The Best Possible Rear Suspension!

[Wally]

Originally Posted by SoCalGL

wait so with 994 turbo trailing arms the coil overs listed above would work on a type 1? and if so does that apply to all 944 turbo coil overs ...im the usa guys so im trying to find the best comparison..the gaz coilover site completely confused me.

Your asking for the 'best' or most sophisticated set-up. That also implies that it is not that simple and 'definate' so to speak. The best set-up will always be debatable and the most sopfisticated set-up will probably not be a genral product. The above is available afaik, hence the matching website
Alu arms are 1-1.5 inches wider than stock. Turbo or S2/late or 968 arms are 3 inches wider than stock PER SIDE. So this involves more mods than just suspension (like wings as was already mentioned)
The alu arms fit, but will need some mods done, like installing the beetle pivot point bushings. You will also need (longer, 944 or T3) axles and CV's with the T2 or 944 100mm CV's. Maybe I forgot some details, I dunno all by heard though..
You still want to go ahead with this?

If you want to keep it more simple, and because you indicated you may have a problem with ordering all over the world if I interpret correctly, you could just stay with the steel arms and call Topline and order their entire catalog and be done with it. I have all their front suspension bushings and they are top notch. Many german tuners have bolt-on rear coil overs as well (GWD, Remmele, both also fit alu arms iirc; alu arms have 14mm metric screw for the shocks, so be aware ).

[Simon]

The joys of suspension

Originally Posted by SoCalGL

wait so with 994 turbo trailing arms the coil overs listed above would work on a type 1? and if so does that apply to all 944 turbo coil overs ...im the usa guys so im trying to find the best comparison..the gaz coilover site completely confused me.

Originally Posted by Wally

Many german tuners have bolt-on rear coil overs as well (GWD, Remmele, both also fit alu arms iirc; alu arms have 14mm metric screw for the shocks, so be aware ).

Well there are 2 things that don't work:
- As Wally mentioned the alu trailing arms use a 14mm bolt the alu trailing arms instead of the 12mm bolt the steel arms use.
Every decent shock producing company should be able to insert a 14mm eye (be it a rubber bushing or spherical bearing) into the shock, so that shouldn't be a problem
- Most 944 and 1303 coil-over won't work, because the upper mounting point for the shock is further inwards compared to the 944.
This makes for a collision between the spring and the trailing arm (which doesn't happen when using steel trailing arms).
Solutions to this are:
- Space the damper away from the trailing arm and upper mount (Bilstein cup dampers have eccentric mounting points, or you could use something like the racer's edge bolt (which also solves the bolt difference)
- Find a damper and spring combination that is skinny enoug to fit (This might be a pain in the behind)
I tested it with 60mm ID springs which was 200mm long and it wasn't even close. So I'd say there's room for a 140mm/120mm long spring max.
See here for example: http://www.germanlook.com/Forums/sho...0677#post60677

[evilC]

Little has been said about the standard front geometry of the strut suspension on the '02 and '03. IMO the track arm is too flimsy and poorly located and therefore a full A arm construction with adjustable inners to give castor and camber plus dropping the inner mounting point to lower the roll centre and maybe dial in some anti-dive (although there is a danger of increasing the squat). Using the A arm also allows the AR bar to be divorced from the axle location that then permits the AR bar to be adjustable with suitable connectors. 944 struts with standard bottom ball joints permit quicker changing over the press in types found in the '03. An internal strut brace is also a must considering that the top of the strut is mounted to the body and not the chassis - diagonal bracing down to the front chassis being a useful extra.

evilC