its a question of stiffness

juanbenae · juanbenae's Garage

viagra! there its out of the way.

tax money has hit the mail box and it's looking to be spent. my desire is to upgrade to 22/28 or 21/27 combination t-bars, and some of the elephant racing poly bronze.

to this point i have not tracked the car (may in the future with sale of go kart pending) and plan on continuing to autocross no more than 2 or 3 times a year. the bulk of my driving is canyon carving on backroad excursions. with that in mind, the road conditions found on some of my favorite runs is not track smooth by any means. the car is not a daily driver so ride confort is a secondary concern at most.

all that being said, is the stiffening of the suspension on the less than smooth roadways going to take some of the fun out of my backroad driving? i remember from my street bike days playing with suspension set ups stffening could make for an ill handling bike on uneven paving surfaces. its not about the ride comfort, but the stiff suspension reacting the the uneven ride surface by upsetting the car as it makes its way. is a bump on the right side not matched on the left side going to get the car out of balance/control more than the stock set up?

any input or real world experience would be great. thanks in advance.

ZCAT3 · 03-19-2004, 07:21 AM

I have 22/29 hollow torsion bars with Bilstein HDs on my 87 coupe. Unless you are on really bad roads I think the ride is fine (firm but fine). I am also in the Bay Area so if you want to get a ride/drive in my car to see how this setup feels send me a PM.

Bill

Lukesportsman · 03-19-2004, 07:55 AM

Along with the weather, you Cal guys have it easy. If you need to experience or look at on option you have to drive like 10 minutes to find someone with that option.

Of course, here in Nowhere Midwest, a 911 is an exotic and stands out quite loud against the pick up trucks and Civics

I pass about one 911 a week! Bad on one hand (boring), but good on the other....not taken for granted.

Chuck Moreland · 03-19-2004, 07:55 AM

Toby, you are right that a softer suspension will grip better on rough roads. Softer suspensions do a better job of keeping the tire in contact with the road. Stiff suspensions bounce over bumps and lose grip.

Given that it is almost exclusively a street car, I would go with the 21/27. This provides a substantial increase in control over your stock setup. Much less sway, dive and squat. Matched with proper shocks, you will have a setup that does well on these rougher roads.