Handling/suspension utopia!!! I'm psyched!

adamnitti · adamnitti's Garage

Just had to share my excitement; Just had new Kumhos put on and the car aligned/height set after replacing my beat Boge's with Koni adjustables. Man, oh man!!! My car feels completely different now in the handling category. It felt ok before although it was a little spongy. Now, the car feels like it can be tossed around like a baseball. It's turned into a go kart!!! I can't believe how much better it feels! I wonder if turbo tie rods would make it even better? If so, I'm not worried about it for now... I'm having too much fun!

WOO HOO!!!! Time for some twisties!!!

KTL · 03-22-2002, 01:21 PM

Keep your foot in it/don't lift while enjoying the newfound g's!!!!!

marcesq · marcesq's Garage

Yet another happy Kumho customer

rickeolis · 03-22-2002, 02:41 PM

Who would believe a Porsche could take a Ferrari F40-50?

http://www.kumho-euro.com/motorspt/ferrari.htm

There is no substitute...

APKhaos · 03-22-2002, 02:49 PM

Hey Adam - guessing they are Exta 172s right?
What wheel/tire sizes are you running?
Did you go stock or radical alignment settings?
85s rule, OK!

mm86911 · mm86911's Garage

Adam - who did you alignment/balance and how much?

adamnitti · adamnitti's Garage

tony:

i got the kumho ecsta 712's on the recommendations from several porsche owners.

i'm running early 911 wheels with spacers that i bought from mikez. 16"x7.5" in the front and 16"x9" in the back. i'm now running 205/55's on the fronts and 245/45's on the rear. no rubbing issues, now that i'm back to 205's in the front. (had 225's before.) i'm also now running with koni gas adjustables all the way around. seem pretty cool so far!

i went with more aggressive settings than stock. we added some negative camber to the front and rear. i told jeff the car was going to be used mostly for street, but wanted it to be very autocross and d.e. compatible, too without being too harsh on the tires. he may have tweaked some other things to achieve that, but that's all i know for sure.

mike:

gran turismo east did the work for me. i would never go anywhere else. their alignment guy, jeff, is an expert on 911's and has been there for something like 15 years. they do all of the work for ferrari of atlanta, paul spruell lamborghini, etc... no monkeys with tire irons working there. if they cost more, it's well worth it. the total to have the tires put on (which i provided from tire rack), mounted, balanced on the car, aligned, etc., was $272.

kevin:

i'll try to take your advice. need some more practice, though.

jay castriotta · 03-24-2002, 07:25 PM

I agree, the kuhmos are a great tire for the money. There are grippier tires , but these work quite well. Very forgiving- easy to drive at the limit and beyond-very predictable four wheel drifts.

Ray B · 03-25-2002, 05:01 AM

Adam, The car looked great yeaterday. After slippin' around the course on my SO2s my search for track tires is on the front burner. The SO2s are great street tires, but they are definitely not track tires. You said the Konis are adjustable- how do you have them set?? Cheers. Ray

adamnitti · adamnitti's Garage

thanks, ray! it was great to see you. your car looked fabulous, by the way. very nice color!

i started with very moderate settings at first. after we started doing the skidpad runs, i cranked the fronts up to full firm. the rears you have to take off to adjust, so i didn't bother with them. i wonder if anyone saw me run the autocross yesterday, if they could comment on how much the car appeared to roll... it felt better to me in the car, but i know i wasn't sticking like some of those guys with the front wheel in the air!!!!

Ray B · 03-25-2002, 05:28 PM

Adam, Since I was right behind you in line, I couldn't watch your run. How much of a difference could you feel on the slalom?

adamnitti · adamnitti's Garage

ray-

it was significant, but not overly dramatic. it felt even more significant on the skidpad, though. overall, i was pretty pleased. wish i could have watched you run to learn how you got such a great time...

JmuRiz · JmuRiz's Garage

A lot of the Audi people I talk with also have had success w/ the Kumhos...w/ the quattro AWD they have had a hard time getting a squeel out of them w/ the proper mods. Maybe some Kumhos on a C4 would be fun:-)

Glad to hear you are having fun, maybe I should get my car balanced, aligned and replace my shocks...funfunfun.

Nathan

Ray B · 03-26-2002, 03:22 PM

Adam, I've done the auto-x thing a couple of time before. Your times will come down once you've done it once or twice. I just like to enjoy myself and not worry too much about winning the class. If I can stay within 5 seconds or so of the guys that have fully prepared Carreras I'm happy with a 14 year old stock car on street tires. I'd still like to slip on some stickier tires-or perhaps new shocks, etc., etc., .......