02-02-2006, 09:52 PM
We all know how the 968 is one of the best handling cars that Porsche have ever made, otherwise we would not own one (or more), but I can assure you that handling difficulties occur when you add more than 60% more power & torque, especially out on track. As with many before us we looked into the available options:
So we looked at the M030 option first but quite frankly trying to rework a 15 year old design that is out of production was a non-starter.
The Bilstein Escort Cup package was our second choice, but again it is an old design of damper without adjustment, which we believed to be essential in order to fine tune the car for wet/dry & road/track conditions.
After looking at other adjustable damper options we eventually chose KW Variant 3 as our preference. These shocks are making a big impact on the European market in having their bodies made from corrosion free stainless steel (which makes ride height adjustment easy when the rings are not sieze) and because the two way adjustable dampers have a unique high pressure dump valve which relieves excessive damper pressure over bumps (eg track kerbing) to prevent corner jacking.
However with 400bhp on tap, even the excellent standard 968 KW package would not cope with the weight transfer under acceleration, so when their Director offered to re-engineer the package to suit the 9m Supercharged 968 it would have been rude not to accept, wouldn't it?
Just two weeks later our custom designed kit is on my desk. It's not cheap for sure, but the quality is spectacular. I'll take some photos and post them as soon as I can, we will have it on the car soon and will be testing it on track come 18th March. Can't wait!
So we looked at the M030 option first but quite frankly trying to rework a 15 year old design that is out of production was a non-starter.
The Bilstein Escort Cup package was our second choice, but again it is an old design of damper without adjustment, which we believed to be essential in order to fine tune the car for wet/dry & road/track conditions.
After looking at other adjustable damper options we eventually chose KW Variant 3 as our preference. These shocks are making a big impact on the European market in having their bodies made from corrosion free stainless steel (which makes ride height adjustment easy when the rings are not sieze) and because the two way adjustable dampers have a unique high pressure dump valve which relieves excessive damper pressure over bumps (eg track kerbing) to prevent corner jacking.
However with 400bhp on tap, even the excellent standard 968 KW package would not cope with the weight transfer under acceleration, so when their Director offered to re-engineer the package to suit the 9m Supercharged 968 it would have been rude not to accept, wouldn't it?
Just two weeks later our custom designed kit is on my desk. It's not cheap for sure, but the quality is spectacular. I'll take some photos and post them as soon as I can, we will have it on the car soon and will be testing it on track come 18th March. Can't wait!
(This post was last modified: 02-02-2006, 09:54 PM by Ninemeister.)
