Under the Porsche 924
The Transmission and Transaxle assembly.
The transmission and axle of the 924 are contained in the same housing located at the rear of the vehicle. The transaxle is connected to the clutch and engine via a drive shaft "tube". Together the engine, drive tube and transaxle form a rigid centre section around which the 924's body is hung. The 924 is available in 4-speed, two types of 5-speed (a Z shift and more conventional H shift) and a 3 speed automatic transmission. The location of the transaxle at the rear of the vehicle gives the 924 an near perfect weight distribution.
Steering.
The steering of the 924 is of the standard rack and pinion type. The use of an eccentric cam operating the tie-rod ends gives the 924 an excellent forward turning circle.
Front Suspension.
The front suspension of the 924 is of the MacPherson strut type and is considered to be fully independent. The movement of the lower control arm (attached to the wheel) is dampened by the hydraulic strut to reduce road shocks.
Rear Suspension.
There are two types of rear suspension used in the 924, however both are very similar. The rear suspension consists of trailing arms which are fully independent. Both arms are dampened with shock absorbers. The arms are sprung by use of a torsion bar system. The "spring bar" runs perpendicular to the direction of travel in a tube across the car. It is fixed at one end and the trailing arm rides on the other end. It is similar to that used in the earlier 911's and some VW's.
Brakes.
From 1976 to 1979 all 924's were equipped with floating caliper, single piston, disc brakes at the front and drum brakes at the back. From 1980 a 4 wheel disc brake option was available (using discs from the 911SC). 4 wheel disc versions are easily recognised as they are fitted with 5-bolt wheels compared to the standard 4 bolt 924 steel or cast alloy wheel.