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Yes and they were not paying attention I guess. Going back on Fri. I like my SA there but so much gets lost in between that I ask for and what is written on the work order. I do not get it...
First off, we must define "lowering springs". Lowering a car by 30mm is a lot. 15 or 20mm on a base car just brings it into the area of S or sport. My story is (997.2 C2 base ) Tech-Art Eibach springs , B6 shocks and then Eibach swaybars. The springs lower the car by about 15 to 20mm. Everything works perfect! Having said that, the B6 shocks are actually longer than the stock ones in uncompressed state. This makes (at least for me) more difficult to install the rear ones since the new B6 are so stiff that getting them up over the hub carrier horn was a bear. The front ones were easy as they still swing out under the fender lip with no issue.
Bottom line- B6 works just fine like everybody says , unless your definition of "lowering" is a big number. Pic is of stock rear shock and new B6. The B8 would be for a big drop setup.
Get the B6 and be happy!
Thanks for the update. My concern is that I have H&R 25/40mm drop currently on my Audi Q3 small size suv (yes I came here lurking for answers), and they're currently equipped on Bilstein B4 OE replacements. Bilstein sell the B12 kit with B6 and Eibach mild lowering 25/25mm, but I want to use the H&R springs instead as I prefer the 40mm drop at the rear. Being an SUV it doesn't lower too crazy, right now there's still about a 3 finger gap on the front and rear opposed to 5 finger gap when it was stock.
They don't make B8 bilstein for my car, so the other option was Koni Yellow but not sure how I feel about adjusting the dampening every now and then.
The fact that the 40mm springs aren't bottoming out on the rear with the B4s and the car is somewhat still comfortable (bouncey at times on those uneven dip roads at high speeds), I assume the 40mm rear spring will be even better with the B6s?
I do not miss the lowering springs and cannot stand the B6 struts STILL. If I keep this car it will get a custom set of Ohlins coilovers. Big hits aren’t terrible with my combo but washboard and repetitive bumps are just the worst on your spine. Add really light wheels to that and it’s bad.
Rebound is waaaaaayyyyy too fast so the car still pogo sticks over washboard bumps and undulating pavement. Potholes I can swerve and miss. Cornering is great still. Again, living in the suburbs over manicured pavement you’d never know how hard/fast the rebound is set on the B6. Highway and track driving is same. On the track these are a dream. Driving a 997 rally car over bad road it’s a nightmare unless you like spinal disc compression and losing your teeth. I’ve started thinking a 991 is the next option.
Sorry to hear the experience didn't work out with the B6s and springs. I'm def not down for back problems, recently pulled a QL muscle and was out 3 days straight could not walk and with a 2 week recovery.
Just awaiting a reply from Bilstein if their B12 kit are B8 or B6's paired with Eibach 25/25 springs, once again for a audi q3 medium sized SUV so I'm assuming the design is going to be somewhat quality for comfort aswell as improved handling with a very mild height drop.
I could imagine lowering on a 997 as a daily with or not so great roads to drive on in general would be terrible.
So are you currently running B6's without lowering springs (stock springs only)?
So I refreshed my suspension and got new B6s and mounts etc. Was previously on stock C2S absorbers, with Eibach springs.
Now my car (especially the front) rides high - 2 finger fender gap now vs 1 finger previously. Workshop assured me that the new stuff will take time to settle down. But my question is - should I have gone for the B8s for a lower ride height? Or are the bodies of the B6 and B8 dimensionally identical and there wouldn't be any difference in ride height, whichever choice?
Thanks.
PS: Yes, I'm aware that Eibach recommends B8 to pair with lowering springs.
I also installed the B6 struts with H&R lowering springs and my car sits higher. Like previously mentioned, there was a one finger gap and now there is a two finger gap. I’m not sure if this is caused because I haven’t gotten an alignment or because I used B6 instead of B8 with lowering Springs.
I think it's due to new absorbers, compared to stock ones (mine was 15 years and 150k+ km old). Hopefully in time, it will settle some bits. There will be NO diff wrt B6 and B8. I emailed Bilstein, this their reply:
"Thanks for your enquiry. The BILSTEIN B8 has no influence on the vehicle height. Compared to the B6, it is only shortened in the extended length. The setting of the two products (B6 vs. B8) is identical."
ADD: my original email:
"I am currently using Eibach springs with original absorbers on my 2009 911, for a lowered look. My question is - will installing the B8 create a lower ride height, compared to installing B6? Or there wouldn't be any difference in ride height, whichever choice I make?"
