richard glickel

What's the best strut tower brace for the 968 Porsche?

Richard
'87 Carrera-3.6L widebody
'93 968 Coupe (coming soon)

Jim Child

The only one I could find to fit the 968 was the KLA:

http://www.klaindustries.net/968strut/968strut.htm

968's have less clearance under the hood than the 944's.

Damian in NJ

Porsche Motorsport made one out of carbon fiber, but they're NLA. Cargraphic makes one as well. It seems stouter than the KLA, but you need to remove the Porsche vanity cover to fit it, and it's quite a bit more expensive. And you need to be careful fitting it, mine had to be machined to clear the inside of the hood. (Don't ask me how I know!) I don't know if it has a performance advantage over the KLA.

flash968

so far, everyone i know running the kla brace loves it (in spite of a few install issues which have been corrected)

richard glickel

Thanks everyone. All suggestions concerning good quality performance pieces (not just strut tower bracing) are appreciated.

Somethings I can't change or modify due to PCA stock classification rules, which I am aiming for at this point in time. As (if) I move up in class, modification options expand. Heck, I may decide not to try the club racing after all. We shall see.

Richard

flash968

you could always step up to scca racing, instead of the rather limited pca racing, which would allow a lot more in the way of mods

BruceWard

Hey Flash, go be an *** somewhere else.

Not sure what you have against PCA, but please stop criticizing it. It is a good organization and offers excellent programs for those that choose to participate.

I participate in PCA nad SCCA events. I like both.

Jim Child

Please explain how you find PCA racing "rather limited."

flash968

just the field, not the experience of the driving - the diversity of an scca field with other manufacturers, and not just porsche, presents a whole new dimension of smart driving - you have to understand more about what other drivers are going to do based on the car they are driving - for example, you might be up against a smaller lighter car, but one with less top end or horsepower - they would outhandle you, but you would have the opportunity to work them in the straights

the diversity of the field is something i enjoyed as the underdog (remember, i was in an mgb)

flash968

also - pca classes seem to be more stringent on regulations and mods than broader fielded scca classes - i presume it's because of the desire to keep the cars even - i kind of like having uneven cars to some extent

maybe that's why i never saw too many porsches in scca - that or they were just too slow - hehehe

Jim Child

Here's where you're speaking on a topic you know nothing about. In the GT classes you can do almost any mod you want. You're only limited by the size of your bank account. Even the "stock" and "prepared" classes allow for extremely serious modifications. For example, you can very easily spend $5-10K on suspension mods and still be perfectly legal in the stock classes.

In contrast check out this thread where SCCA won't let a 944 guy replace his factory A-arms, a critical safety mod that all Porsche folks take for granted:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...hreadid=126687

flash968

jim - i'm not slagging pca - i've never prepped a car for it and have no clue what the specifics are - i am relating the experience of friends i have who have run both over the years who have often complained about the nitpicky nature of the regulations in comparison to scca

it is interesting to hear about the a-arm issue - over the years guys - i don't know what the deal is with the 944 a-arm thing - that seems really odd - it wasn't an issue in e-production on my mgb - i changed the entire crossmember and its geometry to something completely different - i'll do some more homework on this one to see what the comparison of regulation is - in the end though, i'm sure we could go back and forth and find examples that support each others opinions

my main point is that by spreading the field to include other cars besides porsche you create a better challenge for the underdog - for example, i used to have a lot of fun chasing an elva around and trying to catch him - he would be 500 lbs lighter with the same drive train - it was simply a faster car - it made me drive the best i could - any mistake would really cost me time - i loved watching a lotus super 7 duking it out with a cobra - as a tuner, i like the idea that what i do to the car plays as much of a role in how i do against the competition as my driving - when all the cars are the same, that becomes moot - i like seeing how different cars stack up against each other with their individual advantages and disadvantages

add to this that i am not a porsche fan historically or by nature - where i grew up the drivers were far too often snobbish (which ironically i have become) - in competition, the cars have not been able to keep up with other cars and consequently have not been thought of very highly

that is one of the reasons i chose this car - i like challenges - getting this car to be competitive will be a real challenge - it is heavy, slow, slushy and over-engineered

should be fun

richard glickel.

Hey,

I didn't intend for this thread to morph into a debate over the relative virtues of differing organizations. Eventually, I very well may try SCCA or even something vintage (with a different car of course). For now, I'm trying to set up the 968 for its PCA "unprepared class" ("F" I believe).

As for racing against faster cars, there'll be plenty of that. Aside from the cheaters (I suppose there's a few), I will likely be on the track with some faster classes competing at the same time with F class cars.

As for equally prepared cars, I can't think of a purer test of a driver's skill than having all competitors run on an even playing field. Which is why I always liked the IROC. I can recall the late Mark Donohue winning 3 of 4 IROC races that he competed in with identical Porsches. His success in that series wasn't so much a result of his engineering expertise as it was a testament to his superior driving abilities.

Anyway, good luck in SCCA with your slow,slushy, etc., 968 cabriolet. I hope you can transform the car into a consistent winner and that you will share your thoughts, modifications and "tricks" with us Rennlisters.

Ciao!

Richard

flash968

yeah - sorry for the digression

of course the two points of view would be those who only want to compare drivers and those who want to compare design philosopy as well - that is exactly why both classes exist i suppose

my original point, from which i strayed, was in response to the strut brace problem - in the class i was running, it would not have been an issue - this also seemed to be the prevailing attitude amongst all of the classes - most guys were running additional bracing all over their cars and no issues of getting bumped

Thom

Just to give an idea about how the CarGraphic strut brace looks, here are some pictures of one I fitted my S2 with. It's not far different from the 968's. It cost me 195 €, excluding delivery.
The quality of the finish is excellent, IMO.