Silverbullet951

I just wanted to know what suspension setup is possible without spending insane money. I'm looking to lower the car so there is no gap between the tires and the fenders in front AND back. This is with 17 inch wheels. I also want the ride to be pretty stiff so it could handle better. I plan on upgrading the sway bars also. Thanks guys.

SamGrant951

try the search?

hally

Silverbullet,
as i understand it, having your suspension too stiff can be detrimental to traction unless your on a smooth track, eg look at the hammering that the new nissan 350Z track got for its poor handling attributed to overly stiff suspension.
just another angle to consider I guess.

Skip Wolfe

Front coilover conversion from Paragon: $250
Rear torsion bars from Paragon: $266
968 M030 30mm front and 19 mm adjustable rear sway bars from Sunset Porsche: $400

I have the M030 sway bars and am planning on going with 300 lb springs and 29-30 mm torsion bars this winter. From everyone I've talked to this seems to be the best street/track compromise. As long as your willing to do the wrenching yourself, the cost isn't too bad.

User 41221

What Skip said, altho I would add the M030 caster blocks for the rear of the control arms. I would seriously consider skipping the rear torsion bars and just spend the time to reindex the ones are your car, and limit the front springs to no more than 250#, unless you are an all-out track junkie and can REALLY (and be honest with yourself on this one, okay) drive your car. Lastly, I would get Pagid Orange brake pads, the 5/33 proportioning valve and ATE Super Blue brake fluid and keep it flushed regularly. This will give you a VERY neutral handling car that will outhandle almost anything else out there (short of all out track cars) that is still very comfortable on the street.

One other thing... stick with the factory rubber bushings. They are designed to properly load the suspension. Going to delrin generally leads to early suspension failure and really doesn't do a lot for making the car handle much better, imo.

Regards,

streckfu's

Ihave 220lb springs and they are a little stiff for rough roads. I agree with Scott.

MySwiss

What do you consider expensive ? We carry Koni sports which are very popular replacement at 150$ each for the front,and allow you to adjust the firmness,combined with Weltmeister 250lbs springs.

I personally run racing shocks and struts from Bilstein in front and back combines with Weltmeister 250 up front, and I see a good difference between this set up and the Koni set up with the same spring. The car is at the perfect hight for track events(legal), there is less squatting under hard acceleration and less leaning in corners (more neutral and much stiffer).This set up will cost a bit more,but you get shocks that are tuned for rebound and compression,and you get full front struts.1600$ plus the springs about 250$.

Skip Wolfe

Oops, I forgot about shocks. I went the way of the Koni adjustables from Paragon and have been pleased with them. Paragon has them for $154 ea. for the fronts and $116 ea. for the rear. I also agree with sh944 regarding the 968 caster block - Sunset Porsche again for these.

One thing to keep in mind with spring rates is that everyone's tolerance for stiffness of ride is pretty different. So while I have a friend that runs 450 lbs springs that they feel are just fine for the street, there are others who feel 220-250 lb is the highest to go. The other issue that sh944 pointed out is that it really depends on what you are going to use the car for. I am definitely setting my car up with an emphasis on track use and I am more than willing to compromise street comfort, but to each his own.

Silverbullet951

Hey, thanks for the replies.

Well for the setup, I want as little squatting as possible and I want as little leaning into corners as possible. I know that setting up the suspension too hard will harm the handling characteristics, but I'd be willing to compromise street comfort for great handling. If there are any track events, i'll have a nice setup.

I consider almost 2000 dollars for just front struts and springs expensive.

So what springs should I get? 250 or can I go higher? I might as well go for the koni adjustables and i'll upgrade the sway bars. I already have pagid blacks and ATE super blue brake fluid. I'm going to install the pads soon.

What will the M030 caster blocks do exactly?

Now about lowering, if I get the koni adjustables, how do I adjust the height for the rear? I have a set of KYB's on it now and I don't thik there is any way to adjust them. Thanks again.

streckfu's

For the front suspension, Koni sells a kit that converts your stock struts to Koni sport specs (the internals are replaced by Koni components to modify the dampening). They also have coil-over like kit that is height adjustable.
Check out Paragon under "suspension" for the 944. They will even do all the work for you if you can have some down time. This should cost well under $2k.

Skip Wolfe

If you want to reduce squatting then your going to have to put in larger torsion bars.

Unless your going to be doing some serious track duty then I would go with the Koni adjustables and the Paragon front coilover conversion. I would recommend going with 250 - 300 lb springs, since you are wiling to live with a harsher ride.

Takes out some of the rubber and stiffens up the control arm mount. Porsche recommends doing this when going to 17" wheels.

The adjustable part of Koni adjuastable refers to being able to adjust the stiffness of the shock. To be able to change ride height you will need the coilover conversion. as far as the rear ride height, that is set by re-indexing the rear torsion bars, which you will have to do if you upgrade the torsion bars. Unfortunately changing/reindexing the torsion bars is a fairly big job.

My advice is to call Jason at Paragon Products. You will not find a nicer guy at a better company. Search the list and you will find that they are by far everyones favorite vendor. Also suspension componentry is one of their specialties and they will be more than willing to talk to you regarding your setup and make an appropriate recommendation.

streckfu's

Actually, the rear can be lowered by about an inch without having to access the torsion bars.

adrial

But if he's going to a 250-300lbs spring in the front and wants to reduce squat as well as have a "nice setup for the track," he's going to need to go to a thicker torsion bar.

streckfu's

Very true, Adrail. I didn't touch my Torsion bars, but then, I only 220lb. I can see it being a good for 250+.

dand86951

I would take a close look at the Leda front coil overs and rear coilovers. With 300# up front and about 100# helper springs in the rear, then lower the rear either via reindexing or just adjusting the trailing link, then add the M030 sway bars. You would be a bit over $2000 but it makes a very good combination street and or track set up. Talk to Karl Poetl at Racers Edge, he can supply the parts and has lots of track experience with the cars. For the track our cars like a really stiff front spring rate and the top cars probably run in the 500 to 600# range. Way too stiff for the street but 300# seems to be a good compromise.