911 Carrera ('86) - Handling Upgrade Suggestions?

[Carrera787]

Hello fellow brethren.

Can anyone provide some straight advice. I have an '86 3.2 Carrera Targa, and she's well maintained and cared for yadder yadder yadder. Her handling is good, but I wish to tighten up her handling a touch.

To put you in the picture, she lives on 16" Fuch wheels (and I plan to keep it that way), 245x55's on the rear, 205x55's on the front, with her OEM shocks under 10k miles / 2yrs.

I'm not seeking track handling, just simply tightening her up a little. I plan to next fit strut tower braces and Targa braces to begin the process, so please advise as to the most cost effective ways to improve her handling 'tightness'.

Any advice would be appreciate brothers! (and sisters of course).

[Bill Verburg]

20/55 & 245/45 x16 are a good size to have, dividends will come from maxing the wheel width to 7 & 9.

Bilstein hd's are an excellent choice for shocks.

Shock tower brace ok, but I'd pass on the targa braces

sport seats will hold you in place a bit better.

lower/corner balance and sport alignment are mandatory

[Carrera787]

Thanks for the FAST reply Bill... Appreciated!

I'll look into Bilstein hd's, and I'll drop the idea of the targa brace.

You mention "lower/corner balance and sport alignment are mandatory".
Excuse this dumb quesiton, but can you guide me to this?

[ChkbookMechanic]

For corner balancing you can read this: http://www.elephantracing.com/techtopic/cornerbalance.htm

Lowering is normally done during / right before the corner balance (since corner balancing will cause the car to change its ride height a little).

You should be able to get a sportier alignment and corner balance at a good Porsche or racing-type shop.

[madmmac]

Best in the area for your lowering, alignment and corner balance needs......http://www.trulineseattle.com/.....the Bellevue shop.

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by Carrera787

Thanks for the FAST reply Bill... Appreciated!

I'll look into Bilstein hd's, and I'll drop the idea of the targa brace.

You mention "lower/corner balance and sport alignment are mandatory".
Excuse this dumb quesiton, but can you guide me to this?

Stock ride height(distance between the t-bar center and wheel center) for an '86 Carrera is 108mm +/-5, you can certainly do 113 w/o issue and even lower if you use an inexpensive washer kit to rasie the steering rack.

for performance you will want to max caster to ~ 6* 20'

min toe to just on the pigeon toe side of 0

max camber to ~-1 - 2( thats about all you can get w/ stock spindles & ball joints

in back
stock is 16+/-5( center of t-bar to center of wheel) but you can go to 7mm w/o issue

camber -1 - 2 to match front

car should have a slight nose down stance

forgot to add, adjustable swys are great too.

[Carrera787]

Excellent article 'ChkbookMechanic' - Thanks!

Thanks too Mitch for the shop Bellevue shop links - Excellent!

Thanks for the great data Bill - Superb!


Thanks fellow brethren!