rickjaffe

just got my amythest S4; only drove it a mile or two so far. been cleaning it up for the last hour, and reading the manual to see what all the buttons are.

seems like a very hash ride. can feel every bump (and they're alot of them in my neighborhood. maybe needs new shocks and springs. any easy way to tell?

don't have alot of experience in a 928 (read none) so can't tell if it's the car in general or my car.

I have an old vette, so I'm used to hard rides, but this is really hard.

car seems to be in good shape. not as good as in the pictures, but they were a couple years old.

nice exhaust sound, steering is heavy at low speeds; brakes seem strong.
but I got to see about the suspension.

Ed Hughes

There is a good chance your shocks are shot. Unless you have a HORRIBLE street, the ride should be firm but comfortable. Mine isn't harsh at all. Congrats on the car, but you know what they say:

This thread is useless without pics.

Kevin Michael

sounds normal

Charley B

A mile or two on a neighborhood street is not a reasonable assessment of your suspension. Spend some time on different roads before trying to evaluate.

bobbigham

How old are the tires and what size are the rims, what tire brand/ type and size are you running?

Mine was very harsh (IMHO) when I got it. It has 18" rims, but a new set of rubber really helped a lot and I added a little to the size. The tires had plenty of tread, but were about 4 years old and sat in storage, and had a little lower profile size, which doesn't help. Also some tire brands have very hard sidewalls versus others, depends on brand, type and size. Check the air pressure too.

Ed Hughes

Sarcasm, or is your car that bad?

rickjaffe

ok just spent about 45 minutes driving it with my 17 year old daughter. she loves it.

best thing so far: the brakes. she says its like the GM ride at epcot.
it's very quick braking, and very authoritive; just massive deceleration. no roll or play. very impressive.

handles well on the highway. has more torque at 60 than I'm used to in either my 240 hp ferrari or my 300 hp mid year vette, but I guess that's not surprising.

did some manual shifting and that was fun (I have an automatic).

turns seems pretty impressive as well, though I got a grinding tire noise at full left turn.

the suspension seems ok on the highway and normal roads.

tires are kumho exctra supra, rear 255/40/zr17 94 w what ever that means
fronts: 225/45zr/17 91 w ecsta supra.

where are the date stamps on the tires? I'm hoping it's not the 94 and 91 numbers. tread looks very good.

when I press down on the front car, it goes down a couple inches. Is that normal?
so I may have a suspension problem, especially in light of the grinding on full turns. and the rather harsh ride on a rough by main houston road (kirby drive in west u for those who know the houston area).

just last week I solved the exact same problem on my vette. had grinding noise on full turns and going over different levels of ground. put in thinner tires; helped alittle, last week finally figured out (or someone of corvette chat and some local guy) suggested changing the springs, and I did shocks as well since they had to come out with the springs, and that solved the problem completely.
took me six years to figure that one out. won't take me that long with this car.

very solid feel on the highway. heavy but solid feel driving around local.
solid and like matter that weighs more than regular matter. but also very precise.
now I can tell you all that this was the first time I've ever even sat in a 928. So I don't have alot of reference points.

could be a couple little electrical/gage issues. gas gage seems to be inacurrate. showed alittle more than a quarter tank, but only took 8 gallons. then it toped out at 3/4 or alittle more, even though it was compeltely full.

oil pressure gage might be alittle squirrly also; showed ocassion high oil pressure, then settled down for awhile; hope I don't have a real issue there.

engine area looks very clean for a 20 year old car. interior and exterior are very good, but not as good as the pictures which I knew were a couple years old.

it may need an allignment; can't see any unusual tire wear, but sometimes it pulls alittle to the right, could be that damm kirby road.

I'll try to put some miles on it over the weekend. fluid levels look ok, but I'll have all the fluids and filters changed so I'll have a known base.

got to get a handle on the tire age. I'm told that 5-7 years are tops regardless of tread condition? do you guys agree?

all in all it's an amazing car for the price. It's shocking to me that you can get so much car for so little money, but that's why I decided to buy one, and this one in particular.

will report further results as they come in; will also take some more pictures of the car's current condition in the daylight.
regards

Rob Edwards

A few inches compression seems like an awful lot, unless you're Hulk Hogan and you're stomping on the front of the car. But then, reading Bill Ball's suspension thread suggests that slow compression while standing still doesn't equate to suspension damping while driving.

Which part of Kirby? I was in school in Houston for 11 years, and there are parts of Kirby (between Bissonette and, oh, Westheimer) that are pretty horribly wavy thru some of the intersections. I can imagine where that would make a firm suspension crash a little bit. Any evidence the shocks/springs have ever been changed? How's the ride height?

