timrichardson

Hello all,

I hope you are doing good and enjoying your 964's!

Was wondering if anybody could help me with a question about my suspension set up?

I am running Bilstein B6's with H&R (blue) springs, I also have Tarret rear spring plates installed along with longer wheel hub studs and spacers (pictures attached for reference).

I would like to drop my 964 C2 lower, my front dampers are wound all the way down and so no adjustment left on them. What would be the best way to drop her further, different springs or do I need to change out the dampers altogether?

The last picture shows my car behind a 964 RS, the RS is running a set up that I would like to get close to.

Thanks for any support you can offer.

Best, Tim
964 owner in London, UK

Ski Porsche

I'm conservative when it comes to lowering these cars and I think yours looks great (maybe a tick low in the rear for my tastes). Especially for an all 'rounder--street, twistys, and track. My avatar shows my car after purchase with a set of H&R extra-low coilovers--after raising the suspension a bit in order to get it on and off the transport. That RS is pretty seriously dropped. But hey, it's your car, you should have it as low as makes you happy. Love the GR on both cars.

joerg65

I have KW3 on mine and they have a huge amount of ride height latitude. I’m running mine at factory RS specs. I have tried a bit lower however with the camber I’m running (2.6F 2.2R) and spacers, any lower than RS and I get rubbing on the front wheel well liners.

That RS looks like it’s running a reasonable amount of camber but the wheels look too tucked in in my opinion.

964Lovac

Hey Tim,
I am in the same position as you, just I have the red H&R springs. I recently bought these and have yet to install:
https://www.fvd.net/us-en/115110016/...-o-502-mm.html

I am on the fence though, I will try to install them this week - but I do feel that I'd be better served moving to a full coilover system. That said at the moment I am looking to do other repairs before investing in another suspension. My wife who normally is a huge fan of any new parts on the 964 doesn't understand the desire to go lower so there's that too.
If you look up duwerke on IG, he is running these lowering collars + vogtland springs and the car is sitting perfectly. He says there is no rubbing and the ride is awesome so maybe something to look into!

timrichardson

Hi all - just wanted to say a big thanks for the responses, given me some food for thought! @964Lovac please do share you experience, agreed full coilover is the best solution but like you I am not ready to pull the trigger on this right now.

C24FUN

Tim,

My '90 C2 Coupe is riding on a similar setup to yours, installed in back in 2005 and still loving it: Bilstein HDs and Intrax lowering springs (similar to H&R Greens). With any suspension change that lowers the car I believe in keeping an accurate record of where you start and what effect your changes make so you can effectively judge the results. To help with this I have attached 3 pages from the 964 Technical Manual that provide suspension specifications. *Please note that I am not a suspension expert but as an engineer, I like good data!

The first page shows the recommended points for front and rear height measurement. For the front, that is the bottom of the outside crossmember attachment bolt (make sure you use the correct bolt as the inner bolt is a couple of mm higher). The rear reference point is on the underside of the trailing arm mount.

On the front, once you locate this bolt you can measure the current height and reference it to the second attached sheet, the front suspension specs. Based on the info in the first column of these specs (Carrera 2/4), the front of a non-North American car would be at 165 +/- 10mm (Note that because of the bumper laws at the time, North American cars were delivered with springs that sat at 175 +/- 10mm, the main reason that most of these vehicles were prime candidates for suspension swaps).

When I fitted my car with the new front/rear suspension parts, I used my local Porsche Club resources to determine a goal for my ride height and to locate a qualified alignment shop. Once there, I asked the tech to try to get close to RS specs without sacrificing too much due to the lack of adequate toe adjust on the stock front setup. He achieved this well (125mm Left, 127mm Right) after corner balance) but I do get uneven tire wear on the front tires at this height. I do still have some adjustment on my spring perches and tried a lower stance (116mm Left, 118mm Right) but found that further aggravated the uneven wear and I was scraping the front tub on my driveway curb so I went back to the previous setup. The rear setting on my C2 ended up at 236mm Left and 235mm Right (after corner balance) as measured from the outer control arm mount which again is right at the RS spec.

As anyone who has experienced the difference between the SUV-like stance of the original North American setup and the "corners like it's on rails" feeling of the lowered setup can testify, the change is a revelation!

Hope this helps you find the sweet spot!

Cheers!

Jim G.

timrichardson

Thanks Jim super useful post and resources. I had my geo completed by a company called Centre Gravity here in the UK back in 2017 - they are well respected and it makes me think is it worth playing around with a car that is already nicely set up! I am looking at a front strut brace and new ARB's as next steps for handling improvements.

Tomfun

Looks to me like that RS is lowered below RS height, but it can be hard to tell. To go lower with the B6 setup you can get FVD lowering collars - I have these on mine as an interim solution until I get to the bigger project. With regular wheel carriers you may have some pretty serious bumpsteer if you go as the car you've pictured above, however. The proper solution if you want to be lower than RS height and handle properly is EVO uprights (or whatever else you call them)

Tom

timrichardson

Thanks Tom! Will check those lowering collars, my B6's are quite old but hopefully they fit!

964Lovac

I just installed these last night with some friends.
Will say, FVD should be selling these with a hex set screw. Definitely look into getting 2 M6x1.0 x 18mm before you start the install.
That said, I believe if your struts are silver you should be good - but definitely confirm. I need to take the car out of the garage and will take proper pictures. Car is definitely low. May need to raise up slightly - but love how it looks and will see how it performs.

Vegas993

Another option besides the uprights is the Elephant Racing Bumpsteer Correcting Tie Rods for low cars. I run them with zero complaints.

timrichardson

That's great glad it worked out for you! I contacted Gert Carnwal in Belgium who sold me my kit some years back, he states "When you remove the locking nut, you can turn the main nut 8mm lower.

If you want to lower more, you will need these nuts that have a lowered perch"

Here is a shot of my set up for reference

TD_05

Thanks for all the info! If I may ask a related question without starting another thread and/or jacking this one too obviously...?

I have a 964 C4, previous owner lowered it with godspeed coilovers. Car looks good, maybe too low. It's my understanding that these are not the greatest aftermarket shocks in the world. I am considering putting some money into the car to try to improve steering feel, address what I think to be bumpsteer etc etc. Should I start with replacing the godspeeds or improve other things first and come back to the shocks in the future as needed?

Thanks
TD