Fastrax203

Okay guys I've been wrapping my head around this for a while and I want some opinions. I want my car to be good for street (not too bouncy/stiff) but also track worthy. I've done several suspension setups for cars that have seen track action but the torsion bar setup on the rear is kinda like black magic to me. I'm not sure how the torsion bar diameter equates to spring rate so judging what rate to get has been bothering me.

I've seen some guys running the Weltmeister 250# front springs w/ a coilover setup in the rear in conjunction with the torsion bars. This sounds like a very nice street setup but I've always believed a good set of fully adjustable (fully threaded shock body) coil overs was the best way to get the best balance.

I plan on keeping the torsion bars in place as the car will be seeing mostly street time than track time (probably going to purchase a track ***** after this car gets bodywork done). So what rates are everyone running? What strut/shock combo or coilovers? I really appreciate any feedback. Thanks again.

Paulyy

My setup is in my pm. It came with the car so i'm not sure what the stock setup is like. but it's not to bouncy not to stif and i sure can take corners with it.

racer

You could always check out their suggestions" http://www.elephantracing.com/suspen...iondiagram.htm

imho, you really need to decide if its for Street or for Track as the needs are so very opposite. Any true track set up will be very aggressive and uncomfortable on most streets.

Is you car an M030 equipped to begin with or not as this could impact how you want to proceed.

iirc, once you get beyond 250# springs, you need to worry about making sure the rear is still "matched" from a balance perspective. Sometimes this can be done with helper springs, sometimes its better to put in larger torsion bars.

hp18racer

On my street/DE car I am running 250 front, 350 rear. Firehawk valved bilsteins in the front, escort cup coil overs in the rear. I wish I had firehawk valving in the back for the street. I've got M030 sway bars front and rear.

If I were starting over I'd do something like this:
http://www.paragon-products.com/Susp.../944spec-3.htm
If you drill holes in the body, pop the end caps off the t-bar tubes and weld nuts on the ends of the bars it is as easy to adjust as the coil overs.

Fastrax203

The car isn't an M030 from the factory. I want to have a good balance. An aggressive street car essentially.

m73m95

The elephant kit is good for getting ideas, but buy the parts elsewhere.

I'm planning on paragon's coil over kit in the front with 250# and eshocks.com for the 28mm T-bars and bilstein shocks/struts. Eshocks.com is the cheapest place I have found for the Bars and shocks.

333pg333

Perfect. Just buy the KW V3s and forget about it. Seriously, a perfect setup for this sort of car.

Van

Either use the Koni setup that the NASA racers are using, or go with the Bilstein Escort/Firehawk setup.

SamGrant951

If you want to lose the torsion bars I would pickup a set of used Bilstein Escort coilovers, have them revalved to firehawk specs, thats my plan. I have Escorts currently and hate them for the street - guess it depends on your roads though, ours are terrible.

Darwantae951

I am happy with my Leda setup.

jasonlp

+1

76 911s

Go for the KW's if you can afford it... The Escorts are fine if your roads are good, but they definitely leave a lot to be desire in terms of ride quality when compared to the KW's.

Fastrax203

I hear you on that. I like the way the car rides stock but it's just not stiff enough. It just leans too much for my taste on turn in. I'd like to eliminate that as much as possible without losing the stock ride quality. KWs seem to be the best route for this but also pretty expensive. The Escort kit is almost the same price once you ad the helper springs and camber plates so I'm not sure about that route either. Should I just get the Weltmeister 250lb autox springs, larger torsion bars and M030 sway bars? I really don't want to lower the car much more than it is. I like having a moderate amount of ground clearance.

333pg333

I think you could find the V3s for a pretty competitive price now. Add up the alternative and what do you get $ ? Take that off the best price you can find for the KWs. The amount left is the price you're prepared to save as a compromise because that's what it will be. I know I sound like a broken record and I should be on commission, but everyone who has bought the KWs either on my advice or their own research has been very happy and that's not just in the U.S. I bought mine on the back of advice from the UK guys.

When you want to create a dual purpose car it was always a compromise but the KWs remove that part out of the equation because they let you have your cake and eat it. Of course there are other options and if you wanted to build a track only car you could look at other models or brands, but I am confident you won't regret spending the extra few dollars on the V3s for your car and what you want from it.

Techno Duck

You have to ask yourself are you actually going to use this car on the track enough to call it dual purpose or are you going to drive it once a year on the track and the rest of the time on the street? I ask because many of my friends splurged on full coil-over setups on their cars and the extent of their track driving is downshifting before an offramp. The cars handle well but its complete overkill for the street, a set of lowering springs would have given them nearly the same results and cost half as much.

The V3's are very good (i run them on my car) but i doubt you will find them for any less than $2400. Most dealers have them listed at $2700 or so. The Koni's are just fine for a street car and fine for the occasional track outing. Stick with a 200-250lb spring and leave the rear torsion bars alone. I ran a setup like this on my n/a for a long time and it handled well. It is certainly bearable on the street aslong as you are not running the struts on full stiff which i think is the #1 mistake people make with those. This type of setup will also probably not even cost half of what the V3's would run you. Save the money for something else.