How low...can you go. And how did you do it? Options

[ottox914]

Thinking of lowering the 914 some more. I should be getting the new turbo motor done. 2 seasons ago I had it REAL low, so low that, while on a smooth auto cross course, the front "A" arm did not hit the pinch weld on the tub, but on the road, a good bump would = a big clunk. I confirmed this by putting some tape on the "A" arm and seeing it damaged, proved my theory. A little to low. I know if you go super low, the camber curve gets out of whack. I liked the look of the car lower, and it seemed to handle well also. I'd consider making a new lower "A" arm, but was wondering what I could learn from those who have been there/done that. I'm running a SA koni insert in front from something or other, that Jason Burkett from Paragon sold me, I needed to shorten the strut tubes about 5/8" to make them fit. The front is now low enough such that with the Koni snubbers, and a zip tie on the shock shaft, that during normal driving I have maybe 1/4' to the snubber. Rear ride height is currently set off the front, to achieve best possible corner balance/cross weights. As the Koni's are several seasons old, I'd not be adverse to sending them in for a re-build, and having them shortened, F and R. Anyone convert the rears to use a more commonly available "eye" style shock? Show me that too...

thanks-

[Randal]

My car is now pretty low, but I'm thinking that Chris Foley's re welded spindles might be a good idea.

Here's a picture at speed. What do you think?

[grantsfo]

My car is now pretty low, but I'm thinking that Chris Foley's re welded spindles might be a good idea.

Here's a picture at speed. What do you think?

Depending on what youre doing lower is probably what you really need to go a little faster at AX venues such as Alameda and Marina. If youre tracking the car lower would be good for Laguna Seca and Infineon too. Raise it back up a little for Hoopa.

But as your car stands hieght wise its very fast - much faster than my old bag-o-bolts 914-6 but my car had one advantage it could hang on to 2nd gear all day long into low sixty MPH range and if I was feeling brave even higher without the rev limiter on. Biggest problem with your car from my observations in AX is you need to lose that short 2nd gear or gain top end RPMS. It was killing your times last year. I could see it with both you and Bill driving the car. You would get too unsettled in those short 3rd to 2nd shifts. The upshifts 2nd to 3rd were wasting time too. The car is so fast that it masks the problem with gearing/RPMs in AX.

Hope you get that car on the track sometime. I bet it would fly!

[Randal]

My car is now pretty low, but I'm thinking that Chris Foley's re welded spindles might be a good idea.

Here's a picture at speed. What do you think?

Depending on what youre doing lower is probably what you really need to go a little faster at AX venues such as Alameda and Marina. If youre tracking the car lower would be good for Laguna Seca and Infineon too. Raise it back up a little for Hoopa.

But as your car stands height wise its very fast - much faster than my old bag-o-bolts 914-6 but my car had one advantage it could hang on to 2nd gear all day long into low sixty MPH range and if I was feeling brave even higher without the rev limiter on. Biggest problem with your car from my observations in AX is you need to lose that short 2nd gear or gain top end RPMS. It was killing your times last year. I could see it with both you and Bill driving the car. You would get too unsettled in those short 3rd to 2nd shifts. The upshifts 2nd to 3rd were wasting time too. The car is so fast that it masks the problem with gearing/RPMs in AX.

Hope you get that car on the track sometime. I bet it would fly!

The car was plagued by many gremlins, not withstanding the rev limit we had to impose to keep the valves from floating. That is now (hopefully) fixed, with dual valve springs, installed and awaiting dyno testing.

Also Larry Sharp was right, getting a car sorted out is not as easy as one would suspect. He said it would take a year and I think he is right.

It's interesting that just about every single aspect of suspension setup and mechanics were changed at most events searching for good handling. Some were right, but many wrong, so the path to salvation wasn't the least bit sequential.

Now with a new and better cage we will likely have to start again, but hopefully we've learned some valuable lessons that we can now incorporate to steamline the process. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

[J P Stein]

Also Larry Sharp was right, getting a car sorted out is not as easy as one would suspect. He said it would take a year and I think he is right.

It's interesting that just about every single aspect of suspension setup and mechanics were changed at most events searching for good handling. Some were right, but many wrong, so the path to salvation wasn't the least bit sequential.

Now with a new and better cage we will likely have to start again, but hopefully we've learned some valuable lessons that we can now incorporate to steam line the process. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif)

The height/roll looks good to me.
Your second para pretty well sums up my experience.....which is ongoing, of course.
With the experience you already have, you should get pretty close to a good baseline for suspension. One thing I did learn is that a stiff chassis makes suspension changes noticeable they stay consistent.....this makes things easier.
If something that should change the handling doesn't pan out as it should, look to why. I got into box with wide front wheels....nothing I could do would change the resultant scrub radius push. You may find something similar with the clutch type diff....sometimes "sorting" takes you places you don't want to go as those places cost money. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)