I feel like this is kind of confusing and even mechanics do not understand:
B4 = OEM PASM shock. These are the shocks that came on your car if you have PASM.
B6 = upgrade from OEM same/same everything else. So, sportier. I am guessing different valving.
B8 = upgrade from OEM shorter piston and/or shock body. So, sportier and designed for (specifically) Eibach Pro Kit Springs. ...like literally, I have heard the B8s were designed for the Eibachs and resemble coilovers without adjustable threads for height.
I am assuming each shock has some variation in valving but IDK this information.
All of these options work with Eibach Pro Kit Lowering Springs without issue from my experience.
What I noticed is, Eibachs with the B4 and B6 do seem to sit ±5mm higher than with the B8s. Remember, ±5mm is 1 finger or less, so this is slight. However, to OCD people talking about this stuff on a forum, that seems like A LOT. I would assume this is due to the shorter shock body and/or piston on the B8 over the B4/B6 shock body and/or piston.
Last, unfortunately, I would like my rear to be lower by ±5mm and my front to be higher by ±5mm to make the car perfectly level. I do not think anyone can tell but the truly obsessed but the difference between my car with the B8 kit and my car with the GT3 coilovers set up properly (B16s) is that the B8 kit has some rake (mainly rear is marginally higher than the front). Last, I haven't done this yet but there is some discussion we have had in other threads on if the spring pads being swapped out can make a difference since Porsche sells a roughly 3mm and a roughly 6mm one. In the future, I may put the 3mm in the rear and the 6mm one in the front to see if this changes anything...BUT at this point, you have to make a decision, do you want the B4/B6/B8 + lowering springs very comfortable daily driving qualities, or what I would consider the much harsher (especially on long trips) coilover options? If you have coilovers, this discussion is pretty irrelevant.
Me: "When you say the settings of B6 and B8 are identical, are you saying that the internal structure and valving are the same for both, and they should behave the same way for the same set of springs (eg. Eibsch Pro-kit)?"
Bils: "The term "setting" refers to the compression and rebound adjustment of the shock absorber. The decisive difference between B6 and B8 is the extended length. The B6 is standard length for the combination with the springs of the standard suspension, as opposed to the B8 which is shortened in the extended length, in order to be able to use it for shorter lowering springs up to max. 50 mm (guaranteeing the preload of the lowering springs in the unloaded state). That is the decisive factor in this case."
I feel like this is kind of confusing and even mechanics do not understand:
B4 = OEM PASM shock. These are the shocks that came on your car if you have PASM.
B6 = upgrade from OEM same/same everything else. So, sportier. I am guessing different valving.
B8 = upgrade from OEM shorter piston and/or shock body. So, sportier and designed for (specifically) Eibach Pro Kit Springs. ...like literally, I have heard the B8s were designed for the Eibachs and resemble coilovers without adjustable threads for height.
I am assuming each shock has some variation in valving but IDK this information.
All of these options work with Eibach Pro Kit Lowering Springs without issue from my experience.
What I noticed is, Eibachs with the B4 and B6 do seem to sit ±5mm higher than with the B8s. Remember, ±5mm is 1 finger or less, so this is slight. However, to OCD people talking about this stuff on a forum, that seems like A LOT. I would assume this is due to the shorter shock body and/or piston on the B8 over the B4/B6 shock body and/or piston.
Last, unfortunately, I would like my rear to be lower by ±5mm and my front to be higher by ±5mm to make the car perfectly level. I do not think anyone can tell but the truly obsessed but the difference between my car with the B8 kit and my car with the GT3 coilovers set up properly (B16s) is that the B8 kit has some rake (mainly rear is marginally higher than the front). Last, I haven't done this yet but there is some discussion we have had in other threads on if the spring pads being swapped out can make a difference since Porsche sells a roughly 3mm and a roughly 6mm one. In the future, I may put the 3mm in the rear and the 6mm one in the front to see if this changes anything...BUT at this point, you have to make a decision, do you want the B4/B6/B8 + lowering springs very comfortable daily driving qualities, or what I would consider the much harsher (especially on long trips) coilover options? If you have coilovers, this discussion is pretty irrelevant.
here is a picture of my car to break up the text:
Oh man. Thank you for mentioning Spring Pads. I've been dealing with uneven ride height with my new H&R + B8 setup on my 996 C4S and I was convinced that something was wrong. I now think that I have the wrong spring pad configuration.
Here is my struggle. The beginning is me deciding what setup to get. Skip to the end to see where the ride height issues come in.
07-15-2018, 04:17 PM
