FeralComprehension

Greets! I've got about 500 miles on my V3 install and now I want to tweak the ride height. The roads where I live are abominable, so I'm targeting RS+20 as a sporty-yet-compliant option.

The thing is, I'm not certain I can get anything over RS with the V3s... There's a chart on page 3 of the setup manual that says the highest you can go is 70mm of exposed thread below the spring perch. I'm at ~85mm exposed now and about RS height...

1. What are you guys running for height?

2. About how much exposed thread below the perch do you have?

3. Anyone know why I can't run it higher? There's some suggestion that it's a german rule in the manual, but I don't want to risk damaging my new suspension....

TIA!

993James993

RS ride height might be way higher than you think. Most of the lowered cars that are pictured on this forum are well below RS. I have my '90 C2 set at 128mm in the front (RS is 125 +/- 5mm) and I have no issues with abominable roads.

Check out and please post before and after photos on this thread:

https://rennlist.com/forums/964-foru...de-height.html

FeralComprehension

Thanks for the input. My concern is that I can't even get it to RS height unless I go well over KW's recommendation for perch location. I do have an email in to them.

Also, I thought that running below RS height gave rise to bump-steer issues. Pretty sure that's why the really low guys upgrade to 993 uprights/tierods.

ras62

I dont see the ride height altering the comfort, you should be looking at the bump and rebound settings on the damper. The car should be set up properly, corner weight & ride height then geometry of your choice (RS or standard or somewhere between the two), failure to do this and the car will be a pig to drive no matter what the roads are like.

FeralComprehension

Must respectfully disagree; if nothing else insufficient ride height allows the car into the bumpstops on bigger impacts which has a nasty effect on comfort and handing both (think of it as a sudden and non-progressive increase in spring rate.) This is of course made worse by softer damper settings, because those allow more suspension travel.

Before installing I set the perches to 70mm of thread remaining, or around 75% max ride height according to KW's recommendation. At this level I was having some issues with the tires contacting the fender liners in the front.

The roads around here are some of the worst in the country- several years ago it was revealed that Michigan was something like 48th in terms of road-maintenance dollars spent per driven mile

UncleRemus

IMO, the manufacturers provide that specification for safety and comfort. Imagine if you wound the spring up so high that the suspension was at max height when loaded. If you turned left, the left front would be off the ground. It's an exaggeration, but you get the point.

Basically, suspension travel is important in both directions.

ras62

I use KW V1, same spring as the V3 and set up RS + 5mm. The ride is very good and 10-15mm higher would make no noticeable difference, maybe the bump/rebound adjusters are wound too high? Btw KW's set at RS +5 is well within acceptable limits, I have not had any bump stop or bump steer issues, but you absolutely must use the correct measure points on the chassis, measuring 70% on the shock just is not good enough.
Also worth mentioning that I run 17" wheels, if you are running 18" the story may be slightly different.

FeralComprehension

Thanks for the feedback- your point about the wheel size is a good one. I'm running 16" though, so I should be good there (plenty of nice cushy sidewall ; ) ).

I'm also measuring at the factory points- the only reason I mention the perch height is because that's how KW set the limit.

raoul

Had my previous c4 with v3's professionally set up at centregravity (highly recommended) at rs height minus 5mm with no problems at all and within kw spec.

ras62

The thing is, I'm not certain I can get anything over RS with the V3s... There's a chart on page 3 of the setup manual that says the highest you can go is 70mm of exposed thread below the spring perch. I'm at ~85mm exposed now and about RS height...

If I am reading the manual correctly it says there must be a minimum of 50mm exposed thread upto a maximum of 80mm (roughly 30mm in ride height). At 85mm as you are now is out of limits i.e. you are too high.

FeralComprehension

I agree with your interpretation, ras, but I question *why* that restriction. If it's structural in the damper that's one thing, but KW are a German company and must comply with TUV guidance because the TUV have only approved a certain range of adjustment- there are certain disclaimers in that manual (vaguely worded!) which imply that the ride height limits are TUV-governed and if that's the case I'm not as concerned; the range becomes a recommendation instead of a limit. As I said, I've an email into KW and will come back here with their reply.

ras62

I imagine that between these points the spring rate is as stated but going below or above these settings will either tension the spring so the characteristics of spring/damper are not as specified, likewise if the spring is not under enough tension.
I would suggest rs +10 and low settings on the two adjusters will be as compliant as is to be achieved with this setup, but again I stress to get the whole job done by a good shop, it makes a huge difference to how the cars drive.

UncleRemus

Feral, I'll bet you a Benjamin that the reason that escapes you is the explanation I provided above (that you casually ignored).

FeralComprehension

Could be I guess- had I thought of it I would have compared the damper body length to the stockers I took off but those are long gone. How much droop do you need, do you think? Easy enough to get that quantity with a jack...

I confess to being a little surprised that the *max* height of this setup seems to be at the *min* height Porsche recommend, and also that when set to 75% of max height I'm having tire/fender liner contact with stock-sized tires.

Shamus964

Haven't had a chance to measure much but I'm at RS height in the front (works well) and below by 10-15mm in the back. The back is too low IMHO (riding the bumps mid corner is NOT the fastest way around a bumpy bend) My car was setup and corner balanced at Rothsport (Porsche Jedis) and they had it very stiff initially, so as I've softened the ride the need to raise the rear has surfaced.

Couple of things to remember, the springs are not progressive, they're linear rate 60mm mainsprings w/small helpers that are completely compressed at rest. When I go up/down certain driveways I lift the inside wheel due to the front sway keeping tension.