1970 Targa Suspension Recommendations (Koni to ???)

[bobmagyar]

Hello All,

I have a 70 Targa S that I am dissatisfied with the suspension.

The car is lowered improperly so setting it to the original ride height or 1/2" lower using stock torsion bars is the first step.

The car has Konis which to my knowledge are correct for its year and build. It does seem like Porsche biassed Targas towards Boge or Bilsteins going in the following years. I would like to keep my Aluminum S calipers on the car.

Can anyone comment on what they would recommend for strut that is a comfortable / confident ride for a Targa? My car will never see a track day.

Thanks in advance.

Bob

[RSTarga]

Is there a reason you want to change struts?
I have Konis on my car and am satisfied with their performance on the street. Have you replaced the suspension bushings? The elephant rubber replacements give an excellent ride.

[Boulder Bob]

I have Koni's in my stock 73 Targa - quite happy with ride/performance balance. that suspension was designed for 15" wheels with 185/70 tires, right? anything else will affect ride/handling

[bobmagyar]

Thank you for the replies. My motivation to change the struts is to acknowledge that if the Konis were phased out on Targas there must have been a reason for Porsche to have done so. The majority of my car's issue is that it is lowered too much with standard T-bars. I then set the Konis to max damping to prevent it from bottoming out. I do have elephant bushings in the rear and will be putting 914Rubber bushings on the front control arms when I set the ride height higher.

My current set up is a great example of incorrect set up combined with the acetal bushings. It looks great but rides terribly. If I deal with the height and bushings I may be content with the Konis.

[RSTarga]

one problem of too low ride height is that the shocks themselves might be hitting their internal stops or bump rubbers. If you raise the car and your shocks are not damaged by the bottoming Koni's are an excellent choice.

[doigthom]

Because of ride problems, Porsche installed Boge for at least the first two years of the Targa; not Koni. Also consult the PET. https://www.early911sregistry.org/fo...ght=Targa+Boge

[Richy]

Raise your car and reset the Konis to less dampening , your car will be fine , you are over thinking this !

[Noah]

I have a '70 targa and run stock t-bars and sways, Bilstein shocks, 185/70 tires, new rubber suspension bushings, and slightly lower than stock ride height (but not at all "low"). Ride is fantastic. Nice and tight but very comfortable on the street. On 185's a stiffer suspension doesn't really get you anything. I think you just need to raise your ride height, freshen up any of the old bushings, and get a good alignment/corner balance.

[66S]

Most Koni adjusters only change the rebound dampening. I’m pretty sure the Konis of the 60s and 70s were stiffer than later versions. You may prefer Bilstein for comfort

[Richy]

Why were Bilstein shock absorbers used on '73 Carrera RS's instead of Konis ? I think it was a performance advantage not for comfort .