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Old 01-02-2018, 06:41 PM
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Ssandblom
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Default Newbie Intro and Suspension Guidance request

Hello all, I'm avid reader of the "List" but haven't participated in posting until now.

A little intro....I have owned a 2002 C4S for about 2 years. It is a nice example with about 58K miles. We are in the young children phase of life so I haven't driven the car much thus far. My goal is to get out and drive this year! To spur myself, I am attending a Chicago-Nashville exotic car rally in August. To be able to confidently navigate roughly 2000 miles in one adventure, the car needs some mechanical refreshing. Planning to do brakes and suspension for sure and then we will see where the road takes me.

I know there are many threads on suspension setups. My specific usage will be mostly rally events, cruises, and the occasional track day to hone skills(with no intention of becoming a serious racer). I am leaning toward H&R Street Coilovers or possibly PSS10's. What guidance can you give on my areas of focus for suspension refresh when installing coilovers? I'm planning to install new front strut mounts and I'm open to replacing whatever is necessary to freshen it up but I also want to avoid creating a harsh track-only type setup. Thoughts?

Here she is-
Old 01-02-2018, 06:57 PM
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sweet victory
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I daily drive my 996 with PSS10's. I find them acceptable for daily commuting, even with semi solid motor mounds. Definitely not a harsh, track only ride quality. IIRC, the strut mount is the only oem part that is re-used during installation, so unless you have any items that have worm prematurely I don't really see why you need to replace anything else at <60k miles.


My two cents would be to inspect your tires; check for any dry rotting, wear, and tire pressure.
Old 01-02-2018, 07:32 PM
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tekkie
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i also have the pss10’s and they are much softer than the stock suspension on bumps, i adjust the dampers down for daily use and if i am going to the track turn them up it only takes a few mins

the others to comsider is the ohlin road and track that you can get on ebay
Old 01-02-2018, 08:07 PM
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Blue Chip
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Porsche X74. Lowers the car, great ride, insane track ability, won't break the bank.

The forum member Slakker has a set (I think still) for sale - but they also haven't been listed yet.
Old 01-02-2018, 08:30 PM
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okbarnett
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unless you are trying to shave 1/10ths off your lap times, I dont think anybody needs to put big bucks in competition suspension parts. Use a spring like H&R or the stock porsche row springs and use the stock porsche shocks. I think it will be ample for any non race car. And put all that extra money in tires or a ecu upgrade
Old 01-02-2018, 11:07 PM
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Dr_Strangelove
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Originally Posted by Ssandblom
Hello all...

I am attending a Chicago-Nashville exotic car rally in August.
Hi!

When you get to Nashville check out Prince's and 'gitchu some hot chicken. Hattie B's can suck it.

Gorgeous car, btw! How's the inside holding up?
Old 01-02-2018, 11:36 PM
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JWYR
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Have you read about the Öhlins Road and Tracks. I have been looking into coilovers and they are top on the list for me right now. I believe they are less and have adjustments that allow for a good street ride.
Old 01-02-2018, 11:47 PM
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MoeMonney
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I would do Ohlins Road and track coilovers and all new polyurethane bushings. Check this out.

Old 01-03-2018, 09:18 AM
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cds72911
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Beautiful car.

For what you are doing, I’d go with a Euro (edited, I guess this is called ROW based on Blue Chip's post below) M030 suspension, new strut top mounts, and replace worn bushings with OEM rubber.

Coilovers are great, but just unnecessary complexity or cost for what you plan to do with the car, especially if you just plan to set it and forget it and don’t have extreme ride height goals. Both coilovers and lowering suspensions are likely to add to the harshness you said you are trying to avoid. Everything is a trade off.

