car: 1999 996 Carrera 2 Coupe

which would u recommend first in terms of bang for the buck and immediate gratification? it would be my first real mod although i upgraded the rubber just recently. the car has 43k miles (pics below if link is up). i've caught the porsche bug bad, i've longed for one of these babies for years and years. just took delivery of it a few weeks ago.

so, RoW M030 or PSE to kick things off? i have done all the necessary research on both, now it's just a matter of listening to you pros.

thanks in advance. i love this place.

 

IMHO I would drop PSE and go for Fabspeed. It's half the price of PSE and is misically as good (I like it better but that's my own opinion). Also, the savings will allow you to do the 030 upgrade too.

Best gratification is the music your car plays. Any bystander would not
know a lowered porker to a stock one. But the sound of a sport Exhaust will make their back hairs stand up.

If your thing is tracking your porker then maybe the 030 kit. Otherwise no question. The exhaust comes first.

 

thanks for the reply! i can't believe there haven't been more. as for the suspension, i won't be tracking the car, just looking to improve the "look" is all while keeping it oem. as for the exhaust, i think you are right, but would love to hear from others. thanks again.

 

I am in the same place as you. Having just come back from a PCA weekend run, I am going for the suspension. I have an '02 C4 Cab and I think the suspension upgrade would be much more worth while. Just my two cents.....but the exhaust will be next....

 

Since you are not planning on tracking your car you will get the most "fun factor" for your money out of the PSE.

Have fun whichever you chose!

 

I would go for RoW M030 so the car looks and drives "correctly". Next, I would get the exhaust upgrade.

 

I am in the same boat as you, apart from the fact I have already started the mods......

I get my car back today with the PSE and full electrics installed. Can not wait to hear the true sound of a sports car again. After leaving my 993 for the 996 I missed the music the air cooled engines made.

At the same time trying to coordinate a PSS9 group buy for the suspension. It is just by chance that it happened exhaust => suspension. Either way I was/am doing both at the same time.

Regards
Arthur

 

i would get some H&R springs, bilstein HD shocks, and the fabspeed exhaust. you can get all three for the same price as the PSE!

 

I am in the same boat as you, apart from the fact I have already started the mods......

I get my car back today with the PSE and full electrics installed. Can not wait to hear the true sound of a sports car again. After leaving my 993 for the 996 I missed the music the air cooled engines made.

At the same time trying to coordinate a PSS9 group buy for the suspension. It is just by chance that it happened exhaust => suspension. Either way I was/am doing both at the same time.

Regards
Arthur

 

thanks Teflon and Arthur. Teflon, thanks for the suggestion, but i'm trying to stay as close to OEM as possible, hence the RoW M030 and PSE bit. i might be willing to budge a little on the exhaust, but would like to stay with OEM. thanks again.

 

If you are going to drive any twisty roads and want to enjoy them, get the 030 first. If you are just going to be cruzing down the freeway, get the PSE first.

My car came from the factory with both PSE and 030 (USA). If you were to tell me I couldn't have gotten it with PSE, I would have missed the sound but I would have bought the car anyway. If you told me I could only buy it with the stock suspension, I wouldn't have bought a Porsche.

Hope this helps,

Tim

 

I did both (PSE and 030) within the first couple of months of ownership. The RoW M030 makes a very subtle difference in looks (hardly noticeable), but it makes a huge difference in handling. I would do that first, no doubt. You're talking about a real performance improvement, versus subjective experience.

 

I am doing the PSE now. I am fairly new to this so sorry for the STUPID question: What is 030 and PSS9.

Thanks (go easy)

 

030 is the Porsche sport suspension. PSS9 is an aftermarket coil-over suspension made by bilstein. with coil-over suspensions you can change the ride height of the car by twisting a large nut on the outside of the shock. the 030 comes in 2 versions: US and ROW (Rest Of World). the US version lowers a 996 10MM, the ROW about 20MM. this differs by each car though. some people report no lowering, some report as much as 30MM with the ROW. there's a lot more i could tell you about these, but this is enough to get you started!

a saying i'm very fond of: there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.

 

Go to the PCA national website and read the article pertaining to 996 sport suspensions. All you ever wanted to know about M030 suspensions.
As to the coilovers, if you're not tracking the car a lot it's a big expenditure for looks only IMHO. Remember if you adjust the ride height, regardless how easy it can be done, the car must be re-aligned.