Ahsai

I finally broke down, took advantage of the exchange rate, and ordered the x74. Money well spent and I highly recommend it if you roads are not too rough. The shocks are very well made. They are beefier than the stock. The stock will look like toys once you compare them side by side. Took me and my brother-in-law ~7hrs to install on a lift and we took our time. Lots of time was spent on compressing the rear stock springs. Dropped 30mm on the front and 25mm in the rear. My fender to ground is almost 25.5" all around.

Like many others have said, it totally transforms the car and the car should have come this way. I had stock US suspension before. The car is LESS harsh and extremely stable now. Much more responsive to throttle and brakes. Body roll is MUCH reduced and the car feels like it's on rails. You feel like you gain at least 10-15hp because the car response immediately to throttle. The cars is so stable that you are alwyas 10-15mph faster then what you think you're doing. Front toe is at 0 with -0.5 degree camber. Rear has 3.5mm toe-in (total) and -1.7 degree camber.

My only regret is I didn't do it earlier. I want my 5yrs on the stock suspension back!! The only (small) drawback is now I have a little more rattles when I go through very rough roads but I would care less.

The Porsche sport brake pads are great too. MUCH better initial bite and VERY linear and easy to modulate. Don't squeal much as long as you warm them up a little when you start driving. This current setup is perfect for me

Also cleaned the engine but it's not done yet. No where near Oriental Express clean

Before cleaning:


After cleaning:

Ahsai

Forgot to mention. One of the reasons I like x74 is there are no adjustments so you will experience exactly how Porsche engineers want the car to drive like.

philooo

hey what kind of lift is that ?

nice job on the engine cleaning, what did you use ?

Is the X74, the suspension that was fitted on the 40th anniversary 911 ? I remember test driving one of those, it was pretty rough. You better have some good pavement to drive that on a daily basis, but I assume for weekend it is perfect.

Congrat' on doing it by yourself !

Ahsai

Hey Phil, thanks! The lift is called the Nussbaum Sprinter and it makes all these DIY a LOT more enjoyable.

I used goo-gone and a lot of elbow grease since my cosmoline was fully baked in. Just don't let the goo-gone stay on rubber parts.

No, the 40th anniversay 911's have M030 suspension and anti-sway bars. The x74 has even more aggressive springs and shocks but it uses the same M030 anti-sway bars. It's my DD but where i live the roads are not bad. As I said, I wanted my 5yrs back

ROK

The non-adjustability is exactly the reason why I did not go with the X74 and spent much more for the PSS10s.

Glad to hear you're enjoying the "new" ride.

Ahsai

Thanks, ROK. Yea, PSS9/10 will be much more wen it's all said and done. The x74 has beefier anti-sway bars, high quality shocks and progrossive springs, plus "free" tunning from Porsche. Pretty good deal in my book

LVDell

...and engineered for YOUR car unlike the catch-all PSS9/10 system that is actually pretty soft compared to the X73/74.

I have it on my Turbo and it performed amazingly at the VIR a couple weeks ago.

Chris996

Nice job on the X74 install. The GooGone works great! Try some steelwool on the exhaust pipes.

Anyone compare the X74 to the M030?

LVDell

I have both. I have the X73 on my 996 Turbo and the RoWM030 on my 996 CAB.

The RoWM030 is actually a better ride on the streets than the factory suspension. It creates a more planted car which is more compliant on the roads. Further, it creates a more neutral (or even slight forward) rake where the stock setup is almost opposite. Lastly, the setup lowers the car to a much more proper stance and coupled with the rake greatly reduced lift in the front essentially removing that floaty front end you feel at high speed.

The X73/74 is borderline uncomfortable on the street if the roads are poor and you prefer a GT cruiser. With that said, the stance, feel, compliance of the X7x kit is the result of PAG engineers perfecting a complete setup for the car. The ride height is perfect, the rake is perfect, the spring rate and dampening is perfect. If is tolerable on the street and SHINES on the track. I'll see if I can dig up some before and after pics of each setup on my cars.

Pics of the X73 on the Turbo (before and 2 after)
Pics of the RoWM030 on the CAB (couldn't find a before but y'all know how high they sit!)

Chris996

Very nice write-up. Can the Cab handle the X74 setup? I read where the cab was not offered with a sports suspension option because Porsche did not think the cab rigid enough to handle it.

This floaty front and lift on hard accelerations is horrid. I can’t believe my 02 was sold without the Rest of WorldM030 options. Any aggressive driving that produces this floaty feeling is a bit scary.

LVDell

While it fits, I'm not sure I would add it. It's not that the car can't handle the suspension. The CAB has an incredible amount of flex already and what the X73/74 would do is add that much more stress to the chassis.

SH || NC

There are other factors that go into the decision as well (factory only parts; dealer install, etc), but I think boils down to choices and adjustability IMO.

Stock suspension I think is Bilstein and H&R. PSS10 is Bilstein and H&R, to which the setup is application specific.

If you split between street and track, IMO, the PSSX is a nice compromise for both. Comfortable for street; dial it up for track, if you so choose. Keep in mind that the springs can also be changed on PSSX setup if you decide to go down that path.

Ride too low is the PSS? Raise it up. Ride too hard with PSS, soften it up.

The X74/3 is no doubt of course nice for the Ron Popeil ‘set it and forget it’ and factory solution aspects

To the OP, congrats on the purchase and install, and the cleaning is a huge

ivangene

WTG - yes 5 years on US Stock

glad you made the leap and got it "right"

soverystout

Anyone know of the best place (meaning best price) to purchase the
ROWM030?

Has the exchange rate made them less expensive compared to the already low prices at suncoast and sunset?

Ahsai

@Chris - Oh man, I need my sunglasses just to watch your photo

@Dell - nice writeup on the comparo and can't agree more! BTW, do you think 0 toe in the front is proper or too darty? I kind of miss the straigth-tracking (but more numb) feel right after the install, where the front toe was about 1mm teo-in before the alignment

@Ed - yes, I highly regretted not doing it sooner but I have maximum enjoyment now