Building a 2nd 944Spec car. It's an 83. I'd like to know current thinking on front control arm bushings.

For the front there appear to be four choices:

Stock Rubber
Weltmeister (no steel inner ....Problem?)
Racer's Edge Delrin
Powerflex (from Pelican)

For the rear of the control arm there appears to be:

968 M030 (not sure if it fits)
Weltmeister
Powerflex

my preference for the front is Weltmeister red or black. You do NOT want Delrin. That attatchment point needs to have some movement since it moves in more than one axis.
if you have rear stock bushings in good condition then use those. They are quite good. Same as front use Welts red or black, use Delrin in torsion tube.

I had welt reds, was not a fan. No steel inner meant my front crossmember ears got tweaked and I had to use some jack screws to open it back up. I have Deleon right now and like it a lot better. The arm moves with a lot less friction (though I had to machine the bushings down to get them to properly fit) and give the front end more precision and less mush. I'll be inspecting after each event, but I'm not sure how the steel arms move in more than one axis. The attachment points are pretty damn parallel.

If you want a set of welt reds, I'll send them to you for the price of shipping.

Hi Robbie, if you disconnect the strut and sway bar and watch the control arm as it goes through its motion you will see that the forward mount has to wobble on its center point. If you do not tighten the bolt at the front really tight with Delrin bushings it will egg out the hole in the cross member. (Personal experience)
This is less of an issue if you have steel arms since the rear mount is more compliant.
A softer bushing with a steel liner would be good.
My first 944Spec had Delrin in all locations and I replaced the fronts with Welts and instantly went faster. My car did not like them.

Interesting.
Seems like a softer crossmember bushing would allow toe and caster changes under hard cornering and braking?

All bushings are allowing some movement. Delrin allows less and should be used in some locations just not all.
The front suspension was designed to move in two axis so you want the suspension to work as designed.
Smart guys designed these afterall.
I have found that the factory stock rear bushings work great. When you take the old ones apart you see that the original design had very little rubber.
H
The 924s that Everett has (my old car) had stock bushings in the rear at the control arm and Welt blacks in the front with steel arms and stock rear mount for front arm.
That car was easily the best handling 944/924 I have driven to date.

Dont fix it if it aint broke!