Where is this perspective coming from? I've had many cars with stock performance suspensions and three cars with coilovers. I currently have the Bilstein PSS11 coilovers and M030 sway bars on my 2000 C2, and it is great for what I want, but I wouldn't recommend it for someone who leans toward comfort rather than firm ride and handling. While the dampers are adjustable, it isn't something you are going to do all the time - the rears are behind a carpet shelf (luckily my used turbo carpets had a removable cutout when I got it so it is easier to get to) and the fronts are underneath the car. Coilovers are great for height adjustability - my rally car had a very raised suspension that coilovers handed easily, and I had the ability to change them based on the kind of race (stages) I was going to be running. It was miserable on the street. I had some on an autocross and DE leaning BMW, and I had it very low, very harsh, but perfect for events. For my current C2, I wanted to go lower than the available struts allowed => but I had to be careful since I am maxed out on some of the stock suspension adjustability - any lower and I'm into adjustable (expensive) swaybar links, control arms, etc. Its really all about how you want to use the car and what tradeoffs you're willing to make

Last edited by cds72911; 01-03-2018 at 10:18 AM.
Old 01-03-2018, 09:37 AM
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Blue Chip
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I have found that the M030 is the US spec suspension - looks and, in my opinion, rides like a monster truck. The ROW is the 'rest of world' version - which is a bit lower and firmer. The X74 is the Porsche performance bias suspension. As for the X74 being for 02 and newer - that's untrue - mine is a 99 and works brilliantly.
Old 01-03-2018, 01:06 PM
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Sneaky Pete
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Originally Posted by Blue Chip
I have found that the M030 is the US spec suspension - looks and, in my opinion, rides like a monster truck. The ROW is the 'rest of world' version - which is a bit lower and firmer. The X74 is the Porsche performance bias suspension. As for the X74 being for 02 and newer - that's untrue - mine is a 99 and works brilliantly.
The X74 is the holy grail however it is no longer made. I would contact Gert Carnewal http://www.carnewal.com/info/Contact to see if he can piece something together. I bought my X74 from him years ago and was a great guy to deal with.
Old 01-03-2018, 02:50 PM
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Vancouver996
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I've got the street performance coilovers and have used them for a couple years now . I previously had row mo30 units. The h&r sp areonly a few hundred bucks more than a b8 bilstein shock and stiff spring set up , but the handling and ride quality as well as height adjustability are better than going the stiff spring and shock route so worth the 300to 500 extra
they are almost half the cost of the high end fully adjustable ohlins etc options
for a street focused car with occasional de or track days a good option . For a full track focused car or if you just have deep pockets , ohlins are amazing and pss10s a close second
You can quickly adjust the stiffness on both of those

I would budget for adjustable drop links and toe arms for lowering the car
uprated sway bars are a good idea
as is replacing all the bushes ( at a minimum any worn ones ) I used powerflex polybushes

im really happy with the set up on my car and h&r make coilovers for every 911 variant

the h&r sp coilovers are a jointly developed unit between h&r and bilstein and are very similar to the h&r bilstein jointly developed coilovers that the factory used on 996 gt3 cars



Last edited by Vancouver996; 01-06-2018 at 12:03 AM.
Old 01-03-2018, 03:00 PM
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808Bill
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At almost 20 years old, all the bushings should be replaced.
Old 01-03-2018, 03:16 PM
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jllphan
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Beautiful car! But I must admit I'm a bit biased -- I recently acquired an '03 C4s in silver on black Just completed a full cooling system refresh and next week it's IMSB, RMS and clutch. After that, it's time for a new suspension set up, so please keep us posted with what you ultimately do. What little I've researched, the M030 (ROW) for the C4s is a lot pricier than for the RWD 996's, so for me that's out. I'd rather spend a few bucks more and go w/ Ohlins or Bilstein PSSx, i just haven't vetted through all offerings just yet.

btw, feel free to hit me up via PM closer to rally time -- I'm in Nashville and would be up to grab a beer and hear about the adventure.


Originally Posted by Dr_Strangelove
Hi!

When you get to Nashville check out Prince's and 'gitchu some hot chicken. Hattie B's can suck it.

Gorgeous car, btw! How's the inside holding up?
LOL, spoken like a local albeit Im a bigger fan of Boltons.
Old 01-03-2018, 03:32 PM
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Sneaky Pete
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Originally Posted by Sneaky Pete
The X74 is the holy grail however it is no longer made. I would contact Gert Carnewal http://www.carnewal.com/info/Contact to see if he can piece something together. I bought my X74 from him years ago and was a great guy to deal with.
I forgot all about this fact. X74 was for NB's only. X73 was for the C4S and Turbo.



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