sjanes

One of my winter projects is going to involve having my suspension off my 87 911 (the plan is to add the Elephant racing polybronze bushings), so I figured it would be a good time to get my ride height a little lower. The car is used mostly for DE, but is also driven on the street (driving to the track, weekend cruise).

As you can see by the attached picture, the car is already lowered, but I'd like to go another 1/4-1/2 inch down. The question is, how low can I go without screwing up the handling? From what I understand, except for the car scraping the ground, the two problem areas are going to be bumpsteer and suspension travel.

Currently, the setup on the car is:
- 23 fr / 30 rear sander eng torsion bars
- Blistein sport shocks (boge insert)
- TRG adj sway bars
- smart racing monoballs (front and rear)
- turbo tie rods
- those rack spacer washers for bumpsteer.

For bumpsteer, I'm going to remove the rack spacers and get the bumpsteer kit that attaches to the end of the tie-rod to get the tie-rod level.

As for the shocks, I'd prefer to not have to buy RSR struts since the shocks on the car are only a few years old, so I guess the question is, what is the minimun ride height for a bilstein sport shock?

jetskied

IMO your car does not look too low as it is now. What is the measurement from the ground to fender lip as it is now. My 930 is 25 inches from fender to ground and it looks lower than your picture. Bear in mind that my tire might be a lower profile than on your car as I have 225/40/18 and 285/30/18. I think you can easily go with an extra 1/4 to 1/2 inch and the sport shock you have will work as I use them on my car.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Sjanes:

If it were my car, I would NOT go any lower unless you have the front spindles raised and use either Sport or RSR rear shocks, depending on final height.

Remember, your ride height determines suspension travel and if the car bottoms out (even momentarily) in a corner, you are suddenly driving a "park bench" and you'll most certainly go for an unplanned ride. Further, bottoming a shock soon destroys it and there is no warranty for a shock damaged in such a fashion.

There is only one way to do something, and thats the right way,.... . Get the right suspension components if you want the car to sit lower.

sjanes

Thanks Steve. You mentioned using Sport or RSR rears. Can RSR fronts and sport rears be mixed (assuming I'm not too low for the sports travel wise)? Is the valving the same? From what I understand, the raised spindle RSR front would also raise the rollcenter on these older cars. Does this make a noticable difference in the handling of the car?

Basically, what I'm after is the best bang for the buck (isn't everyone) in improving the handling of the car at the track considering the suspension that is already on the car.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Hi:

You may use the RSR fronts and Sport rears as long as the valving matches the torsion bar rates you will be using. The stock RSR valving is VERY different and not optimal (too much bump & not enough rebound) at all.

We have custom RSR struts made with our own valving and a 19mm (RSR is 12mm) raised spindle. Raising the spindle does several things:

1) Restores lost suspension travel after lowering

2) Raises roll center to reduce lateral weight transfer and help keep the inside wheel on the ground in corners

3) Help correct bump steer (an ERP bump steer kit is still strongly recommended).

The best bang-for-the-buck lies with custom valved RSR struts & shocks, properly sized torsion bars, high quality, properly sized adjustable swaybars, a front strut brace, Poly-bronze bushings, and for race cars; monoballs at the strut towers and rear banana pivots.

The difference is just simply amazing,............