How do you stiffen stock suspension?

[mk3tg]

okay this is going to be a really stupid comment but i love the feeling of being low to the ground and i love feeling everybump on the road... My last car had coilovers on it and it just felt great but in my porsche the ride is stiff sometimes but most of the time its just soft when i hit a bump like my jetta any way to stiffen the suspension in the rear and maybe the front i know its possible because people have stiffened the cars suspension, and i want my rear stiff even if that means i'm sacrifing the porsche performance

[smokin_944]

Be careful what you wish for because if you ride rough roads, the ride can be jarring. You can purchase 250# springs for the front, 27 or 28 mm torsion bars, and adjustable shocks and voila. This set up will give you one h*** of a stiff ride! Aske me how I know...

[Rasta Monsta]

As a first step, you could put Bilsteins on it and see how you like it.

[mk3tg]

Originally Posted by smokin_944

Be careful what you wish for because if you ride rough roads, the ride can be jarring. You can purchase 250# springs for the front, 27 or 28 mm torsion bars, and adjustable shocks and voila. This set up will give you one h*** of a stiff ride! Aske me how I know...

by doing this do i still remain lowered

[Rasta Monsta]

I have 350 coilovers and 27mm in the rear on my 931. Quite stiff, but spectacular handling, and lower than what is legal for our race car.

[mk3tg]

Originally Posted by Rasta Monsta

I have 350 coilovers and 27mm in the rear on my 931. Quite stiff, but spectacular handling, and lower than what is legal for our race car.

what brand are they and anything done to the rear

[Rasta Monsta]

Coilover kit came from pear-a-gone products. 27 mm rear torsion bars came (cheap) from CIP 1. Koni yellows all around, and no more rubber bushes.

[flash968]

if you want your rear stiff, try a stairmaster

seriously though, these cars are GTs and not sportscars. they are not designed to be stiff, and when you stiffen them up, you really lose all civility.

that being said, stiffer springs and torsion bars are how to do it. shocks and such do one job, and one job only, which is to control the spring. they do not stiffen the suspension. they can give you that jarring feeling though if you set them too high for your spring rates, which many people make the mistake of doing because they think the car will handle better. in reality, the car will handle like it's on marbles, but you'll feel everything.

[smokin_944]

I agree with Flash about civility. I would say the ride of my car is harsh unless your on nice highways or roads. But corner!! Holy Crap!! Like its on rails! (My Konis are set to stiff)

[Cocacolakidd]

You can also add rear coil over shocks with 250/300 pound springs - a little bit less hassle that installing rear torsion bars and indexing them.

With all of this there goes your ride and handling quality. By studying your set up and adding quality race components you can stiffen the ride but retain the handling quality for racing or track time.

[9FF]

Do what Clark says, scroll down to "Sports Suspension" and follow his advise. You will not be disappointed: http://www.clarks-garage.com/pdf-manual/susp-15.pdf

[djnolan]

Originally Posted by flash968

seriously though, these cars are GTs and not sportscars. they are not designed to be stiff, and when you stiffen them up, you really lose all civility.

... shocks and such do one job, and one job only, which is to control the spring. they do not stiffen the suspension. they can give you that jarring feeling though if you set them too high for your spring rates, which many people make the mistake of doing because they think the car will handle better. in reality, the car will handle like it's on marbles, but you'll feel everything.

What is the proper way to determine Koni Sport Shock adjustment to maintain the optimum ride? This would be for an 1987 944 S model.

[9FF]

What is the proper way to determine Koni Sport Shock adjustment to maintain the optimum ride? This would be for an 1987 944 S model.

Optimum: mount them on a shock dyno and adjust valving to match the spring rate.

What everyone does: try them at various settings until you find a setting you like.

[flash968]

if you have aftermarket double adjustable shocks, you can use this:
KONI shock tuning guide

if you have the factory single adjustable setup, compression is fixed, and you only need to adjust rebound

obviously if you have the factory hydraulic stuff, none of this applies

[djnolan]

I have the Koni sports adjustable front and rear recently purchased new. I set them up with the default adjustment, as the instructions recommended.

They seem to ride pretty good. I haven't gotten airborne, hit my head on the roof, or so much as squealed the tires yet.