So my new to me 997 c2 is due’ish for new shocks/struts (60k miles) and I also really want to eliminate the horrendous wheel gap. I’ve narrowed it down to a few choices mainly due to budget. Car is a weekend/canyon car and may see an occasional autocross/ hpd event. I’ve experienced doing springs then coils on previous cars. So here what I was thinking.

1. BC racing Coliovers

2. Bilstein b8s and H and R springs

3. Found a brand new in box “used set” feal 441+ coilovers with swift springs

4. Track one engineering coilovers, small company, don’t know much about them?

5. h and r springs. Deal with ride quality/ handling and Live on current shocks/ struts for time being and spend the money elsewhere?

thoughts?

 

I'd say option 1 or 2. I've read good things about BC Racing Coilovers and have experience with Bilsteins (have the B16 Damptronics on my car). Don't know anything about options 3 or 4. Regarding #5, good coilovers result in a nice improvement to the stock suspension, let you adjust for the stance and travel you want, and let you corner balance the car.

 

If your shocks aren't leaking I would simply vote for Option 5, otherwise you can do Option 5+ with Bilsteins OEM shock replacements especially if you don't track your car. If you want to spend money and you don't have PASM I would invest in Ohlins Road & Track.

 

I had a leaky rear shock and went the BC Racing coilover route. So far, so good in my book. Car looks great with the slight (~1 inch) lowering, ride quality is good but I've kept it on the soft side so far (think I'm at +10 front/+12 rear from softest) and complete unscientific testing shows I can carry about +5 mph more comfortably through some local familiar on-ramps and chicane interchanges. Generally speaking, ride quality and noise is close to OEM. Only negative difference I've noticed on some really hard/jarring bumps there is more of a metallic noise that what I recall. Must be less rubber in the bushings and mounting hardware. For the price though I'm very happy.

 

I had the same dilemma with a leaking strut. After consideirng OEM struts and mounts, I decided that the delta wasn't too big for coilovers. Initially, BCR was well received on the 997 forums. I looked elsewhere on BCR and found that many are happy with them. I spoke to my mechanic who insisted to stick with Bilstein, KW or Ohlins. I've gone with forum suggestions over indy in the past and my indy was right. I have to trust who actually installs these parts and gets real feedack from customers who daily, track, etc. I wasn't interested in KW since I don't need stainless steel shock bodies and don't need dual adjustment that's hard to access. That left me with Bilstein and Ohlin. I've read on Audi forums that PSS9 are bouncy and that was my last impression of them. If I had PASM, I'd go Bilstein damptronic. I ended up with Ohlin R&T as the best option. All 3 of these are competitively priced with each other. I looked at strut/lowering springs again and OEM due to pricing concerns. I knew both of these would not make me happy due to OEM ride height and not having a lowering spring/strut combo matched by manufacter. Back to Ohlins, had to save up and pulled the trigger. My indy is installing this month. We'll get in there to decide what control arms need replacement. I've purchased new strut mounts, OEM, I want to keep it quiet.

For you, I'd recommend waiting to get what you really want. I looked at Feal and Fortune Auto as small companies. I think you'd be happy with the Feal coilovers and long-term support. I know adjustability is usually a set it and forget it. Don't do springs alone for obvious reasons. I'd rank Feal first then BCR second. I think you do get what you pay for with the name brand with R&D, support, rebuilds. I'm super excited to try out what Ohlin came up with for the 997. I had 2-way adjustable Ohlin on my Audi and the damping was superb. That was on 700/1100 spring rates, so the 997 on 340/680 plus being 900lbs lighter should be perfection. Once you go down the rabbit hole of strut mounts (likely shot) and control arm prices, you start to realize no suspension refresh will be affordable, even with $1250 coilovers and doing it yourself. BCR should ride well enough and lower the car, but I wouldn't consider it a performance option. I think most of us 997 owners don't want to just lower the car, we want performance too. I got rear adjusters for the Ohlins so it should be super simple to go from 5 clicks (track) to 15 clicks (street).

 

I am rocking Feal 441+ with Swifts on my C4, no complaints here. Reason for the choice is reviews, and one of few companies that offered AWD version of coilovers additionally they are known for their Subaru + Nissan kits and have been in business for a while.

 

For just springs and struts I'd go B8 + Eibach - take out the wheel gap perfectly, H&R's are a tad lower and just a little too low for my taste.....