[APKhaos]

Bill,
Beware the siren sound of the Arms Race.
For the first year or two of DE, the car in stock form is more capable than the driver in most cases. Remeber that the 911 was designed for the track, then detuned some to make it tractable for the street.

That said, refreshing the stock setup is definitely worthwhile. Refreshed shocks, brakes, good HP street tires and alignment make a huge difference. Turbo tie rods also eliminate another source of looseness [stock rods are rubber bushed, turbo are solid]. This is all you need for the first season.

If you really get the bug, then the arms race begins!
The rubber suspension bushings in particular tend to deform and become sloppy. New bushings can really help tighten things up, and street poly is the material of choice for dual purpose cars. Trouble is, replacing the bushings requires opening up all of the key suspension points. This makes the temptation to ratchet up the operation to include stiffer torsion bars, revalved shocks, and stiffer [after market] sway bars. While you are at it, may as well move up to 7 & 9 x16 wheels and get some nice sticky R compound tires. It can get crazy.

The trouble with doing too much of this too early is that these changes put you even further behind the curve - the cars limits have advanced considerably, and you are still waiting for your first DE weekend.

The track bug bit me early in my first season. Aside from moving to an inch wider wheels with AVS Intermediates, turbo rods and alignment, I ran my trusty 150,000 Carrera with stock [old, buggered] bushings and stock suspension for the first year. Learnt heaps, had a ball, and at no time was the car a limiting factor. It was always way more capable than my driving.

In preparation for the second season, I did suspension [oh, and an engine and tranny rebuild]. I did the suspension mods in stages - TBs and shocks first, drove it two track weekends, then sways, then R compound rubber. It really helped me to feel the difference in handling characteristics that each change made in the car. The net result is a very streetable Carrera, with no harshness, that goes very nicely on the track.

This turned out longer than intended, but I hope the message is clear. The beauty of DE is you can run your street car with some minor preparation, learn a lot, and have fun doing it before needing to join the arms race.