Thank you for your detailed response newport996. Will M030 springs damage my stock shocks? Also on the PASM, forgive my ignorance on my own 996. Does a PSM have a switch in the dash too? The switch in my dash gave me an impression that I have PASM installed as an option. I will double check the owners manual for that switch later.

 

I just installed H&R springs on my 06 cab. Install was $400 (including alignment) at www.ef1motorsports.com in Long Beach. Great shop, knowledgeable owner. Car was aligned to GT3 street specs. HR springs lowered the car 1.2", just right.
Ride is better than stock and still cushy on bumps, but definitely underdamped for anything hardcore or high-speed. Perfectly more than OK for DD though.

I will keep these on until I pick up a set of KWv3 Coilovers, since they have a superior ride to PSS9/10 in all respects- But, they do cost a bit more. I had KW's on my 996 and the ride was fantastic.

I've seen PSS9's for $1800 or so new on ebay, and I've seen H&R springs for about $250-ish. Shop around. You shouldn't have to pay more than $400-$500 for install / alignment, it is not a difficult install.

 

Yes there is a PSM switch....thats to turn off (almost off at least...lol) the PSM system. Even if its off if the system detects something drastic happening, it will engage. PASM gives you the "Comfort" and "Sport" modes which will change your shock dampening. PSM will do nothing for your dampening, but it will detect any loss of traction to any wheel independently and then automatically re-route the power to wheels that have traction. It will also apply the brakes and cut throttle when it senses the car is sliding sideways to correct a spin. For normal driving its a good idea NEVER to turn off the PSM.....

 

Many thanks newport996. You really know pcars.

p0rsch3,
I'm curious how the shocks will be after a while. Will the lowered stance damage your stock shocks? Did you replace the shocks as well?

Thanks!

 

If I may chime in....yes and no...they will wear your shocks at a faster rate because our stock shocks are not designed for the lowered ride height. They will be slightly MORE unstable at high speeds because of the pogo effect. While you drive your shocks will be more compressed than normal, so when you hit a bump, it pushes back harder than normal, this then OVER extends the shock and makes it come back down faster than normal and it repeats the effect....its why you see the lowered hondas and stuff bounce when they hit a bump. A properly setup will absorb the bump and then restore the car to a stable state without any bouncing. On a Carrera you usually experience this more at high speeds and its most unsettling when cornering at high speeds and mid corner you hit a bump as it will lighten the front end as it bounces up feeling like you will lose traction at the front wheels. This is why they sell shocks for lowered cars so the shocks are not in a compressed state at all times and the proper dampening and rebound characteristics are restored. The stock shocks are said to not work very well, but because the (RoW) M030 shocks are designed to be a little lower and work better with lowered shocks. Coilovers are matched so they usually work the best...but the H&R/Bilstein Sport combo has been well received by people who own the setup. The Porsche X73/X74 is also a nice system, although it may be a little more harsh for daily driving but the performance is very good. If you can afford it, get the springs and shocks together because its one install and one set of alignments. If ou are looking at 2 installs and 2 sets of alignments then you are probably creeping into coilover territory price wise and there is no real reason not to go PSS9/10 since you get as good or better ride than stock, the ability to lower it as much as YOU want to lower it, and the capability to tailor the settings to YOUR liking. As far as installs go...Lucent Motors is a board sponsor and is hard to beat for price, knowledge and GREAT service. They also include TWO alignments in the install price because yor car will ALWAYS settle in about 30 days and therefore you will need a 2nd one anyway. But most people dont and so they wear out tires faster than they should...

 

+100 to Newport's post- Right on all counts.

drestless, the stock shocks will wear but I do not intend on keeping this setup very long. The only reason I did it is because I was pressed for time and couldn't stand the 4x4 look / washy ride of the stock setup (plus a "good bro" deal on the install and springs- literally did not cost much at all).

KWv3's will be on soon enough. Once you've owned a set of them it's hard to roll on anything else.
for alignment, any shop that aligns your car right after doing the install - and tell you that's all that is needed-is wasting your time. you need to put at least a week or two of hard miles on the new setup to let it settle, then get it aligned. Some owners need a month since they don't drive their pcar that much during the weekdays.

 

Im so impressed with the amount of information I get from 6speedonline members. So happy that I signed up and regret that I didn't signed up a long time ago.

Many thanks to you both.