RE: the tire age, if you're going to drive it even remotely aggressively, or on track (I wish I was as close to TWS as you are), you're going to want new tires. The Houston sun and smog are none too good for tire life. The date stamps are the last 3 or4 digits after the 94W. If you've got 4 digits, the tire is newer than year 2000, with the first 2 digits being the week and the last two digits correspond to the year of manufacture. If you've only got 3, then the last digit is the year (in the '90's) the tires were made.

Congrats on the car!

MGW-Fla

ahhhhh so now that you have finally driven a 928 and actually own one you have come over to the dark side on your perception of the pricing and value of a shark yes?? Thinkin in no time at all you'll even be talking the prices up on here.

Your's must be an awesome shark too if it passed the "17 yr old daughter approval test" so quickly! My 17 yr old accepts & appreciates my shark now, which she refers to simply as "Dunkel" for the color dunkelblau. When she first saw it she asked was it for her & even said she'd love to drive it. Big turn around. My first shark she did not like, which she named "Ugh" as in ugly & didn't want to even ride in it!! Both were similar 1985's! Kids!! Maybe she just needed to mature a bit. From the pics of yours in your other thread, thats a unique color combo & one that should turn heads for sure!


I have had four sets of various Kumhos on 3 different cars & they have been very good tires for the money. In fact, I think for me they were as good if not better than some more expensive ones I've owned. My understanding is that Kumho's entrance & pursuit into the consumer market hasn't been too long ago from their presence in racing. Seems like within the past ten years or so, least someone at the tire rack told me that a couple years ago. Thats why their tires are so economical, they want to improve their consumer market share.

If you have stock rims & appropriate tires sizes, I would think your ride shouldn't be so harsh. Once you have the suspension checked out & aligned, verify your tire age, etc., then you'll know better. Heck, if the car wasn't driven much, it may just need a bit of a shakedown & road time to get the dust & rust off it. Get out & drive that shark this weekend!

Ed Hughes

You may have a ground issue with the gauges. Do a search, and you'll find plenty of info on this.

Your tire sizes should be fine, and won't cause any grinding.

Did you get a PPI on this car? It sounds like you bought it sight unseen?

SteveG

Welcome. The oil pressure will vary w/revs, but at speed should stay pinned at top end.
I didn't see what psi you are running in the tires, nor the mileage on the car/shocks, nor what brand shocks. It shouldn't be harsher than the vette, but could have adjustables that are very tight.

If you change you tires or shocks or ride height (you prob know this) you don't necessarily have to align, but I would carefully watch for even tire wear and if you do have an alignment it should be done on a lift (Hunter) that does not raise suspension w/o car. There are bushings that need +/- 50 miles to settle the suspension. Search archives for ride height for many discussions and eye balling fender rim. IIRC, (YMMV) 27" floor to front fender lip (thru center cap).

rickjaffe

I did.mostly. But one of the members was kind enough to take a look at the car for me. don't think he drove it. Seems like he liked it very, very much. Took that as as much of a ppi I was going to be able to do, and still get the car.

this is the 3rd classic I've bought sight unseen; the first was an old ferrari. I guess I'm a trusting person. This car is in very good condition, not as good as the pictures show, but the pictures were a couple years old.
so far no regrets on any of them; but I do spend a fair amount of time and money on them, but that's what they take. time and money.

the daughter has just requested the car for the afternoon, to cart my younger son around. how can I refuse?

rickjaffe

[QUOTE=MGW-Fla]ahhhhh so now that you have finally driven a 928 and actually own one you have come over to the dark side on your perception of the pricing and value of a shark yes?? Thinkin in no time at all you'll even be talking the prices up on here.

that transformation happened even before I took delivery of the car

here is the evidence:

Originally Posted by Fly Navy
Rick - you're a kick! What I did discover was exactly the opposite of what you suggest. In testing the waters, I learned mine compared quite favorably to other, higher priced cars.



that doesn't surprise me since I think there are alot of folks out there with really crazy iideas about what their cars are worth. But of course those cars just sit unsold.

it's not rocket science; it's just a market, and the market determines what the real price is. Cars that are priced right for their age and condition, usually sell, on ebay at least. Those that don't keep on appearing, or if in private hands, the sellers give up and keep them.

what's this: I have a strange feeling, a transformation;

I'm an owner now, not a seeker. I am convinced that my 87 with 80k miles is worth at least $17.6k, (even though I just bought it yesterday for 11) and wait; I now see that your car is worth at least 20k; and yes, that the GTS which was asking 70k was 20k underpriced); those lousy seekers; they just can't see the real value of these cars. It's an absolute outrage

and so completes the transformation of a regular human into 928 addict. RIP

MGW-Fla

yeahhhhh I read that when ya posted it before.......

Jim bailey - 928 International

with the exception of the door lock bezels on the 78 and the USA only plastic headlight trim rings needed for the STUPID 7 inch seal beams ....there is NO CHROME on a 928 zero ,zip, nada...so shiney tail pipes for me look out of place. But there is no right or wrong just personal preferrence.