Poly bushing?
Hey everyone, I’m wondering about redoing all of my bushings with purple 80A powerflex. I replaced my sway bar bushings with poly as the rubber ones were entirely disintegrated. If I do a complete replacement, how much more harsh will the ride be?
‘83 Platinum N/A 944
Really depends a lot on the tire size you’re running, there’s a big difference between 17 inch or 15 inch wheels and tires. I have 215/60/15 tires on the Fuchs wheels, and the ride on purple Powerflexes is reasonable, with the exception of the odd city-center cobblestone roads we still have here in the Old World. 
944 NA ROW -86
The width doesn’t really matter here. I would say that with the 15-inchers just go for the polys. The 944 is a surprisingly comfy car for it’s age and purpose, but then again IMHO you won’t ruin the experience with a bit of ”hardening” here and there. The early models are a bit more raw to begin with than the later 85.5+ cars.
944 NA ROW -86
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walfreyydo
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Its really not that much more harsh over rubber, imo and an upgrade that is well worth it, especially considering the cost for oem rubber bushings. They are cheaper and an upgrade so for me it was a no brainer.
I have full powerflex bushings on my car and although things are tighter, I have not noticed any substantial or bothersome NVH and the bushings have stayed quiet (powerflex has sipes on the inside of the bushings where they contact the inner race, make sure to use lube and they should stay quite). Spring plate, front torsion carrier, rear sways, rear trailing, front caster block, front control, front sway as well as steering rack (non powerflex) are all poly.
Overall very very happy with them as I did not want to go monoball due to the NVH and the fact they wear, loosen and get really noisy, as well as I still do drive the car on the street a fair bit (although the car is setup primarily for autox/track days)
Some of the bushings come in purple and black (different stiffnesses), I cant remember which is the stiffer of the two but I went with the stiffest ones wherever there was the option for choice. I think its black but not 100% sure. The other added benefit is that they do not need to be pre-loaded when installing, unlike rubber bushings.
I have full powerflex bushings on my car and although things are tighter, I have not noticed any substantial or bothersome NVH and the bushings have stayed quiet (powerflex has sipes on the inside of the bushings where they contact the inner race, make sure to use lube and they should stay quite). Spring plate, front torsion carrier, rear sways, rear trailing, front caster block, front control, front sway as well as steering rack (non powerflex) are all poly.
Overall very very happy with them as I did not want to go monoball due to the NVH and the fact they wear, loosen and get really noisy, as well as I still do drive the car on the street a fair bit (although the car is setup primarily for autox/track days)
Some of the bushings come in purple and black (different stiffnesses), I cant remember which is the stiffer of the two but I went with the stiffest ones wherever there was the option for choice. I think its black but not 100% sure. The other added benefit is that they do not need to be pre-loaded when installing, unlike rubber bushings.
Last edited by walfreyydo on Wed Jun 03, 2026 11:36 am, edited 3 times in total.
89 S2 Variocam, Megasquirt DIYPNP
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ANYTIME I have the chance to replace a worn out rubber bushing with a urethane replacement, DO IT!!! Unless I’m driving down a washboard cobblestone road my fillings are still in my teeth…. As far as the hardness goes, I can’t say WHAT I’m running, But most of my bushings came from Energy Suspension…