Curious what you guys would expect with suspension setup Options

[peteinjp]

Narrow body 2.7 with 230ish hp. A052 195's on 6" wheels.


21mm hollow torsion bars in the front
Bilstein raised spindle RSR struts
Bilstien HD shocks
Tarett 22mm front bar and links
150 lb springs rear
Bilstein sport shocks
Factory rear sway bar
Patrick Motorsports adjustable tow link set for the rear

What would you expect in terms of handling with this setup? No autocross- just hard driving on mountain roads.

Pete

[mepstein]

Pretty miserable with the 21mm bars. Even mid 80’s Carrera’s only used 19mm and they weight 500lbs more than your car. 150lb springs, sport shocks and rear sway bar will build in a lot of oversteer. If you have low profile tires, then it will be even worse. Heavily lowered car, 3x worse.

I may be wrong about everything above but I think you are building a track setup and unless your roads are velvet smooth, it will become miserable to drive on the road. It will feel really cool for about five miles but once you realize there’s almost no suspension travel, it will become a chore to drive.

What I’ve discovered for myself is these cars have a lot of “built in handling” but if you try to radically ramp up the stiffness, they loose most of their suspension travel and become rigid buckboards.

[Superhawk996]

Always hard to tell based on specs alone and I’m not in the mood to do the math but that’s a lot of wheel rate in the front end between 21mm torsion bars and a 22mm anti roll bar.

I’ll put my bet in for plenty of understeer.

[mepstein]

Always hard to tell based on specs alone and I’m not in the mood to do the math but that’s a lot of wheel rate in the front end between 21mm torsion bars and a 22mm anti roll bar.

I’ll put my bet in for plenty of understeer.

I agree with the understeer but there’s also a lot going on with the rear. I’m certainly no suspension expert but I do know from experience that bigger isn’t always better on these cars. They are light and nimble but become a chore if you loose too much travel.

[peteinjp]

Thanks guys- yes it does understeer and I manage it by pinning the nose deep into corners- trail braking- on sharp corners. but it feels like I'm giving up momentum just to keep weight on the front tires. Even with the power I have on these small (but grippy) tires I have a hard time getting there rear loose. That coupled with the fact that the front sway bar is rubbing the gas tank is making me think I want a slightly smaller bar. I also have a pair of 18mm torsion bars.


When you talk about wheel rate what kind of balance are you looking for front vs rear and how do you calculate with torsion bars?

This is my first 914 and first mid engine car. I bought it after reading the build thread here- Snoopy. I think Doug had it set up for autocross at Rothsport.

Just out of curiosity what's working well for you guys?

Pete

[peteinjp]

Just to be clear- this is not a road trip type of car. It's just a backroad burner. That said the roads are not glass...

P

[Shivers]

I have 19 mm torsion bars and a 19mm sway bar in front. The rear has 140 lb springs and a 17mm sway bar. It rides like a go kart but handles well. The wife and I played on hwy 74, and did a few long trips, she never complained.