Getting ready to pull the trigger on the suspension. What is a good setup for track use? I am not looking for a strictly track setup. Meaning, I will be registering the car for driving it up to Road Atlanta on occasions. HOWEVER, with that said I do not mind a stiffly sprung suspension.

What say you?

C.

 

mine is running 500 & 600 lbs. Not pretty for the street but works well on track. (mine is a 951)

 

I just did a complete suspension overhaul on my 968. The modifications include;

Moton Club Sport w/remote reservoirs front and rear.
Hypercoil 2 1/4 X 6 inch 275lbs in rear.
Hypercoil 2 1/4 X 8 inch 600lbs in front.

I have all solid mounts and bushings from Racers Edge with stock M030 sway bars.

The impact of the changes was profound.

Good luck!

 

What torsion bars are you running with the 275 lbs rear springs?

 

Koni 3012 rear- milled torsion bars 900 lb springs, weltmeister sway bar
Koni 8614 front (double adjustable yellows) 750 lb springs. stock S2 sway bar
Solid stuff, Racers Edge at all points.

I don't think it would be fun on the street.
If I was starting fresh, and had cash, I would buy Leda's or Motons. However, there is a pending rule change for discussion with PCA to eliminate remote res. shocks for stock classes. I don't think it will pass but they are discussing it.

 

Motons with 750# in the front and 900# in the rear. All racers edge other stuff, torsion bars were machined to 10mm to stay class legal. I drove it to a few events, not too bad. Not that much different than my GT3 --- busy and rough, not for every day or for that matter, every weekend.

 

I have driven 944 spec class cars (RE weight at 2900lbs) with both high (over 750 rates) and low (500-)
It’s really going to have to be a personal driving/experience decision. Just for arguments sake Karl (racers edge) who’s S2 had incredible lap times, was a 900+ spring rate car.

 

Confusing folks. My fault. I should have been more clear. Please specify if you are running with the torsion bars or not. Thanks!

C.

 

Stock torsion bars.

 

600 all around on Leda's. No torsion bars. M030 sways.

 

450 lbs up front 250 lbs in back WITH stock torsion bars. I'm a 47 year old guy, and I use the car on the street, and I would be very unlikely to go with anything stiffer than 450-500. Some of my stiffness (the car, not me) might be in the struts (Bilstein Escort Cup).

I cannot imagine what 900 lb springs must feel like. That's virtually no suspension!

I've researched some 944 cup setups, and a lot of them are in the 500# range.

 

400 front, 450 rear, bilstein escort cups - no t-bars, derlin bushings, 968 m030 sways. Car feels great and I think it needs more tire up front before I start changing out spring rates but most run higher in the rear in relation to the front than I currently am...d/t the escort or cup car valving its pretty stiff on the street but not unbearable. If your roads are decent you will be fine.

 

Ok ok ok, I don't understand those of you running vastly different rates front and rear. The car's got a 50/50 weight distribution. Consequently, your spring rates will be fairly similar, assuming you go with equal size tires front and rear (which you should do).

Here's my $0.02: 350-450lb springs, mated to 29 or 30mm T-bars with koni yellows is a very effective setup. Not only is it cheap, but it'll be a terrific track setup while not making it unbearable on the street. Simply running 968 M030 bars will enable you to fine-tune your setup further. Coilovers is also an effective -- albeit more expensive with more room for error -- way to go.

Yes, it's a bit on the soft side, but I honestly can't imagine going with anything stiffer than 600# springs. 600# springs will cause your kidneys to explode on the street.


How experienced are you to driving on the track? I'm a big proponent of "making sure you can drive at the maximum level your car is at before you upgrade it." i.e., don't go giving it a super-aggressive setup and then find out that the car is lightyears ahead of your abilities.

Oh and for an S2, go with equal-sized tires in front and rear, something in the neighborhood of 9". The car will feel so much better-sorted than if you went with a super-stiff rear end in order to counter your 12" wide rear tires. I hope this makes sense...



By the way, keep in mind the stock spring rate is around 125#! Holy cow!

 

JIC coilovers with 450# springs at all 4 corners, torsion bars eliminated. Weltmeister Sway bars front and back. You probably need to look at your tire and wheel combo along with your spring settings. I am running 18" wheels so I am not getting a lot of help from the tires. If you are running a smaller wheel with a taller side wall you may want to run a tighter spring.

 

Static spring rates are not the issue.
It's documented by very respected opinion, not to mention geometric demonstration, that the front suspension geometry has nearly twice the compression effect on a spring than the rear shock position (not the t-bar lever point), roughly 94% front, 56% rear.

So....realistically you need a rear spring rate +38% of the front rate just to break even.

425# front will yield an "effective" wheel rate (all that really matters is the effect of the spring at the wheel) of #400 so you'd need a 700# rear to balance those fronts.

Cars running 800, 1000# spring rates front and rear have more compression in the tire sidewall than the spring itself so the suspension can't be working efficiently at all imo.....and that's the target for those who recommend these rates, also, imo and that may be viable setup for some.

Think about it, a 2500 lb car sitting on 4000 lbs. worth of springs....?
It would take 8000 lbs. of vertical load to compress the suspension of this car just 2 inches given that the springs normally used are linear.

Anyway...., my cars, 2450 lb. 944T - 450F, 700R.....2550 944NA 600F, 750R
2650 944T (cust) 400F 600R

All said.....I see alot of ratios that would make me flinch.....but the drivers/owners of those cars/setups swear the cars handle great.....?
I would think this more believable with the higher rates where suspension movement is so minimal that more a feeling of tire sidewall compression is coming into play, masking the error in proper configuration, in other words, if you have way overrated spring rates (and again - this may be a viable choice for some) and the suspension has little - no movement anyway, you could go from 900F and 1000R to a 900F, 1200R setup and not notice any difference at all.

T