fbgh2o

I have been reading everything on the site for the last couple of weeks and am overwhelmed by the amount of content and information on the subject - especially since some of you are mind bogglingly advanced. I have set a budget for my suspension upgrades of $2,500, but really do not have a good idea where to start. I want to do all the work myself and create a successful learning experience.

Here are my objectives and current suspension set up:

1. Car will be used mainly as a street car and needs to be able to deal with the poor quality Canadian roads
2. I am actively considering starting DE next year, but am a complete novice
3. The current suspension is completely stock and probably original - with factory Koni sport shocks which seem okay
4. I have a set of 16" PDs (7" front and 8" rear) and a set of 17" Cup 1 replicas and was thinking of setting up the car with the PDs due to the "softness" of the replicas

I assume that spring, shocks, and sway bar upgrades (M030) are in the cards. Additionally I should probably invest in new bushings all the way around as well as new ball joints and tie rods, but how should I prioritize these investments (expenses) to maximize the benefits? What about things like struts braces, camber plates etc.?

Many thanks

Darwantae951

KW v3

jasonlp

Your welcome to come for a ride along next time ur in montreal and if my car's finished. Your also welcome to my previous suspension.

p.s. you can adjust camber with ought adjustable camber plates

George D

NUF SAID, this is your money well spent. Nothing better tuned for our cars.

Jeff N.

Save a chuck o' dat cash for some good tires. You'll need 'em after you cinch down the suspenders.

Darwantae951

Just to clarify, KW v3 means KW Variatn 3 Coilovers. (Don't know if you've heard of them, so no offense intended). Just search for "KW Variant" and you'll get a few threads about people who's put them on their 944s. Everyone seems to love them!

fbgh2o

Thanks Darwin - I looked them up and if I see correctly I blow the budget on them alone (plus I live in Canada and we always have to pay more)... I wonder if they are not step 2, next year. Given that car has 22 year old everything, does it not make sense to address the core like bushings, ball joints and sway bars and then move on to the more expensive mods, like coil-overs?

Jason - I may well take you up on this offer. Many thanks. Will PM you next time I am in Montreal.

jasonlp

Just to clarify Im riding kw v3 but haven't gotten a chance to roll on them yet, so I can't tell you how they are yet but there is nothing wrong with my old suspension and it's also good for de if you would like to save on money.

Cory M

Paragon products has a deal on the 944Spec suspension: koni yellows, 30mm T-bars, front coilover kit, weltmeister swaybars

Depape

How are the KW V3 on the track compared to the Bilstein escourt cups? ( "0" rate rear Tbars)

PEvans

I just had the A-arms redone on my '89 951. All stock, but the job included new caster blocks, and new swaybar bushings. So basically everything other than the A-arms is still original except the front rubber, but this car drives like nothing I have ever been in, including other 951s. I am amazed at the handling difference. The mileage on the original parts was not huge - 150k-ish.

I can't make a case either way for replacing springs or shocks, but just tightening it up with new rubber seems to make a big difference.

future

kw var.3 ... there simply is no competition based on both performance and price

i will PM you our optimum setup if you wish for fast road and light track if you are interested!

disasterman

KW's get some great write ups from a number of rennlisters, great bang for the buck. Everybody raves about the valving. Search and review. You can also sell what you have to recover some of the cost of upgrades. Consider that if you delete the torsions (or drop to a nominal rate by machining down to around 10mm) you can adjust ride height with the KW coil overs which is a huge advantage.

Confirm the quality and condition of your current A arms. Performance rebuilds are offered by a number of suppliers.

If you are creative and sell the bits that you replace you could do a reasonable amount of work for $2300 plus the parts sales. Sell one of the sets of wheels to help pay for tires (new or used). But, at this amount of money you're talking parts only, torsion bars alone are a lot of work, trust me, I just did a complete suspension upgrade/torsion change. It took about 35 man hours with a lift.

Another alternative is to use your current shocks and spend the money on bushings, 968 M030 sways, spherical bearings and other cool bits - see Racers Edge website.

Hell, just go to the track and get hooked and that $2.5k budget will double in no time!

333pg333

"Hell, just go to the track and get hooked and that $2.5k budget will double in no time!"
There's the clincher!

fbgh2o

Thanks for all the thoughts. While KWs are clearly well liked, I am not ready to make that sort of investment until I am sure that i want to track the car. In fact, I am fearful of even getting in the car now, given the potential negative cash flow associated with it

In reality, right now, I am increasingly of the opinion that it make sense to to get the basics right so that I can go to coil-overs should I get to that stage. Does this sound reasonable and logical? If so what is the best value (I get the sense bushings is a great place to start). What about M030 sway bars? Stiffer springs? New caster blocks?

I simply cannot justify $5K+ for something that I may not use to its full value.

And FYI the 17" tires just arrived from Tire Rack yesterday and my wife is advocating selling the PDs and getting some Fikses FM10s, because "they look neat"...