What's the ultimate 72S suspension??

[Longballa]

Ok, so here's the ASK. What do you guys with experience in suspension think the ultimate 72S suspension set up as close to stock (looking stock) as possible would be? Here's the thing as I'm getting all of my suspension ready for my 72S I have a couple of ways I can go. This is going to be for mainly driving back country roads and tours. And I actually like a little stiffer ride than stock. Flatter through the corners.
Here's what I have:
Brand new Koni classics front and rear.
Koni struts restored.
New Porsche Lemforder ball joints.
Lemforder turbo tie rod kit.
All new rubber bushings front and rear.
NOS 15mm sway bar kit front and rear.
Perfect 18mm 76 Turbo front sway bar kit.
18mm 76 rear sway bar kit. (could adapt it to rear, still close to stock look).
Stock spring plates.
Have all kinds of torsion bars.

So, here's what I'm thinking about doing.
Stock Koni classics (maybe at soft setting)
76 turbo 18mm front sway bar.
76 18mm rear sway bar (modified for early set up).
20mm front torsion bars.
26mm rear torsion bars.
Turbo tie rod kit.
Every thing else stock.

What do you think?? Please reply if you have experience with this stuff (meaning have done this before). And don't worry about the stuff in the picture that's powder coated and shouldn't be. Those pieces won't see the car that way. Thanks, -Scott

[Kjell]

Sounds like a nice setup, however, I use a 21mm front spring with a 26mm rear.
You can see details at my web page.

[Zeke]

I like your set up as well. I had pretty much the same on the S and it worked very well. I did have Koni Sports dialed toward the softer side, but not all the way. Seemed like a very good balance for the spring rate.

My sways weren't as big and I still had flat cornering. (Corrected: I had 19mm sways, at least in front)

[jaudette3]

Here's a recipe developed by Jeff Gamroth of Rennsport Systems in Portland and installed on my '67 SWB by German Master Tech in Bend.

Front:
o Hollow torsion bars (not sure of the size)
o Weltmeister 19mm sway bars
o Carrera 3.2 calibers with Zimmerman vented rotors. A-arms with Koni struts (with Koni inserts) and cross members from a '73 911S were installed in order to accommodate the larger calipers.
o Elephant Racing polybronze bearings
o Strut brace
o Turbo tie-rod ends

Rear:
o Adjustable spring plates
o Weltmeister 22mm sway bars
o Carrera 3.2 calibers in the rear with Zimmerman vented rotors using the great adapter kit made by Michael Moran of the Early 911S Registry.
o Koni shocks
o Elephant Racing polybronze bearings
o Hollow torsion bars (not sure of the size)

Combined with 911R 7x15's (with 22mm spacers) mounted with Yoko AVS 225/50's in the rear (with 22mm spacers) and deep six 6x15's mounted with Yoko AVS 205/55's in the front, the cars capabilities are far beyond mine. As one veteran driver commented, "Like a point and click camera.".

This setup is 2-3 years old and I think that Gamroth has made a couple of modifications to his recipe since then given improvements in technology. I'm not an expert, but I try to listen to them, and my understanding is that the key to great performance is not with the individual components, but with how well they all blend together.

John Audette

[Longballa]

Thanks for the info so far guys. Your cars look great. I will have two sets of wheels for the car. I have the stock 6 X 15 Fuchs and I had Harvey make me a set of flat 7R weld ups. The only thing on this restoration that's not going to be stock that this car wasn't born with are the slight mods to the suspension. That's why I'm going to use stock struts, shocks, and rubber bushings. The torsion bars won't be seen and if I use the front 18mm bar from the 76 Turbo it will still look stock. The rear bar is what I'm trying to figure out if it would work well with the front. It seems the torsion bars at 20mm or 21mm in front and 26mm in the rear many guys are happy with that set up.

[Neunelfer]

First off... I love those bars. I have them on my car. I wouldn't change a thing on your set-up "except"... the front torsion bars. I kept mine stock in the front and went 26 in the rear to accomodate the slightly heavier 930/07 MFI engine and the hp squat it will bring with it. I used the stock 930 from 76 as a guide as I figure it will have close to the same 240hp.

That said... that's just me. I'm not a fan of bigger t-bars.

[berettafan]

I would amend your list for the following:

-SC spring plates to facilitate corner balance (cause cb/align is where it's at)
-RSR (IIRC) adjustable stock sways (not at all out of place like a new anodized aluminum set would look)
-stiffer t-bars. have 22/28 w/ stock sways f/r and while i do avoid really bumpy roads i have no complaints about comfort. would consider 21/26 as well i guess.
-consider struts modified with raised spindles if lowering considerably.

[Neunelfer]

You're right! I almost forgot about these:

With the factory 18mm front bar, these bolt right on. I'm using them on my 914-6/GT conversion.