After my track season in 2012, I had the 944 pretty solid mechanically and had all the safety gear installed that I wanted (full cage, Hans device, 6 point harnesses, Joie seat, fire suppression system, master cut-off switch, wink mirror). It was time to spend some money on some go faster upgrades.
In a previous post I discussed my spreadsheet that can be used to predict the total front and rear suspension response. I was able to confirm the validity and balance of the 944 Spec 1 Koni suspension set-up sold by Paragon Products. It includes: front and rear Koni shocks, Weltmeister adjustable front and rear sway bars (28 mm and 22 mm), Hypercoil “coilover” front springs, and Weltmeister rear torsion bar. I went with the 30 mm rear torsion bar and 350# front springs. Here are some installation highlights:
First I tackled the front. I already had the front suspension dismantled in order to replace the rod bearings. I started by mounting the new sway bar. This turned out to be a puzzle because Weltmeister included the written instructions but forgot to put in the associated diagram. I was able to figure it out eventually. Most of the parts bolted up to existing mounting points. On my car, I had to drill holes into the steel A-arms for the mounting holes of the drop links. Here are some pics:
The stiffness of the bar can be adjusted by sliding the drop links back and forth on the sway bar end.
Next came the coil overs. The parts will fit up to my early model strut tube with no modification. That said, per the advice of Jason at Paragon I decided to cut back the spring mount to give better access to the height adjusting ring.
The new yellow Koni strut cartridge inserts cleanly into the strut tube. The directions were not clear but the pictograph is trying to say “Add some anti-freeze to the tube”. Jason says this helps heat transfer from the hot cartridge during heavy track use. You put the screw on cap back on. But before you do this, install the spring height adjustment pieces, as they won’t fit over the cap. Then you can set the spring into place and install the bump stop over the shaft. Here are some pics of the installed pieces.
At the rear, I installed 30 mm torsion bars and 22 mm Weltmeister sway bars. And Koni shocks. The torsion bars are not very photogenic. Actually neither is the sway bar but here is a photo.
New Hill Garage 
Hi
In a similar process with 944t. Running Scandinavian Sports Cup with track car which still has street legality. Have gone through number of stages with sway bars and spring rates. Currently running Lindsey 35mm front bars and 5-way adjustable 22 mm rear bar. Front springs are 900 lb/inhc and 1200 lb/inhc. Running with 265/30-19 front tires and 305/30-19 rears (Toyos R888R). Use also Pirelli slicks 265-18 and 305-18. I have upper and lower braces. Car makes 480 hp / rw and 720 nm torque
Has taken me substantial time to get the car into balanced understeer/ oversteer shape but now its’ getting there. What I have found that the key is to keep the relative balance front-rear so that it goes in hand with your 50/50 cross/front back corner weights.
As general comment I think these cars can handle more spring rates and sways than normally discussed thus reduce body roll. With right camber and alligment these old 944 can be made very very fast.
Posted by turo | June 20, 2017, 10:19 am