Agree.....it's definately 'off-road' capable.
Sorry to hear you have a clunk......my wife's is quiet and it turned out well.

Following up on the other post....and as one of the "indefinite" responses that suggested there was a dif for Euro or ROW....there was back when I picked up the 993. Little U.S. flags were on the U.S. bound engines and bodies as they made their way through production. Porsche is not alone, the 1st thing we did with the E55 AMG was order euro suspension parts.
Of course Porsche would not do it unless they had to......and the explanation of DOT regs on headlamp beam-angle and bumper height were what I recalled back when.....course Federal regs could now have now been relaxed or rolled back .

I agree w/Gary's points about the demanding variety of conditions for which these cars are designed. Point is, they are 'designed' and designed with significant attention to detail.
Messing with a tuned suspension shouldn't be taken lightly. Just changing one component (say springs) probably does not do the system justice.

Almost everything you do with suspension compromises something else.....so sometimes it comes down to your priorities.

 

I also think that other European cars have less wheel gap. My 545 looks much better than the stock 997.2 -why can't it be perfect stock?!? Well, I did get the sport package on the 545...

Back to the OP:

Joe, I finally got my 2009 C4 / no PASM - and I noticed the same thing you did - HUGE gap in the wheel well with the stock 18 wheels. I started looking at aftermarket rims but now I am thinking (just like when I had bought 19" MOMO rims for my Maxima) I am going to end up lowering the car as well... What springs did you end up using to drop your car 15mm? I don't have PASM, so to get the same look, I need to drop 25mm?

worried it will really make the ride harsh on the overly rutted/bumpy I-5!

 

Wow, that's some pic! Looks like a 4X4. Note that I believe the chap from Sweden has a car with the sport suspension, which is quite a bit lower and is not offered in the US. European mags raved about it - lower, firmer and without the sport/normal button. Lap times were much faster than the PASM car set on "sport".
What is interesting is my car sits much lower, but has a stock suspension.

 

Hey Scoper,

Yup, my wife's BMW 3 series has much less gap in the wheel well than when my 997.1 was stock. Funny how BMW is able to have a nice looking wheel well gap straight from the factory.

I dropped my car with TechArt springs and since my car does have PASM the drop is 10mm. For cars without PASM, TechArt says the drop is 25mm so I think that would be what you are looking for on your car. The ride before and after the drop is slightly firmer and in my mind is perfect. I've driven the car pretty hard on some undulating roads and have never had the car hit the bumpers or bottom out. No increase in ride harshness going over freeway expansion joints either. Let me know if you might want to meet up somewhere and you can take a look and ride in person. I might be stopping by Bridgeport Village tomorrow for C&C around 9:30 if you are in the area.

 

Here's two pic's that I dug up showing before and after the drop of 10mm. Hard to tell exactly as the angle the pictures were taken make a difference but you can tell a little of what I'm talking about. It's only a drop of 10mm so it's not like I slammed the car or anything but I think it makes a huge difference in look. If the reason Porsche is required to send their cars over here higher than R.O.W. is because of U.S. regulations (such as D.O.T.), that's a shame.

 

Joe,

Thanks for posting the pics. My 997.2 looks like it's on stilts compared to your PASM car before you even lowered it. Would love to see your car one of these days (dare I say it's supposed to be "nice" tomorrow?!)

 

Scoper,

Greater than 80% chance that I'll be at Bridgeport tomorrow around 9:30am. I'll PM you my number if you want to drop me a text in case you want to stop by with your car to take a look at my "slightly" lowered suspension. Will be keeping my fingers crossed for good weather.

 

The U.S. ride height has to do with bumper height (crash worthiness). The downside is the cars lose some of their aesthetics, and a lot of their handling.

dadbeh