The owner of this Black on Black 2005 996 Turbo S cabriolet originally came in for a SharkWerks Stage II performance kit and HRE P40s... a recent second trip meant overhauling the stock suspension for something VERY street-worthy (he drives it every day) and yet lower, tighter and more aggressive. So back on the lift she goes:



The stock factory rear springs:


We remove the stock springs and install the TechArt lowering spring kit, which lowers the ride by 20mm:


And installed:


Also in the front:


Once the springs are installed we remove the factory sway bars in favor of 3-way adjustable H&R sway bars which are not only thicker but solid also. The front one is more involving to remove:


Rear H&R sway bar installed:


To further improve the rear we also replaced the factory upper links with the RSS Dogbones and Toe-Steer Kit:


The rear link kit allows the negative camber in the rear to be correctly adjusted to factory specifications, improving handling and road feedback. On lowered cars, the OEM links do not allow for sufficient adjustment, which forces an improper alignment and leads to excessive tire wear. The Adjustable Rear Link (AKA, "Dog Bone") Kit was designed to eliminate this problem. This entire set up runs for less than a coil over kit but offers considerably better compliance on the street as far as ride comfort and minimal movement goes. Additionally, the neoprene bushings have been replaced with steel monoballs, resulting in more direct handling feel and less movement among suspension components. On the Toe-steer upgrade the factory toe steer link and its limited adjustment results in incorrect toe geometry. This part replaces the OEM part with a fully adjustable unit, allowing the toe to be adjusted to factory specifications. The inner, neoprene bushing is also replaced with a steel monoball, which reduces dynamic changes in rear toe and further tightens up the car's handling.

Here she is ready to go home:





Just to give you an idea of the before:

And the after:

 

Good work that turbo looks awesome, good for the owner

 

Thank you! He seemed pretty stoked yesterday...

 

Reviving a thread b/c I've been looking at suspension options. ^ seems like a reasonable alternative to coil-overs, but there is a lot of chatter on these boards suggesting that lowering the turbo on original equipment shocks results in an inferior set-up than stock.
Sharkwerks has a good rep, so I would tend to think that they wouldn't install suspension components that didn't improve the system.

 

JG, it all depends on what you want to do to the car? If you want to install springs and park the car and look at it > it's a great option (smile). However, if you want to DRIVE the car and track the car coilovers are the better solution.

The reason is>> The struts do NOT have enough travel to perform correctly. The rod bottoms out when you shorten the travel with lowering springs. You can get away with this on most cars, but on this platform the results aren't good. Spend the extra cash and get replacement coilovers.. Recommendations are Bilstein PSS10, PSS9s, H&R's, Motons, Ohlins, JRZ...

 

What he ^ said...

 

What if you don't want to drop the money for coilovers? Are you recommending that we stay stock?

 

I take it then, if lowering coilovers are used, you still have to use the new dog bones to get a proper rear alignment? How does that affect the front suspension; do components need to be swapped?

 

Thoughts on KW V3?

 

I didn't understand the alignment thing unless he is talking about camber in the rear. I lowered using the x73. The minmum negative on the rear is greater than the stock setup, but thats simple geometry and by design. No alignment or excessive wear problems in almost 8000 miles.

Agree with others that lowering springs help with looks, but aren't a real performance solution.

 

Okay for a DD but not for the track. Looks good though, nice job!