Shocks......

[bell]

Let's talk shocks......
I had a set of bilstein sports on my 911 and it made the car perfect imo, I was using the stock t-bars with them.

My 924s is going to need some shocks, I've been seeing konis reasonably priced, then kyb's (are these heavier dampened than the boges?), and of course bilsteins....
On my 87 it has the front insert struts, but most part numbers I see are only "up to 86"
Do I need to use 944 part numbers?

What are you running?
How do you like them?

Thanks

[Dave L]

I have Koni and I really like them. I think Bilstein is also very good if you are looking for something with a little better performance. I would put KYB or Boge into more of a "daily commuter" style shock.

[porsche4life]

Yes lets do talk... Lets throw an 86 944 into the discussion too b/c mine need done....


I wouldn't put KYBs on a Porsche... I just put some on the VW.... They are ok... But not that good....

[bell]

I had a set of kybs in my rav4, they felt like a standard shock, but it was a heavy little mini-suv.......
I love the bilstein sports, just not sure if I want to pay that price again LOL
I want something which will really firm it up....obviously stiffer springs too will help but I can't do both at the same time $$ wise....
I plan on doing a few autocrosses with it, and once its really sorted a DE at sebring....always wanted to drive there

[HondaDustR]

Check your front struts, as they might be the early style with the replaceable inserts. Stay away from KYB. That's what came out of my front end when I replaced mine, and they were never very good, never mind when they start going bad. I put the Bilsteins all around on mine and they're great. Not too harsh, but they ride 10x better than the original sachs in the back and whooped KYB's in the front. They have kind of a progressive response. They're smooth for highway driving, and really control the bumps in the corners. Plus they have a lifetime waranty. Overall, I'm really happy with them and wouldn't look at anything else, especially for the money.

For a more agressive sport/racing feel, the Koni adjustables are probably better, but they may also need stiffer springs.

[porsche4life]

I would like to get something adjustable... Ride quality isn't a huge issue for me... I have the VW for a dd... This just sees weekend carving and Autocross... Lots of autocross.

[HondaDustR]

In that case, you'd probably be better off with the Koni's. Some of the more knowledgeabke ones can confirm.

[Cocacolakidd]

Koni or Bilstein as the KYB's will not hold up. Check out the 8641-1414 Koni Strut inserts for your 924 - will match like OEM - plus they are externally adjustable so you can adjust them for track or DD - Bilstein are hard to beat also.

Have pfunn

[924RACR]

If you're autox'ing, yeah, you'll probably be better off with the Konis, for the adjustability.

[bell]

I think I like the idea of the adjustability, I'm going to look into the konis, will the adjustable ones get as firm as the bilstein sports? Stiffer?
Thanks

[Schumi]

The valving needs to correspond to the wheel rate. If you are running a street spring between 200 and 350 lbs then the adjustable konis will be in that range and a good choice. If you are running autocross rates, ie 400-500 lbs, then I have the feeling the konis will be valved too slow and custom valved bilsteins are the way to go.

There is a thread from about 2 or 3 years ago where we went over all of this. Vaughan Scott gave some really good info on the matter.

[porsche4life]

So Schumi when it comes time to get mine all sorted and tuned are you going to come help?

[Schumi]

I usually get paid for my race engineer duties, but for you I may be able to make an exception.

We can split a saturday into two parts:

Day session of shock tuning, camber settings, ARB tuning, tire analysis and data acquisition.

Night session consisting of drinking and hitting on young college girls.

[porsche4life]

Sounds like a plan... Now I just need to come up with about 1200bucks...

[Dave L]

ahh, I see you have partied with Schumi before. You will still need some money for parts though.

[porsche4life]

Ok so I just need to come up with about 3k and we will make a weekend of it... 1k for parts.... 2k for hookers and blow.

[Dave L]

nice, the job is actually fairly simple. The rear shocks are 2 bolts and couldnt be easier. The front sturts take a little more time because you have to remove the shock in the strut and install the new one. There is a little measuring and cutting but the actual bolting in is fairly straight forward. I did bring the strut assembly into a mechanic to have him remove the spring from the strut. There are varous methods to compress the spring and disassemble the strut I chose to let a pro do it.

[flash968]

having gone through a few different shocks and struts over the years, and having ridden in many cars with many different types, i can say with confidence that gas shocks do not provide the ride quality that hydraulic ones do

koni yellow sport shocks are cheap yes, but they also ride rougher than others
kyb shocks are "ok" for a bone stock 944 commuter, but generally too soft for the enthusiastic driver
bilstein shocks are decent in control, but again the gas preload makes for a rough ride

koni yellow struts have the same gas preload problem that the shocks do
same with bilstein
kyb does not make a strut for this car

i am currently running carrera double adjustable hydraulic shocks - they are easily capable of handling up to 600lbs springs - the independent compression and rebound adjustments provide for a very nice control of ride and firmness

i am currently running koni double adjustable hydraulic struts - they are capable of handling up to about 600lb springs as well - they also have the same dual control characteristics

these units have allowed me to double the spring rates in the car without giving up any of the comfort in ride - this results in a very flat cornering car while smooth on the road

this does come at a price tag that exceeds that of the average 944 owner - but, as they say "you get what you pay for"

[porsche4life]

I'm not to afraid of putting them on the car... Already done them on the VW.... I am more wanting help getting them dialed in and the car cornering flat....

[Dave L]

shocks arent going to help much in that regard, you want stiffer spring and sway bars. Shocks will round out the package but they arent a solution in of themselves.