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944 handling upgrades

northo

New member
What are the most effective upgrades I can make to my 944 S2's handling. Although it is good, I feel that it could be better. Wheel alignment was done 9 months ago by the previous owner. Many people have mentioned the Koni adjustables, but I don't know the cost or how effective they are likely to be.

The car is used about once a week to keep things ticking over, but is typically going out once every two to three weeks on longer runs in the Scottish Highlands where it is driven hard for up to three hundred miles at a time - sometimes the uneven road surfaces are getting the better of it!

I used it as the "pace car" for the Rio Road Rally last weekend, and was reliably informed by a journalist that a well known Zonda owner had struggled to stay in touch with my car on some sections, so clearly the handling is not too bad! but being used to driving other more modern sports cars I reckon there must be something I can do to sharpen it up for the track/ road.

As a matter of interest at the moment it is not wanting to start when warm(fine when cold) - any ideas?
 
Assuming you don't want to replace your springs and shocks you can install 968 castor bushes. Also you can ensure your ARB is working to it's max efficiency by replacing the bushes (or even upgrading to Powerflex) and installing the KLA Industries drop link stiffening brackets - I have no confidence that the droplinks are not buckling under heavy use and reducing the effect of your ARB. Or even upgrade to 968 M030 ARB's (or Weltmiester adjustables). John Simms has the Koni adjustable setup and he reported good things from it. And of course there are systems like KW!
 
If you look at the cost implications it is hard to argue against rebuilding worn front struts with the Koni inserts. Rear Koni for the 944 are ISTR about 100 quid each which is more then standard rear shocks but IMHO the weakest link in the S2 suspension is the pathetic rear shocks. I replaced a set of stock rears that where only 6 months old with Koni because the rear shocks have the sort of softness that shouldn't be anywhere near a sports car i.e. you can easilly pump the damper in and out with your arms even if you where a weakling.

Like Scott says the caster blocks (968) are an easy upgrade that AFAIK is actually now the standard replacement part in place of the huge block of rubber our cars came with. Makes the steering and tracking much more like well a 968.
 
If you look at the cost implications it is hard to argue against rebuilding worn front struts with the Koni inserts. Rear Koni for the 944 are ISTR about 100 quid each which is more then standard rear shocks but IMHO the weakest link in the S2 suspension is the pathetic rear shocks. I replaced a set of stock rears that where only 6 months old with Koni because the rear shocks have the sort of softness that shouldn't be anywhere near a sports car i.e. you can easilly pump the damper in and out with your arms even if you where a weakling.

Like Scott says the caster blocks (968) are an easy upgrade that AFAIK is actually now the standard replacement part in place of the huge block of rubber our cars came with. Makes the steering and tracking much more like well a 968.

Ditto but highly recommend a beefier ARB to get the best from the new suspension
 
I am also looking for a few upgrades. Thinking of replacing shocks with Koni or Billys. But I have the sealed front struts any ideas the best approach to this? Talking of ARBs, has anyone got a front and rear Turbo one for sale? As this would be cost effective upgrade on my Lux.
Also I was at the main stealers this morning asking about the caster adjusters from a 968 MO30, but he didn't have a clue what I was talking about, anyone got a part number? I gave him the one on the link below but he said that was the old part number?
http://www.weissach.net/968_M030-Option.html
 
Koni do an upgrade kit for your sealed shocks. It's what John Simms has. You basically hacksaw off the top of your strut, pull out all the internal gubbins and throw it away and the Koni shocks just slot right in and attach via a bolt at the bottom.

The 968 castor mounts are not specifically M030, they are just the castor mounts and are the same for the M030 and non M030. The PET has the part number down as 951 341 023 01. They cost me about £68 when I did the upgrade about 2 yrs ago.

Actually I have an 18mm M030 turbo rear ARB (they reduced the dia to 16mm in the later cars) you can have for a very attractive price. I also have turbo (non-M030) rear Torsion Bars (23.5mm I think) if you fancy beefing them up as well. Drop me an email if you are interested.
 
Stuart at K300 seems to be good value. His website is http://www.k300performance.co.uk/ he also is the moderator on the 968 forum.
 

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