hovercrafting

Rick V · 09-24-2005, 06:58 AM

I'm sure this question has been asked so please excuse the redundancy.
My 82SC starts front end hovering at around 90. Is there a comon fix short of the spoiler thing? The car has already been lowered so other than putting the front on the ground I'm kind of at a loss. Everthing is tight and I have almost no other handeling issues except for the need to shim the rack. This is one of the winter projects already planned for.

P.S. Drove a new 996 this am I WANT THAT POWER IN MY SC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a fun car I'm gonna have automotive wood for a week over that one.

silverc4s · silverc4s's Garage

Rick,
These cars with no front spoiler are well known for getting light in front starting at speeds in that area. A front spoiler is the right solution - and fix the rack geometry also so that you have minimum bump steer if you plan to be driving at that speed (track, I hope).

The only other way to reduce the lift would be to add weight in front, not a great idea, unless you can move something from the back of the car - like the oil resevoir(sp)... lowering the front would help a bit, but too much air will still get underneath at speed w/o a spoiler in front.

Good luck, enjoy the car.

Joeaksa · 09-24-2005, 04:18 PM

As Bill mentions, the spoiler combination is critical at higher speeds.

In Germany its not allowed to have a rear spoiler without having a front one as well. Here in America we can do as we wish but sometimes also previous owners do silly things, like add a rear spoiler without a front one to compensate.

What is your configuration?

Joe A

PS, stick a 3.6 in your SC and it will do fine. Did that with my car and its very fast.

Rick V · 09-24-2005, 04:36 PM

Well my sopiler config. is that it has none at all. I waited untill I found a completly origional, unmolested SC. The only change done to the car is the change of steering wheel and I have the origional one if I want to re-install it.

I thought about doing the spoiler thing but the more I look at the clean lines of the car the more I refuse to change the look. I guess I might have to concider installing a front lip spoiler. This will take me months to make a decision.

twin plugged targa · twin plugged targa's Garage

Just from aesthetics point of view the front end looks standard height and the rear 'Euro' lowered height.
I would drop the front end but more importantly get a 4 wheel alignment and check the camber and castor before you start adding spoilers!.
I have a 71 targa which gets light around 90-100 but my 86 Carerra felt glued to the ground at 140mph with front and rear spoilers!
Rgds Ben

kach22i · kach22i's Garage

I hovercraft all the time. PM me and I'll tell you about it.

Don Plumley · Don Plumley's Garage

Gorgeous SC, love the color. I understand the desire for the clean, unmolested look. From the visuals, the front looks a little high - suggest taking it to a good shop that can set ride height then corner balance and align. Made a huge difference on mine. I'll try to find some before and after shots for comparison later.

Have fun!

Don

silverc4s · silverc4s's Garage

Really nice looking SC! I bet you could add a black plastic chin spoiler to that ft bumper that would hardly be noticeable, and cut away a lot of front lift at speed..

Rick V · 09-25-2005, 10:53 AM

actually I shouldn't have posted that pic. The lr tire is sitting in a swag on the side of the road. The ride hieth has an equal drop front/rear. I put it on the alignment rack at work (I'm a wrench) and measured. The drop is equal I forget off the top of my head what the exacts are but they are good. The car was dropped by Allen Johnson Porsche Audi in 82 before delivery. You gotta love buying a car with complete records. I'll wait until I shim the rack before making any decisions. Chain tentioners cone first!

And Kach has that thing got a 930 fan on it?

AvonGil · 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by twin plugged targa

I would drop the front end but more importantly get a 4 wheel alignment and check the camber and castor before you start adding spoilers!.

Agreed. My car used to be nervously light in the front end before my 4 wheel alignment & lowering/corner balancing. I believe the US ride height, is ridiculous. Not only does it look comical, it’s raked to the rear putting even more weight on the back! This extremely disturbs the almost neutral handling characteristics of the 911.

The car is now properly aligned, corner balanced and lowered - it feels glued to the ground at speed. No front or rear spoiler. I just took it to Pocono speedway, and ran it around 120 MPH, it felt solid and comfortable. Before it was all over the place, and I would cringe when running close to 100.

The alignment was far from cheap and took over 13 hours to get right, but it was the best money I have ever spent on the car. I highly recommend a proper alignment. Bite the bullet and go to an expert. After its properly aligned it will feel like a Porsche, not a Mac dump truck!

Picture time! Note how a 911 should look!

jwetering · jwetering's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by AvonGil
Picture time! Note how a 911 should look!

Gotta agree that the stance and ride height of this car are just about perfect to my eye. It also has the distnction of being one of the very few Targa pictures to make me feel funny down there.

Nice