hally

koni conversion to the double adjustables up front and new koni double ajustable rears that run with a coilover, feels like a new car
Was worried about the street ride, but its really fine, hard to describe, energetic i guess, nasty bumps if anything feel better than before on the initial hit and then a couple of quick bounces, and of course it sits beautifully on the smoother stuff. To be honest i don't know what the shop did valving wise, but the shocks are ajusted to the midpoint for bump and rebound they said.
I'm running 420 pounds up front and 150 in the rear + the m030 torsion bar reindexed to get the ride height down. It feels pretty neutral to me, i really feel confident with it.
Slashed 4 seconds off my best lap time with the old suspension, though my driving has improved a bit since then too. I dont understeer off the track like before can get on the power much earlier, have much better grip right through the corner Highly reccomend heres some pics
PS thanks to skip at paragon for answering my questions via emails etc even though i sourced parts locally in AUS so i would have warranty etc

DDP

Looks great, thanks for sharing.

testarossa_td

Good to know, enjoy the ride.

Peckster

420 sounds like a lot. What's stock? Isn't it 180 or something?

RolexNJ

The 420 front lbs. spring isn't alot per ce upfront. It really depends on the application for each car and the type of ride a person likes. It sounds as if Hally uses his car for street and track. If so, he may have the best set-up for him, and of course his times are showing good results too. Good for you Hally!

I'm currently running 550 lbs. front and 325 lbs. + helper spring in the back. Prior to driving the car I was concerned it would be to harsh, especially in NJ where roads aren't that great. Well, I drove the car for 4 hours on various roads, and the car is a total dream for my taste. But then again, I like a car a bit on the stiff side. I haven't tracked the car yet, but will do it at some point. For the RWHP I am putting down and my applications, my car's squatting and nose diving shouldn't be an issue at all.

And Hally, good luck with the new suspension, go kick some *** on that track!

hally

yeah 175 for the m030 according to dand's table below:
http://members.rennlist.org/dan10101/944SpringRates.htm
When i raised my concerns about what the ride would be like with this spring rate, mechanic assured my it would be fine and valving played a big part in this. Really happy with how it has turned out.
I have more spring at front than combined at rear, but am not noticing any problems with understeer.

RolexNJ

Opps, my bad. I meant 500 lbs up front.

Eyal 951

so both of you went way stiffer up front? hmmm, I'm getting conflicting info here. I really pay attention to these threads since I wanna get my rates right... Sometimes people go stiffer in the rear, sometimes in the front... i mean both should have drastically different results.
~Eyal

hally

cheers Rolex, had a great day on Monday at the track trying it out and getting a few pointers from instructors. 3 times i had to refill the tank (back up to 1/2 mark), so many laps. Put a wheel the wrong side of a tall ripple strip right at the end of the day and tapped my radiator, a fan is rubbing and coolant bleeding, so am out of action and broke temperarily. 8 laps in a row maybe i overheated the tyres, thats my excuse anyway.

RolexNJ

Eyal 951: I know what you mean. Well, I worked on this % set-up of front to back with 2 race shops; based on my application and driving preferance. To confirm what I thought was a great set-up, I contacted both Paragon and Racer's Edge. Both said it was a good set-up for me. Honestly, I am not a suspension expert as far as configuration, but, I am a racer who knows how to dial in what's given to me.

The person you may want to ask is Chris White. Chris has a street car, and has tracked other 951s too. Maybe he will chime in here and give you some insight. But remember though, the rates are affected by many things; a few being the application (street, autocross, track), driver preferance, and also the amount of RWHP you're putting down. For me, putting down 460RWHP, I need a set-up that will minimize squat and also nose diving. Anyway, hope this helps, but as I said, Chris has alot on first hand knowledge.

thingo

You got the koni's conversion locally? I am going to have to adress the springs at some point, my ride is better than I deserve, but 420 does seem high, my car is mostly street. How do you think the rear coilovers would compare to the 968 helper spring?

Good taste in car btw, even the colour is the same as mine

RolexNJ

hally: That sounds like you did very well mate? Good for you. Hopefully you are getting consistent answers from all these instructors on how to improve your techniques? And you tapped the radiator? Oh, sorry to hear that. Well, at least you had fun for a while and got faster times, right?

Keep it up and good luck with it!

hally

Hi thingo, yeah alpine white rocks doesn't it! actually it does on a hot day
Those rear coilovers are helpers, they are the closest thing you can get these days to the origional 968 setup as i understand it. They are also hard to get hold of, speak to Ben at Weltmeisters in Melbourne.

Brent951

Eyal,

Don't know how many people know this but due to the suspension geometry on the rear of ours cars there's a big difference between the actual and effective spring rate, not to mention if you're using the coilovers as helper springs so you have to take into account the effective spring rate of the torsion bars as well. So I've been running 500-600lbs in front and 400-500lb in the rear with the stock torsion bars.

http://www.tech-session.com/kb/index...x_v2&id=22&c=4

thingo

Hally
Oh the heat, just got my air con fully sorted, I have had horrible heat (comfort) issues with mine, all fixed just in time for winter!
The 968 helpers are still available, not sure of the spring rate of them.i have a bit of squat problem which is a bit eye raising (well lowering if you want to watch the road.)
Was there much involved in the koni conversion, time wise?