mrtoro

i recently acquired a lightly modded c4s without records. So I am sorting through the car and trying to figure out what i have. Last piece of the puzzle is the suspension.

Help me identify the springs and lets talk about other suspension options.


the car is lowered and I was hoping to find coil overs there since the rest of the modifications are top shelf. Unfortunately the part numbers on the shocks are OEM 996 shocks. That leaves me with some aftermarket springs. I know they have been done in the last 15k miles (third owner bought the car at 41k and it was ALL stock at that time.) Now the car has 56k. Here are pictures of the springs. There aren't any marking on them. they lower the ca pretty aggressively. It looks great. Ride is OK but too low. I scrape more often than I would like.

AspenSTI2010

Welcome to the c4s family
Not sure what those springs are though.
As for suspension I have been having debating for months on what to do.
I have finally decided on kw v3 coilovers, arriving tomorrow so will throw up a review once they are put in.
Do you have aftermarket dogbones and drop links to keep your alignment in check?

alpine003

Have you tried cleaning the springs and rotating them to see if there are any other marks on the other side?

mrtoro

i tried looking at the back with a small mirror and did not see anything. did not see logo or part numbers. the part number on the front strut is 996-343-043-27. I did notice that there are rub marks on the front springs. Which tells me that the car is quite often riding fully comnpressed springs. Is that normal?

perryinva

Look like stock springs and height to me. More/other shots might help. Don't know of any other aftermarket springs witht he same cone shaped coils as stock.

mrtoro

Thanks to google I was able to get in contact with the previous owner. He told me that the suspension is all stock including springs. But somehow his mechanic lowered the car. I asked if they cut factory springs he said simply lowered it. Factory system is not height adjustable is it?

Dennis C

Are you sure it's lowered? Any photos of the car from a side view so we can see?

alpine003

Does the bump stop seem cut?

Look under the hood for the options sticker and see if you got the sport package. Could be that PO put on ROW Euro springs as well.

Does your ride seem bouncy at all? This might indicate heated springs to lower the car(hope not).

mrtoro

I will post pics tonight when I am on front of a computer. The ride seem bouncy a little. Not horrible. The springs on the car (let's assume stock) have contact marks especially on the lower coils. As if the coils frequently rest on each other.

Thundertub

I don't think the the coils have "rested" on each other. I would suggest that they have been fully compressed "with great vigor" over an extremely short moment in time. In other words they were jammed together going over a speed bump too fast, or perhaps potholes in the road well travelled.

I had TechArt lowering springs on my car for a few years, and they were waaay too low, unless you were a "tuner" type who enjoys a flashy lowrider.

Several folks here measure the lowness of their cars by measuring the distance from the ground to the top of the wheel well arch, directly in line with the center cap of each wheel. Measure both fronts and both rears. You may be surprised to find out that they may not even match side-to-side. I used a yardstick that also had mm measurements.

Post your results here. There will be many here who run out to the garage right away, measure their heights, and then post back here with the results, including any known suspension mods they have. That may give you a better idea of what seems normal vs modified.

mrtoro

Thank you for the suggestion. Here are the measurement taken to the top of the wheels arch over the center cap:
Driver front 25 1/8
Driver rear 25 1/8
Passenger rear 25 1/4
Passenger front 25 1/4

Based on pictures, comments about the shape of coils resembling factory coils and the previous owner stating that his mechanic just lowered the car (scary) I am thinking either a cut job or heat/shrink.

What do you think?

pmkazz

Your measurements indicate lower than stock ride height for that car.

white out

cut stocker springs?

pmkazz

Or they were replaced with something!!!!!

Thundertub

1999 996 C2 coupe, 6-sp manual, 91,500 miles
M030 RoW full suspension kit installed 08/2010 at 58,500 miles
4 new Michelin Pilot Sport 2 N3 Spec & full 4-whl align 09/2012, 89,500 miles
225/40x18 on 7 1/2 x 18 fr
265/35x18 on 9 x 18 rr

Measurments 11/06/2012 with full tank of gas and no passengers or miscellaneous items in the the car:
Left Front 25 5/8
Right Front 25 7/8
Left Rear 25 7/8
Right Rear 25 7/8