Hard Street Driving Suspension Needs, I would like a fun street car... Whats it going to take? Options

[Cire]

Howdy,

I have been doing a lot of reading about the different levels of driving needs (Daily, Street, Autocross and PCA) and the suspension that goes along with them. I found that for hard street driving that the best configuration is;

22mm Front Swaybar
16mm Rear Swaybar
Stock front springs and torsion bars
140lbs rear springs
Koni Adjustables all the way around

I am sure there are a 100 ways to go and everyone will have something a little different, but this would be a good place to start. However, I need to know what I have first. = ) Here are pictures of my parts. What do I have and whats the best way to go.

Thanks.

Eric

[Cire]

[Cire]

Let me know if you need pictures of anything else.

Eric

[jmill]

Some pics of the front would help. Before you get new springs and shocks I'd look at your bushings, bearings, ball joints and tie rods. No sense in spending cash on shocks and springs if that stuff is worn out. I see you need new rear bar bushings. You also need to straighten out your tranny mount washer placement.

[pcar916]

Now here's a thread that will get a few opinions! You are sprung just like my 6 was when I bought it but it had a 2.7L motor installed (so was slightly heavier) and she had Bilstiens in the front and Koni adjustables in the rear.

Have you driven the car enough in it's current configuration, and in a spirited fashion, to know if one change will be beneficial? Based on advice from many 914 gurus, I took my rear sway bar off the day I bought it and it's still on the wall 15 years later.

With your big front sway bar, bigger rear springs, and assuming a stiff chassis, I'd lose the rear sway bar and see if you like the result. Actually, you'd only have to detach one side for a test drive.

Then go out to your closest twisties and sweepers to find how well you can navigate them, and if the oversteer is easier to modulate.

The next change I made was to install heavier front torsion bars. The effect was instantly better as the car was much flatter in the curves, and I could quickly tune over/understeer with tire pressures and rear shock settings. That said, unless you've tried this already...

you have some fun ahead of you.

Good Luck

[pcar916]

Jmill has good info, check the play in your ball joints and tie-rod ends as well. They can make a huge difference

[Cire]

Some pics of the front would help. Before you get new springs and shocks I'd look at your bushings, bearings, ball joints and tie rods. No sense in spending cash on shocks and springs if that stuff is worn out. I see you need new rear bar bushings. You also need to straighten out your tranny mount washer placement.

Whats wrong with the tranny mount washer placement? Is it wrong? Thanks for catching it and anything else you see. = )

More pictures..

Eric

[Cire]

Space Needed

[Cire]

Space Needed

[Cire]

Space Needed

[Cire]

Space Needed

[EdwardBlume]

That's exactly the set up in my old AX car with a weld in roll bar and Rennshift to complete the package. You'll find on soft settings, the car will stiff give you plenty for the street, whereas hard will be a bit much.

[Cire]

Does anyone have any of these answers?

Rear Sway Bar
- What size is mine?
- Who makes it?
- Can you still get parts for it?

Rear Spring
- How can I tell the LBS on it? (100lbs? 180lbs?)
- Are these good for aggressive street driving?

Rear Shocks
- I take it mine are crap and I need new ones.. = )

How about the front?

Front Sway Bar
- What size is mine?
- Who makes it?
- Can you still get parts for it?

Front Shocks
- The one in the picture makes noises.
- I think its rebuildable. Good shocks?

= ) thanks everyone for any insights I can get.

Eric

[Cire]

That's exactly the set up in my old AX car with a weld in roll bar and Rennshift to complete the package. You'll find on soft settings, the car will stiff give you plenty for the street, whereas hard will be a bit much.

= ) Which part is like your old AX car? My front end or rear end? Is it good or should I change it? Can I make any changes to my current system to improve handling without having to spend more money?

Eric

[Cire]

Space Needed...

[Cire]

Needed Space

[Cire]

Needed space...

[Cire]

[Zaney]

I pondered this question last summer and here is what I ended up getting for a future Suby powered teener.
For 'spirited' driving I used:
New turbo tie rods
New ball joints
Elephant Racing self adjusting washer set, front and rear poly-bronze bushings, front Mono balls
Yellow adjustable Konis all the way around
Ground Control adjustable rear perches
Stock torsion bars
New hardware (bolts and etc.)
Tarret Front adjustable sway bar with Engman super duty mounting points


This list was compiled from info from both the Club and World sites for the kind of driving you described above.

Just my 2 cents!

Have fun and drive the snot out of it!
Nate

[EdwardBlume]

That's exactly the set up in my old AX car with a weld in roll bar and Rennshift to complete the package. You'll find on soft settings, the car will stiff give you plenty for the street, whereas hard will be a bit much.

= ) Which part is like your old AX car? My front end or rear end? Is it good or should I change it? Can I make any changes to my current system to improve handling without having to spend more money?

Eric

The whole thing is almost exactly what I had front and rear.

You're fine. Drive it. It looks like you have turbo tie rods, looks like a Weltmeister 21 or 23MM front sway bar, stock rear (17MM?), adi Konis are great, 140 lb springs I think are perfect for the street. You can tell by feel. Springs age so go by feel. Some changes? Make sure everything is bolted down well, including your steering column. Have you changed you're brake fluid? Well maintained stock brakes are fine BTW. Depending on use and your appetite for tires, I enjoyed some neg. camber (cheap), and I ran 1/4 inch spacers on 2.0 Fuchs. To stiffen the ride, a weld in bar adds good stiffness if done right, and tied to the right places, but it can be tight to get in and out of the pass side. If your bushings are old, they will let you know (he he).

Drive it. You have a very nice set up to start with and add as needed.