OntarioTurbo

Going to update the suspension next year. I don't want too harsh a ride since some of the roads here are pretty rough and car is used primarily as a back road tourer (driven spiritedly of course) with maybe one lapping day a year at the track.

I do feel stock springs are a little soft. Would like to upgrade to 200 or 220lb, maybe even 1" lowering springs.

Thinking of Koni all the way around set to soft or medium ( with the updated springs)

or...

Stock Sachs struts with the aforementioned springs and Bilstein rears.

What do you all say?

schip43

The Welts actually ride pretty nice. Really the 220 to 250's I don't think you'll notice much difference in the ride quality.

I have 220inch lbs on my NA and 250's on my 89 951. Pretty happy with the springs on the NA. Upgraded sway bars and Koni's on both.

The 951 has dbl adjust ables on the front, the NA has coil overs on the rear. I think the NA has a better feel to it. I think the 951 needs stiffer springs for the same kinda feel, 300ish or so?

I can't get comfortable trail braking the 951, hence I'm thinking about changing to stiffer springs on it. But the 951 rides very nice on the street, it just soaks up bumps and stays flat. That's with the Koni's on soft up front, 250's springs on front, camber plate and the 968 , second gen swaybars, koni yellows in the back.

IanM

My first setup was 300# front springs and 28mm rear torsion bars with my M030 Konis, and Weltmeister anti-sway bars. It was not too stiff at all. You won't feel much difference with 200's or 220's. If you're currently running Sachs, you could get the Koni single adjustable front inserts from Paragon Products and Koni rear (yellow, single adjustable) shocks. Little bit of understeer with stock stagger tire sizes, which is likely what you're looking for.

I eventually decided that was too soft for track use and now run Bilstein Escort Cup with 425# front springs, 600# rear springs and no torsion bars, same size tires front and rear.

74goldtarga

I would recommend starting with Weltmeister lowering springs (think I had 250#) and M030 sways front and rear and then stop - drive the car awhile before you change the shocks (unless the shocks are shot). I did this and thought it was a very nice upgrade without screwing with the streetability, very helpful on the track as well.

Baptizo

That's what I'm going to do minus the sway bars for the interim. I have Bilstein's ready to go on this winter and will get the Weltmeister 250 #'s with 1" drop up front for starters.

schip43

Wow holy crap everybody agrees on the Koni's and the Welts being a nice street setup! When has that happened before?
I'll add that since you have the 86, the koni inserts would be a good way to go on the front; that's what I did on my NA with the Welt lowering springs.
I'm assuming you already have a strut brace? If not put that on the list!

kinglenario

I was planning on waiting a bit before I made this post, and I'm putting the cart before the horse a bit, but whatever it's just a hobby... I've been working on a nice street setup to maybe put together and sell to a few guys just for fun. I'm trying it with a few different shock mfg's and might offer it that way as well.

I have researched for a long time and tried a bunch of things. I've been driving this car for 20 years now so I know the feel pretty well. There just really aren't any good modern STREET suspension setups available for a good price. You can get a full coilover race setup and have it re-valved for the street but it's going to be BIG money. Or you can put some different springs on your Koni yellows for not too much money. But to have a good ride and fairly flat cornering you need to pay for the biggest sway bars you can buy. For the street I've found the options aren't very good. In my opinion at least.

Front: Say you run 200lb/in, 250lb/in front springs. It's better but it's still pretty soft for hard cornering. It's also a little rough around town. Especially on a concrete highway or over expansion joints. Go up to 300lb fronts and it's definitely harsh over road imperfections. Not something you want to take your girl out to dinner in. I live in the city and the streets mostly suck, so my car is a little harsh around town. When I get out to the country roads and really push it, it's too soft... It's a trade off...

Rear: Torsion bars.... Nobody wants to deal with indexing or changing them. Adding helper coils in the back is pretty expensive for the coilovers and you'll probably need to re-index the torsion bars. Changing out the torsion bars is difficult and you'll probably need to do it twice or spend twice as much time making sure they're right the first time.

Sways: Everyone pretty much uses the 968 M030 sway bars. These are the biggest factory option and the most reasonably priced to buy. But at the end of the day with the bars, bushings, mounts and stiffening brackets, maybe some delrin bushings you'll probably buy you'll be up around $650ish. And if you're running 200lb or 250lb springs there is still a lot of body roll.

So now you've got $2,200 in front coilovers with koni's with 200-300lb springs, rear coilovers with koni's with 100-500lb springs depending on what you've done with the torsion bars, and 968 M030 30mm front and 19mm rear sway bars. Also the old koni sport design is OK for what it is and decent for the price, but it's pretty old technology. There are a lot better shocks out there.

How does the car handle? Pretty good, but feels pretty soft still when you really push it. How's the body roll? Pretty bad compared to most new cars. Better if you have the 300lb springs. How does it ride in town? Expansion joints and concrete highways are tolerable but rough. Ride is OK but a good but quite a bit harsher than stock. On smooth roads the stiffness feels great. When you're driving it in town or on rough roads it's not the most comfortable, and any type of pothole or manhole cover sucks!

Anyway, I might put together an affordable (because nobody wants to spend $4k on a 944 suspension for the street) bolt up solution that uses coilovers front (ride height adjustable on the front) and rear, keeps the stock torsion bars without re-indexing and uses a modern dual rate spring setup front and rear. With a dual rate spring setup we can have the best of both worlds. VERY compliant over bumpy public roads. As good or better than factory ride. And a very aggressive spring rate during hard cornering or track days. Also with a dual spring rate you can run such a stiff second spring rate that you won't need to put the extra money into big sway bars if you don't want to.

My goal is to be able to sell the whole thing ready to bolt in for about $1500. And you could buy just the front first then the back to split up the cost a bit.

pormgb

I'm running an odd setup, Bilstien Coilovers with 400# springs on the front, Aldan double adjustable Coilovers on the rear with 350# springs (Torsion Bar Delete).This setup is a bit harsh over bumps but handles well, I may increase my rear spring weight.

Darwantae951

350 isn't too soft for the rear?

kinglenario

You must have some serious understeer man?! Or you have the back of your car up really high in the air or something.

I looked into those Aldan Eagle shocks. They look nice, but I heard they don't hold up well and leak oil every few thousand miles. Have you had any problems with them?

Gordy C

Hey Kinglenario. I have been thinking of doing something to my 1989 Turbo, suspension Because the guy I bought it from has it so stiff my wife won't ride with me on the mountain roads here in North Carolina. According to the previous owner it has Koni Struts with 300 lb Hpercoils. My question is can I just get softer springs? And if so what would you recommend For a softer ride and not too much concern about rool. THanks Gordy

pormgb

Yes, I do have some understeer, I plan to change the rear springs.

So far the Aldan's haven't leaked.

coilbox

With good shocks, you can run high rate springs without it being to harsh. If you keep the OEM style konis....forget it, better to upgrade swaybars.

Baptizo

Dan Shea offers the GAZ coilover kit for a good price but I haven't been able to figure out a good setup as far as the F&R spring rate with the stock TB's.

coilbox

Got GAZ on my car, work very well for their price, plus you can ask for custom setup. After a few emails with them, they sent me 450lb fronts, and 275lb rears to leave the stock TB.

After I decided to delete the TB and they sent 600lb rears.