030 strut/shock settings
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Race Car
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 4,089
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From: $F Bay Area
030 strut/shock settings
I was playing with the adjustable front struts on my 968 last weekend because I'm pretty certain that my suspension has never been changed from the factory settings. I was able to turn the front ***** 1-1/2 turns soft and only 1/2 turn hard which means that the factory front rebound setting is about 75% stiff. Then yesterday I removed the rear shocks because one is leaking and I'm sending out today to get rebuilt...surprisingly, I was able to turn the rears 1-1/8 turns firm but only 1/8 turn soft so they are very soft, almost to the minimum rebound dampening! Is this just a comfort setting? Has anyone else played with these who can recommend the best setup? Thanks.
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 11,014
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From: San Francisco Area
Seems like Porsche wanted the car to understeer (even more). On the street I set the Konis to the softest setting because I like a smooth comfortable ride. When going to the track or a joy ride, I just turn them all the way stiff. I haven't bothered to play with anything in between... it's a narrow range anyway.
Thread Starter
Race Car
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 4,089
Likes: 4
From: $F Bay Area
Now that I have some experience with 968 m030 shock adjustment I'll post my thoughts here in case anyone else wishes to have this question answered in the future.
So far I've been pretty happy with the front strut settings at 3/4 firm and haven't changed these settings yet but it feels good for a street car IMO. I'll play w/ the front settings a bit more at the next couple autocross but these can be adjusted easily whenever you want, so instead I'll focus on the rear shocks which are much more difficult and time-consuming to adjust...
As I noted in another thread about my rear shock rebuild, my original settings were only 1/8 turn from full soft. I wasn't sure how increasing rebound stiffness on the rear shocks would change the handling characteristic but curiosity got ahold of me and I increased both rear shock rebound settings to 1/2 firm which is 5/8 of a turn [1-1/4 turns total from full soft to full firm]. Today I drove the car for the first time since my shock rebuild and at first I thought the car was a little too stiff for the street! However, I also noted that my 968 has changed from slight understeer during transition between braking and turn-in to slight oversteer which I wasn't expecting, but I like it. This setup should be a little better for autocross as well because the car now rotates more easily but still feels balanced in the middle of a corner. After driving the car a little more this afternoon I'm beginning to really like the shock settings and while stiff I think it's tolerable and won't be making more changes yet.
But based on this I think that 5/8 of a turn is as far as I'd go on a street 968 with 1/8 being the factory setting. 3/8 of a turn should be a perfect compromise [though I haven't tried it] but anything more than 5/8 of a turn should be reserved for track/DE 968's.
So far I've been pretty happy with the front strut settings at 3/4 firm and haven't changed these settings yet but it feels good for a street car IMO. I'll play w/ the front settings a bit more at the next couple autocross but these can be adjusted easily whenever you want, so instead I'll focus on the rear shocks which are much more difficult and time-consuming to adjust...
As I noted in another thread about my rear shock rebuild, my original settings were only 1/8 turn from full soft. I wasn't sure how increasing rebound stiffness on the rear shocks would change the handling characteristic but curiosity got ahold of me and I increased both rear shock rebound settings to 1/2 firm which is 5/8 of a turn [1-1/4 turns total from full soft to full firm]. Today I drove the car for the first time since my shock rebuild and at first I thought the car was a little too stiff for the street! However, I also noted that my 968 has changed from slight understeer during transition between braking and turn-in to slight oversteer which I wasn't expecting, but I like it. This setup should be a little better for autocross as well because the car now rotates more easily but still feels balanced in the middle of a corner. After driving the car a little more this afternoon I'm beginning to really like the shock settings and while stiff I think it's tolerable and won't be making more changes yet.
But based on this I think that 5/8 of a turn is as far as I'd go on a street 968 with 1/8 being the factory setting. 3/8 of a turn should be a perfect compromise [though I haven't tried it] but anything more than 5/8 of a turn should be reserved for track/DE 968's.
