenL

So you can adjust them?

It'd be nice to have a "shock dyno" (Why'd I quit MTS?) but you can judge them by looking at the extension speed. This is where you compress them and release them simultaneously. The rods extend due to the internal gas pressure. This may not be perfect, but does give some confidence that the shocks behave similarly.

Also, folks complain that the Koni single adjustable shocks aren't, well, double adjustable. They're adjustable on rebound as that's the way the spring pushes and this allows you to match the shock rate to the spring rate. Car weight doesn't change much, proportionately, compared to what you can do with the springs.

I'm surprised at the comment on inability to match shock rates. 100N is 22lbs. Testing the shocks by hand, I'know they're matched better than that. That is, push them down firmly, one hand on each, or pull them up, and watch the extension speed.

drnick

shane i have the same setup as you on my 86, bilstein/eibach and droplinks front+rear. ive also added polyurethane bushes and ditched the stock seats for thinly padded buckets. its not as relaxing to drive as stock and definitely needs more concentration but it is a lot more rewarding. to me it is exactly how a performance street car should be.

when i eventualy upgrade the 88 i will probably put on some stiffer springs and two way ajustables (from leda), although im still debating just how stiff id go - the eibachs really do strike a good balance for the street. id also like to replace the sway bar but im having trouble locating one. ad really like the option to ajust both compression and rebound damping.

greg, im pretty sure the eibach springs are stiffer than the fatory sport springs.

GlenL

It's surprising and disappointing that the 928 has such limited sway bar options. There were two version, front and back, offered but Kim Crumb has said that the thicker bar was hollow so it is not stiffer. I seen mention of Weltmeister bars for the 928 but if that was true, they've been out of production for a long time. DEVEK offers an adjustable sway bar. ($$$)

Extra disappointing looking at what the 944 has available. There are 4 or 5 diameters available for each end as stock parts. Then there's the fully adjustable models.

I suppose there isn't enough demand for someone to make sway bars. Something like the later M030 stuff from the 944 with multiple holes on the ends would be really cool.

Those "steroid" adapters are really pricey. Thinking to have a friend make something similar.