Mysterious Early 944 Sports Suspension Package in PET

[AK944]

Hi Everyone!

Going through the PET for the early 944 I noticed an interesting page labelled "Sports Suspension Conversion Set for Cars without M404 + M474" (the optional sway bar package and sports shock package respectively).

944 Sports Suspension-images-0.jpg (411.87 KiB) Viewed 669 times

944 Sports Suspension-images-1.jpg (431.92 KiB) Viewed 669 times

Cross referencing the parts with the 924S PET, it seems that some of these parts are labelled as M030 for that model. The FSM also refers to this setup as Sport Running Gear M030 for 944s up to '86 and 924S models. Bizarrely, this setup is also different than the late NA and other model M030 packages.

I thought some of these parts might be a nice complement to my planned Bilstein B6 upgrade being a little stiffer than stock but still close enough that the B6s' valving would work nicely with it.

I've done some research on the exact specs of these parts and will list them below.

Struts:

The struts are the same Koni Yellows (F: 944 343 059 00/R: 944 333 031 00) used in the M474 sport shock option on both early 944s and the 924S. The rear shock on the 924s is different and uses the 14mm mount for aluminum trailing arms. These parts have been superseded by the adjustable Koni yellows as far as I can tell. The FSM differentiates between this part number and the 924S M030 with different rebound adjustment settings between the two.

Springs:

The front springs (477 411 105 G) are seemingly from the base 924 from 1976-1979, they're 359 mm tall as opposed to the stock 381 and have a spring rate of 24.1 n/mm versus the stock 21.8 (137.7 lbs/in vs 124.5). According to my napkin math this should drop the front end about ~8mm. These are also labelled M030 in the 924 PET and the FSM states they are for M030 cars up to '86 in addition to the 924S.

The rear torsion bars are 24.5mm in diameter which should be roughly equivalent to a 149lb spring, stock is 23.5mm/126lb equivalent. As far as I can tell these are unique to this package and the 924S M030. (R 944 333 104 00/ L 944 333 103 00)

Sway Bars:

The rear sway bar is 20mm, and seems to be the same one used in the 944S M030 Package (477 511 415). This is also labelled M030 in the 924S PET.

Weirdly, the front sway bar seems to be the 23mm hollow version used on M404 cars (944 343 706 00). Compared to the other M030 packs this seems pretty small, especially when paired with a 20mm rear. Perhaps a limitation of the steel arms? This is labelled M030/M404 in the 924S PET.

I'm mostly just curious if anyone knows anything about this setup and how it would impact the handling of the car.

TL:DR: PET shows an oddball suspension sports suspension setup for early 944s and 924S, I'm wondering if its any good.