924Board.org

[Sickofstreetracing]

Just trying to start a brainstorming session with some fellow owners out there. Just to clarify: I have a wonderful Guards Red '87 924S. She runs pretty solid and I'm thinking about chucking her around some cones this summer once I get back from school. So far, she's stock with the exception of a throttle response cam, spring centered clutch (probably stock holding capacity, maybe a little better), and some Falkin Azenis Sport tires (205/50/15) on the stock phonedials. Any suggestions on where I should go from here. Bear in mind, I'm not going for hardcore competition during this upcoming SOLO II season. I'll probably observe most of the time and do a couple fun-runs just to get my feet wet.

Anyways, just seeing what you guys would recommend. I'm thinking the suspension needs some freshening up, and well...I'm lost from there. SO lets keep these suggestions rational (I'm a college student, aka hobo). But lemme know what you think!
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'87 924S Guards Red, Not stock anymore!

-Weltmeister Throttle Response Cam (gotta start somewhere...)

www.cardomain.com/id/wannabedrifter

[dgz924s]

Sitting by the side and watching is a good start. I would suggest driving the car stock for a time. Knowing what a stock car can do helps you get a feel for the car as is. Then move into a stiffer suspension. Sway bars front and rear would be a good first up grade. Struts and shocks next coupled with stiffer springs. Make certain all the bushings are good as well as other components. Torsion bars are an option but those take some serious work and adjustment (balance) moves.

For starters try a set of Turbo sway bars and Koni's-Bilstiens dampers. GL! Dal
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Dal Glassinger

[Kaos]

Sick,

The best way to get involved with SoloII is to actually do it. I wouldn't observe, just get in there and start driving. It is good to watch the other drivers, see what lines they take etc., but there is no substitute for personal experience.

Are you going to be doing SCCA events or some other sanctioning body?
Our local SCCA region (Detroit) always hosts a Solo II school in the spring. This can be really helpful, as they put an experienced racer in the passenger seat with you to give you driving tips, and explain the whole procedure. It is usually cheap (maybe $40), and consists of a few hours of classroom instruction and a full day of running on course. I would look for something like this in your region.

As with any kind of racing, if you want to be competitive, you need to pick a class and build the car for that class. If you just willy nilly do "upgrades" to your car, you will usually get put into a class that will make you uncompetitve. This doesn't bother some people, but I would get frustrated if I always got my butt kicked because of a small change I made to "improve" my car.

As for SCCA classing, the 924S would be classed in one of the following classes depending on the modifications:

ES (stock - only allowed shocks, front sway bar, tires, cat back exhaust)
CSP (steet prepared - allowed springs, shocks, suspension bushings, Intake and exhaust systems)
FP (gutted interior, lots of suspension mods)
EM (major engine work, and suspension/frame work, hardly recognizable as a 924)
SM2 (engine swaps - like a 944 turbo, and some suspension work)

Realistically, the only class the car would be competitive in is ES. So, if you don't want to get creamed at every event, I would keep the car in stock configuration. If you want to spend a bunch of money to go a little bit faster that stock, and have little to no chance of ever winning, then step up to one of the other classes.

I have been auto-xing for 3 years with my ES 1985/2 944. I am very competitive locally (usually one of the top 5 indexed times out of 200 competitors), and somewhat competitive regionally (always in the top half). I went to the Solo II nationals with the car in 2002 and came in 29th out of 54 drivers. I just bought a 1988 924S Special edition to be more competitive at national level competition.

For stock class setup, I would recommend the following:

An aftermarket muffler - Dynomax, Borla, or Magnaflow
Front sway bar from 944 Turbo S (26.8mm) - I just bought one on ebay for $50
Koni Yellow shocks front and rear
Lower the rear suspension the maximum amount (with the eccentric bolt on the rear spring plates)
An aggressive alignment:
front: -2.5deg Camber (maxed out), Zero Toe
Rear: -1.5deg Camber, Zero Toe

My advice: Leave your car alone. Just drive it how it is now. Get a little bit of experience, and then decide to make some changes.

[dgz924s]

You will need to consider the rules for PCA vs. SCCA as they can be vastly different! Then set up the car according to the venue you wish to participate in. Right now your car is "I" in PCA. Dal
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Dal Glassinger

[Kaos]

There is no PCA auto-xing in my region. Sometimes there is no alternative to the SCCA.

[ljd 924SE]

i just participated in my first autocrossing event and had a blast in my E-stock 924S. i'm also a college student, so staying stock for a while is in my best interest as well, and in the mean time, i'll become a much better driver. then i'll have the money to modify my car the right way. just go out there and have fun and you'll quickly realize that there's no real reason to spend money modifying the car for a while. i do recommend switching to synthetic oil to help the engine deal with all the crazy rpms she'll see autocrossing.
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'88 924S Sport Edition
http://www.cardomain.com/id/ljd924se