89 carrera New shocks and SW chip / exhaust questions

[vdubpower]

Hey guys i have an 89 carrera anniversary edition. It just rolled over 76K miles
I do some pseudo spirited driving every other weekend, curvy roads, some light canyons.

i know when i bought the car 3 yrs ago at my PPI they mentioned shocks have some seepage but i think now is time for me to get some new shocks

what are the options out there, that people prefer.

right now it does have a fairly bumpy ride, i feel the road undulations and road markers.

the car is lowered when bought and i love the profile.

I dont want anything too firm, just something tight but compliant.
Would it be best to go with the green OEM bilsteins or the yellow sports, or sachs/boges?


Next in regards to power, i know air cooled hp is expensive and limited...
what does a steve wong chip on its own do for the car and is there any recommended exhaust to go with it.
car is in california and i dont want to deal with going cat less etc

thanks

[rw229]

Nice car.

What is your current ride height?

For that like new sports car feeling without being too harsh, I was happy with the greens, new f/r rubber torsion bar and sway bar bushings (Elephant), turbo tie rods, steering rack spacers and a good alignment. Also, regardless of tread, replace the tires if they are old and hard.

I would defer to Steve Wong on chips and optimal CA legal exhaust. I believe M&K has a CA legal cat which is probably lighter and better flowing than factory. You could also add a muffler for sound.

[vdubpower]

ride height.... not sure...lower - euro spec maybe i dont know... i didnt set it but i love the way it looks.

my car is at Rstada shop and will let them go thru it and see what else they rec..


we are also doing valve adj as its not been documented in the vast records i have...which is odd.
car drives well as far as i can tell but i figuire its something to be done

[Peter M]

B6 Bilsteins in either standard or Sport
Turbo Tie rods
Make sure all your bushes are good. Just use standard replacements if required
Wong chip
Cat bypass
M&K or Monty muffler
Discretely cut some holes in the aircleaner lid

Don't do anymore, just drive it.

[BER]

Nice looking 3.2 Carrera!

Ride height looks fine..The key metric is are you happy with the look and the answer seems to be yes.

Since you are in CA and have to deal with smog, I would not mess with the cat or exhaust. I am not sure if a Steve Wong chip will effect smog, but check before buying one.

Take a look at the suspension components that others have mentioned. Bushings, shocks (sounds like you need new ones), tie-rods, engine/tranny mounts, etc. I think you would be fine with the Bilstein HD “greens”. Turbo tie-rods are a nice upgrade also. New engine and tranny mounts can improve the cars “feel” while driving.

We have all made various ievels of improvements to our suspensions. You have many options and permutations that are only limited by your budget. I would suggest you focus on the things that need repacking first. Then you can start making improvements.

I personally like a firm riding 911 that handles very well. I have installed 22/29mm torsion bars, Bilstein Sport (yellow) shocks and struts, Elephant poly bronze bushings on the front, Neatrix bushings on the rear, turbo tie-rods, Wevo engine/ tranny mounts, new bushings & drop links on the sway bars and a ER strut brace in the front. Car has been dropped down to “euro” height and corner balanced. There are many more things I could do, but the above upgrades give me the ride I want and make driving my 911 very enjoyable. 😉 I should add that I live in an area that does not have smog, so I have also modified my exhaust system and added a SW performance chip.

Good luck and enjoy your beautiful 911.

[Roswell]

I run green bilsteins on the front and the yellow sports in the rear.

See if the tie rods have been upgraded to the turbo tie rods. Cheap upgrade.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/101_Projects_Porsche_911/59-Turbo_Tie_Rod_Kit/59-Turbo_Tie_Rod_Kit.htm

As far as changing out the chip, Call Steve Wong. He is great about answering your questions and recommending the best chip for your car.

[darrin]

really happy with how my adjustable konis livened up my '86 targa, agree that chipping it/Steve Wong is easiest low hanging fruit - also really like how my m&k active cat livened it up -- provides an enhanced 6 cylinder symphony when I'm on the throttle, but back to "normal" when cruising -- they make a CA-compliant active cat too

[DCobra]

I have an 89 like yours and run yellow sports. A little rough on bad roads but worth it on good pavement. For exhaust, if money is no object take a look at SCART sold on this site. They make a pre-muffler with 100 and 400 cell cat plus the muffler. The sound is awesome! I am running the race version with no cat and it is a little loud (in a good way). I have heard the one with a cat and it mellows it down. Probably what I should have done with mine. The muffler looks just like factory.

[Antomero]

I run black Boge with a lowered ride height and it’s perfect. Not harsh and very compliant.
The green Bilsteins will be stiffer than Boge and also raise your ride height about an inch.

What shock are you running now?

[vdubpower]

whats on there now...great question..
i found some pics from the underside from its BAt sale ad....lets see if this helps

they look like they are black

[Antomero]

Originally Posted by vdubpower

whats on there now...great question..
i found some pics from the underside from its BAt sale ad....lets see if this helps

they look like they are black

You have Boge. I would stick with Boge if I were you in my opinion. It’s more than enough for street application. If your going to track the Porsche than I would consider the green bilsteins.

[vdubpower]

never been a fan of boge, both my w126 and c126 are on bilsteins HD and lowered... but i hear your point

are the green bilsteins the sports? or the yellow

i saw there is a CS model on BAT that has green and they said these were sport

also my car being lower, maybe wouldnt the sports be better because they are made for lower car
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1988-porsche-911-club-sport/
thanks

[Antomero]

I guess it’s a personal opinion. I refreshed the suspension with all new rubber bushings from elephant racing. New tie rods, ball joints sway bar links, strut mounts and new Boge and I couldn’t be happier. I drive my Porsche aggressively and never have a handling issue while breaking the legal speed limits)

Whatever you decide a suspension refresh will make it feel brand new. Go for it!

[tailwind22]

I installed a Fab Speed dual exhaust with cat delete, performance airbox with K&N filter and a Steve Wong chip spec'd for the above and it was a game changer. Amazing sound and noticeable power increase. Would recommend to add to your enjoyment of the car.

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by vdubpower

ride height.... not sure...lower - euro spec maybe i dont know... i didnt set it but i love the way it looks.

my car is at Rstada shop and will let them go thru it and see what else they rec..


we are also doing valve adj as its not been documented in the vast records i have...which is odd.
car drives well as far as i can tell but i figuire its something to be done

Th only 911s w/ a raised ride height are US '75 -83

spec for yours is front 108+/-5mm
rear 16+/-5mm
measured
front a-b, the pictured 124mm is a race car much lower than yours, A US SC from '83 would be 99+/-5mm


rear B-A

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by vdubpower

never been a fan of boge, both my w126 and c126 are on bilsteins HD and lowered... but i hear your point

are the green bilsteins the sports? or the yellow

i saw there is a CS model on BAT that has green and they said these were sport

also my car being lower, maybe wouldnt the sports be better because they are made for lower car
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1988-porsche-911-club-sport/
thanks

The 'sport' option shock was Green Bilstein b6
front #35-001270 for the strut assembly, valving is linear 1440/1100
rear #24-001694 valving is linear 1965/1330 uses 14mm lower bolt

for sporting use many use the stock green fronts w/ a Bilstein sport street shock which is yellow, #24-009751, linear valving 3365/1645, 14mm lower bolt


There are other options for t Bilstein that are more track oriented

Note that it is highly recommended to have even new Bilsteins given a digressive revalve