Suspension for Dummies?
 

As I add power, I've been noticing that my car is squatting more and more when I punch it. I feel like I'm driving an old hot rod. I like the HP, but what should I do (what mods) to keep the front from lifting so much under hard acceleration? It's an 86 951. Thanks!

Lifting or squatting? Two different things.

Compression is adjusted with springs.
Lifting is adjusted with shock rebound.

As you add more performance to your 951 you will need more rear spring to handle the incresed loading. Then you need more front spring to keep the car balanced off power. A vicious circle that performance. I Love it!

Hmmm... sorry for the bad terminology... hence the "dummy" disclaimer. When I punch it, the front end goes up, and the rear end goes down. Think '68 Malibu.

When I added 100hp with my rebuild, my tired suspension definitely couldn't handle the new power. I put in new konis, set on maximum stiff and that fixed the problem. Ideally, you may want to upgrade your springs too. I had to rebuild my tranny, put in LSD to handle the new power. New cup clutch too.

[Off Topic] Gil, who did you get to rebuild your tranny? I may be in the market for an LSD rebuild. :grr: [/Off Topic]

Tom, as RKD says, new struts would help with the front end lifting, and allow you to add stiffer front spings. Not much you can do for the squatting rear end except go for thicker torsion bars or coil-over springs to increase the rear spring rate.

Waterguy,

Bernd Moller at MB Euromotors (around 7th and Cambie in Vancouver) rebuilt my tranny with Quaife LSD and my engine as well. He's really good. He just finished rebuilding his own 78 930 this summer to 500hp. I went for a ride last week. I thought my car was fast (I'm at 370hp) but Bernd's was crazy fast.

Ideally to utilize all that power in the twisties or on the track, I would upgrade the springs to 250 lbs. and definitely upgrade my stock seats to factory sports or aftermarket Recaros or Sparcos. The stock seats are very comfortable but don't have enough lateral support for fast cornering.