 

I'll toss in my $.02 here, a little lengthy ... apologies. I have an '02 Targa, 6-spd with about 18,000 miles on it.

I started down the lowering path for the same reason many here are talking about ... because I wasn't crazy about the baja look of the nb 996, not because I wasn't happy with the way the car handled.

I did a lot of research on this (terrific) board as well as Rennlist and read a whole bunch. In fact I was still doing my research when this thread started. I was looking to minimize the cost of this mod, again because I was happy with the way the car handled, but I was also concerned that if I hated the car when it was lowered with just springs I would be out all the install costs plus the re-install costs of either the OEM suspension or some other alternative.

After months of tooing and frowing (?) this spring I elected to go with the PSS9s (got a set shipped into Canada at a great price from Dan at Vivid, thanks Dan!) ... I know there are plenty of other coilover systems, but I don't really track my car. I also picked up a new set of X74 sways from another Rennlister at a great price and I added spacers (H&R 7s & 15s)

Here in Toronto, Courtney at Autowerks set up the car for me... fantastic job. The 9's are set at 3 & 5 and the car has about an 1" of clearance from the wheels.

A must confess that I got in the car a little hesitantly after the set-up ... I was still concerned that the ride might be too stiff for me. Much to my surprise and delight, I can tell you that although the car rides much tighter now it actually rides and absorbs the bumps noticably smoother than stock.

So considering that I was just looking to lower the car only to get rid of the 4x4 look ... how does the car handle now compared to stock, given that I thought it handled extremely well already?

An immediate and amazing difference. Through corners and on ramps it remains very flat and the front end does not float at all - I can even slide the rear end out a bit now before PSM kicks in. The car just sticks to the road, it's likes it's on rails going around a corner.

I would summarize my experience this way .... I went with theses mods with the objective of lowering the car, avoiding the disappointment of a harsh ride and protecting myself from unnecessary costs. Today, in hindsight I would do it for the improvement in the way the car handles, it really is like night and day. I have had the car for a little more than three years ... should have done it long ago!

Hope this helps.

Cheers ... Pete

 

My Indie offered, what he called, a stage 1 suspension mod. They lower the springs for about $800.

he said its the bare basic way to do this, as Im inthe same Financial boat!!
they claim it will lower the car by 1" and add about 20% stifffer ride. The down side is that it is not adjustable

 

(2)ea. Front Perch 996-343-511-00 3.47 ea.
(2)ea. Rear Perch 996-333-511-02 8.53 ea.

(Make sure to ask for Aaron and tell him Paul from CA referred you)

 

Pete- Yep you nailed it buddy! The biggest "night and day" improvement will come from a good set of aftermarket coilovers. Budget buy is Bilsteins (superb for DD and possibly light track), spend a few more $ for KWv3's (which you can seriously use for track as well as comfortable DD- freaking phenominal coilovers).
Springs alone help with looks but only offer very minor improvement to ride (since the stock shocks are still underdamped and are now riding in a compressed state).

Dominick- What's up with the "spring mod" for $800?? "Stage 1"??? What the heck is "Stage 2" then, remove the springs altogether?? LOL
That sounds scary! I would not advise "modifiying" stock springs by cutting or clamping them. That's going into ghetto-mod territory IMHO.
You can get a full set of H&R springs installed for the same price if not a bit less. (avg $300 for the springs and avg $400 for install/alignment).

 

p0rsch,

your right and I think since reading this thread, Its in my own best interest to save up and get a proper suspension kit in the future.

Half assed is no way to treat a Pcar!!!

 

^ yup, true that- Spending the extra will net so much more in improved driveability and fun it is money well spent in this case. Installing and driving on the H&R springs cost me almost nothing otherwise I would not have wasted the $- And I wanted to speak from experience next time I talked s**t about them... LOL

If you can pony up the extra, I would highly recommend the KWv3's- you won't regret it. Dan at Vivid Racing or another vendor in the Group Buy section can hook you up.

 

BTW, KW here for $2800 and free ship: http://www.autoanything.com/suspensi...0A50728A1.aspx -
Here for $2675: http://www.jegs.com/i/KW%20Suspensio...71005/10002/-1
Maybe our sponsoring vendors can do better.

KW home page: http://kw-suspension.com/en/30_Produ...nt_3/index.php

 

good to know - thx
Aero kit being installed shortly, been saving up for that

Looks like I'll have to start saving to the "suspension fund" as soon as the aero kit is done - lol