Chevrolet? Why would you think that?

the late corvettes have far better suspension designs than the 944/968 does.

FAR better.

because the c5 and c6 are front engined, rear transaxle like the 944 is.

so are most aston martins. so are a lot of cars. amazingly enough the idea stems from Lee Iaccoca in the 1950s, however his designs used a constantly bent torque tube to lower the tunnel required though the middle of the car.

Lancia used the rear transaxle from the early1950's in their Aurelia models.

We should update this page as a group project as there is no mention of the front engine and rear transaxle arrangement. We could partner with one of the corvette forums to do this... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque_tube

Not even late Corvettes. The 1984 C4 had aluminium unequal-length double-wishbone suspension.

I think the suspension is like a lot of Porsche stuff, it works great despite the derivation and shortcomings. The rear suspension is Super Beetle, in fact you can use Beetle torsion bars (baja for bigger ones) and the front is mostly Golf I believe. They adapted and modified and it all works very well, surprisingly well considering. It's kind of like the 911, the very best sports car that could be realized from an old VW Bug. I find it interesting that (IMO) the Porsche cars without that DNA are better, 914, 928, Boxster/Cayman, etc. The 911 is a great car and I kinda want a 997 C4 Cab or similar but I wonder what it'd be like if they had been allowed more of a clean sheet to start with.

997 = sophisticated control arm setup in the rear w/coil overs. Torsions are long gone.

Torque tube is nothing new...most tractors have that kind of setup :p
Was being used in cars as early as 1930s IIRC.

The 944 (really 924) was a parts-bin car...the front end is modified Rabbit parts and the back end is Super Beetle as said above. Super Beetle torsion bars DO work...I have a set of aftermarket SB 26mm bars in my 944 currently, for 1/2-1/3 the price of the "Porsche" labeled ones..:)

Take a look at the 944 floor pan...then look at a Beetle floor pan...:)
Even the 944 wheelbase was stolen from the Beetle :p

Now that does not surprise me. The whole VW line from the vans, beetles, type 3 and 4s all had identical wheel base length for many many years. I suspect a lot of the Porsche line were the same too. I have heard it had something to do with the way the assembly lines were set up to handle more than one model.

I would love to get my hands on a Brazilian SPI or SPII, I'm betting there may be more than a few parts interchangeable with the 944, though it does have the rear mounted type 4 engine.

LOL

a bit OT, but tearing down the rear suspension on my 78 SC 930 conversion yesterday.

pulled out what look like new torsion bars, 24mm, and look closely only to see the VW trademark.

When Lindsey gets the MAF kit from Rogue...grab it. I will be.

For now, a MAXHP chip gives you noticeable gains, levels the flat spot @ 3500-4500 RPM.

jgporsche on Rennlist did variations of exhaust set ups on his S with dynos...do a search...2.5 inch cat and back posted the best gains.

A Stahl header is really nice, and does have proven gains...but spendy, and not really necessary. Cool though. :)

A faster flowing NEW cat is much better than a 28 year old one.

And of course...new vacuum lines, AOS cleaned, copper plugs and good 8MM wires.

As the others said, refresh the shocks, etc as well....most of all, ENJOY the fact that the S is becoming more rare on the road.SmileWavy

In case anyone else is looking for upgrades for their 924/944/968, check out our newly redesigned Accessories section. Let us know what you find for your DIY projects! :)


-Dmitry