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924RACR
Joined: 29 Jul 2001 Posts: 8794 Location: Royal Oak, MI, USA
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Posted: Fri Dec 13, 2002 12:20 am Post subject: Bilstein struts/shocks for 924 |
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I had a good chat w/ the Bilstein Motorsport rep last night about fitment options for the 924. The first, ugly item to surface was that they no longer make the 924 Race strut - not enough sales, go figure! However, he did some investigation after I told him it's still all just VW A1 chassis up front, and found info on the V36 series rally strut, a 36mm monotube. Sounds like it will fit. Furthermore, he's got a whole playbook of valving for 944's which will of course work for the 924 as well. This includes info for running coilovers or torsionbars only in the rear, apparently.
I gave him my cornerweights and he's going to work up some recommended initial valving for the car, as a starting point. I'm going to have them revalve and rebuild my old DP (933) struts to start with (only $55 per plus any needed new parts, which they may, as they need some refurbishing). I will also of course have to order some rear tube shocks.
The rear tube shocks only seem to be about $100 each, roughly - just basic circle track shocks, nothing special, especially if you're not running coilovers. Even with coilovers, it can't add much to the cost of the shocks.
The front V36 struts are a complete strut replacement, not an insert - you chuck your old strut tube. They are not a threaded body (though I do believe they have a threaded body unit available if desired, for PCA cars), but have a welded on stock spring perch. Could probably work with stock diameter springs! However, I'll have to remove those stock springs in order to install my adjustable-height sleeves. What else. They run around $185 each, plus then there's a charge of $55 per strut to change the valving to what you want (and you want them custom valved, count on it!). Barely more than Konis, but so much better! For a more equal comparison, a Koni IT double-adjustable strut is about $275.
The part number, for reference, on that part is V36-0059. No, it's not adjustable, you have to send them in to have them revalved. OTOH, they as mentioned can recommend valving which will get you in the right zone to run, if you can provide corner weights and spring rates/torsion bar sizes. And I have not yet 100% guaranteed fit, though at this point it looks like the only possible issue would be the lengths (extended and compressed). I need to take some measurements on some stock parts to confirm that these will work. _________________ Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype |
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Peter
Joined: 04 Nov 2002 Posts: 379 Location: New York, NY
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2002 11:55 am Post subject: |
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Hey Vaughan,
Thanks for sharing the info. I hope you get them to fit, I would sure like to get custom valved shocks for my 931 track car. Just to paraphrase, the V36 front struts come with an adjustable spring perch option, correct? |
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924RACR
Joined: 29 Jul 2001 Posts: 8794 Location: Royal Oak, MI, USA
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2002 1:27 pm Post subject: |
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No, they have perches for stock springs. You need to use an adjustable spring perch sleeve to convert them, just like a stock strut. _________________ Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype |
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jjadczak
Joined: 03 Jan 2003 Posts: 346 Location: Accokeek, MD
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Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2003 1:02 am Post subject: |
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How about this one, Vaughan: Two old Koni front struts off a stock 1988 Porsche 944. They were basically free since the junked car paid for itself when we started to part out the car to others. Truechouce can rebuild, repaint, and revalve them for $145 a piece. Any worn out parts are of course extra. I think that's a pretty good deal eh?
Jeremy |
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924RACR
Joined: 29 Jul 2001 Posts: 8794 Location: Royal Oak, MI, USA
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Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2003 3:25 am Post subject: |
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As mentioned in my other post, I don't believe they'll fit. You'll have to try them to make sure.
However, you're still stuck with a street twin-tube design. It's to some degree a "religious" debate, but I believe what I've heard, which is that, pound-for-pound, the monotube design (like Bilsteins and Penskes) is far superior to a twin-tube (like the Koni) for a race application. Twin-tubes will fade (just like brakes) from the heat, whereas monotubes will have superior damping characteristics with substantially better long-duration performance. And yes, sufficient to notice over the length of a 30-mile race. _________________ Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype |
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