hey all,

I had an extremely annoying squeak at low speeds over speed bumps and after some investigation it was the rear strut mounts. Ok, so we're going to take the car apart and I wanted some feedback whether to go OEM or just do coilovers. The suspension is nearly 20 years old, so I'd like some feedback. Couple points:

- 2005 997 non-S with rebuilt 3.8L engine
- Car has too much body roll when driving aggressively (i have been ruined by driving a colleague's 991 GT3)
- Really would prefer the car not be too harsh for hill country drives

Any pointers? Local shop said they do a lot of K&W installs. Thank you

 

I might start with a re-fresh of OEM suspension or bilsteins with fresh tires, I have been on the Hill country roads and an aggressive GT3 type setup is overkill.

 

So, it all depends on what your end goal is. If you don't care to be lowered, stick to OEM suspension, otherwise consider the coilovers.

My car being a 2005 as well, needs a full suspension overhaul also, and I'm about to get that done over the next 2 months or so.

 

What do you want though since it's your car? Going directly to coil overs is a huge jump for just squeaking strut mounts. Yes, the car is 20 yrs and so are the other bushings. You'll also need to address the LCA, sway bar bushings as well.

 

Would like the car to be more aggressive (way less body roll) when cornering but still drivable on crappy roads. If I wanted to go aftermarket suspension parts, now would be the time to do it

 

I went from the stock suspension on my 2005 C2S (daily driven) to Ohlins R&Ts. Tunable. Much less body roll. Lowered the ride height about 0.75". I don't feel that I increased the negatives more than I increased the positives. At the same time, I replaced all the rubber containing parts. After putting everything back together, I had it corner balanced and 4-wheel aligned with as much camber as the stock parts would allow.

In hindsight, the other option I should have considered more thoroughly - replacing any worn stock parts (even the struts) and then adding the TPC Racing DSC controller. And part of the reason for not considering it more - I wanted to reduce the ride height.

 

Mine is lowered just on Eibach's and when I took it to the track for a HPDE, the body roll was ridiculous. Once I got back, I look at possible solutions, aftermarket sway bars and even GT3 suspension. As I looked into coilovers and my experience with aftermarket coilovers, the stiffer ride is the always the tradeoff.

From what I've read around here, Bilstein's with the DSC controller is the sweet spot. If you want GT3 type handling, OEM GT3 coilovers since it has the helper spring, OEM GT3 swaybars and OEM GT3 LCA's is also a good option and what I'd like to go with on my 997.1. You'll need to be able to adjust the camber and toe so the OEM Carrera LCA are the limiting factor.

 

Your car is 20yrs old (like most of ours but we don’t know the mileage), non-pasm, you want less body roll, and don’t want a harsh ride.

Sounds to me like a new set of Bilstein b4s or b6s (even firmer) with fresh shock/strut tower mounts and bearings all around (bump stops as needed) , coupled with either oem PASM or Eibach springs would be a big improvement over what you currently have. Won’t break the bank either.

Regards,

 

Bilstein B16s with DSC controller is perfection

 

By your reference to the Hill Country I’m guessing you’re in the Austin area. Which is to say you’ll be driving on ****ty roads. Be careful about balancing stiffening up the suspension with driveability. The nice thing about the stock setup on the non-pasm cars is that it eats bad roads like they’re nothing. You could rebuild the stock setup with Bilstein B6’s and have it be a little better damped than stock. It won’t lower the car any (it may even raise it a hair due to higher strut pressure and longer stroke) but the car will be stiffer and more comfortable at the same time and will eat our ****ty roads.

 

What setting do you have the B16 adjusted to? IIRC, you can turn the dial on each strut to go firmer or softer. Or, perhaps it doesn’t matter with the DSC. Thanks!

 

B16s are a PASM based coilovers so everything is managed electronically. The DSC allows the shocks to be fully dynamic based on g-forces so they can ride soft until you turn and then automatically stiffen. You can control the stiffness range.

 

not having pasm + smaller brakes are two reasons I regret getting the non-S. DSC + refreshed oem/b16s would the the best of both worlds.

 

thanks! I am in Austin I’ll ask the tech about going this route.

 

Sorry, I missed that this was a non-s. B12 would be the best Bilstein choice for that.