Street/Autox/HPDE Coil Over Choice

[frostedflakejak]

Oh my goodness my head is spinning after reading all the threads

Here's my situation:
1986 944 (87+ hubs and spindles), LS2 swap car in progress with the intent of being a street/autox/HPDE fun type car. 17x9''s 255 BF Goodrich Rivals all around. 26.8 sway bar up front and 18mm sway bar at the back.

I am trying to pick out and purchase coil-overs front and rear. From what I've read the single adjustable koni's don't do a great job at being good at both street and track (feel harsh on the street with even mild spring rates).

I am willing to pay up to $3k but cheaper is definitely better. I'm having a hard time finding reviews for some of the more expensive double adjustable set-ups for street driving. Seems like the majority of people that are willing to shell-out that kind of cash are track drivers only.

So any advice you can give? Right now I was thinking Koni 3012 for the rear and whatever ground control double adjustable koni's are for the front?? The INTRAX RSA through Lindsey Racing are also appealing but I haven't heard any reviews on them.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

[JeremyD]

Ground control

[Techno Duck]

Within your price range i would look at Bilstein Escort Cup, Bilstein Firehawk, or KW Variant 3. I have the V3 on my car and i think they are the best street / track setup around. Firm but not bone jarring on the street. I think they are a bit soft for a dedicated track car though, i would probably look at the KW Club Sports if you want more track oriented. For dual purpose they are perfect.

Personally i do not like Koni, they are extremely harsh on imperfect roads.

[frostedflakejak]

Ground control single or double adjustable? I would loveto hear from someone that ranboth. I wish GC advertised what koni unit they use in both.

Techno you had the single adjustable? I was going to write off koni until i saw lots of people saying good things about the 3012s... but none of them drove them on the street.

[JeremyD]

I have the GC single adjustable - GC uses their own Koni versions developed especially for them - more on the lines of the 30 series race version.

The Bilstein Cups are great - but I recon about a grand more than a similar spec'd GC and you have to retain your Torsion bars

[Techno Duck]

frosted, yes it was the single adjustables. I did the Koni Yellow hacksaw coil overs on my 944 with 200lb springs, not a particularly good ride. My 951 came with Koni yellows and stock springs when i bought it. The ride quality was 10x better with the KW's.

[911tracker85]

INTRAX RSA through Lindsey Racing are also appealing but I haven't heard any reviews on them.

I am in the process of installing this kit. upgrading from stock suspension on the 951 DE/street car.

could not find feedback on them, but after reading the specs and discussing with Dave Lindsey decided to try them. when they arrived had second thoughts. they are almost TOO BEAUTIFUL to install.....

fronts done and started working on the rear. also doing all the bushings.

I have NO DOUBT they will provide a world of improvement over my stock setup. first DE April 23-24

[911tracker85]

PS. I do expect this setup to be a bit harsh on the street. but street driving will be secondary to DE.

for street I have a set of street tires on the 16" fuchs, the soft/higher sidewalls help take out some of the harshness.

I have a very nice 928 for my DD.....

[frostedflakejak]

PS. I do expect this setup to be a bit harsh on the street. but street driving will be secondary to DE.

What spring rates do they come with and how are they valved? Very little specifics from LR's website

[911tracker85]

spring rates are to your spec. and they are dual adjustable, I think 30 clicks worth from softest to firmest. but there is only one knob that adjusts both compression and rebound. I am not sure if that becomes separate on their higher end stuff with remote reservoir, etc. I know some prefer separate control of each.

each set is custom built based on the requirements you provide.

if you were to order, Dave would want to know the kind of car they will go in, weight of your car, purpose (%street vs DE vs full race) and a couple other details. then INTRAX builds to those specs.

give Dave Lindsey a call for more. he had them on sale when I ordered, don't know if they still are.

or go to the INTRAX site. lots and lots of info there.

[JeremyD]

couple of glamour shots

[onZedge]

JeremyD

Can you provide some info on the front control arms?

They appear to be steel arms with replaceable ball joints, like early 924/924S/944, EXCEPT yours have the late sway bar end linkage.

[Techno Duck]

JeremyD has some trick control arms for sure, i spy tabs for 968 style brake cooling scoops also.

I remember years ago a place was modifying the steel arms for late offset, essentially just adding length at the ball joint mounting area to make up for the offset difference. The steel arms can be modified also to accept the later style sway bar droplinks.

[JeremyD]

https://www.facebook.com/highstrung44/

Yes, mine has the tabs for the 968 brake ducts (which work great at the track)

I am an instructor and I'm on Sebring quite a bit -

[frostedflakejak]

Jeremy I called paragon and lindsey yesterday.

After talking with Dave for ~20 minutes I think i'm settled on the RSA's. Dave seemed to really like them.

The bilsteins push my budget after helper springs and camber plates are added.

Paragon suggested the double adjustable front konis to pair with the 3012's. It sounded fine when he told me the fronts where $999, but then I saw today that there's a $800 core fee. And once again, the 3012's don't come with helper springs and the front dual adjustable that paragon offers isn't a complete unit. Just a strut and a spring perch I think. So total cost would push my budget like the bilsteins.

KW v3 I could get for the same price as the Intrax units. They are the only other runners still in the game. But the Red helper spring and spring perches of the Intrax match my calipers.. so... that's very important

[911tracker85]

I also considered the dual adjustable koni, but the cost of the whole kit got higher than the INTRAX.

I buy stuff from both Lindsey and Paragon. both great vendors.

now off to the shop to continue the work on the rear suspension. hope I can get the torsion tube out today...