View Poll Results: Change in ride quality with H&R lowering springs (with PASM)?
Yes; firmer and rougher; less compliant
9
18.37%
Yes; firmer, but still somewhat cushy
17
34.69%
Yes; very hard ride; uncomfortable at times; "jiggles yer jowls"
1
2.04%
None that I can perceive
6
12.24%
Other
16
32.65%
Voters: 49. You may not vote on this poll
H&R lowering springs -- Ride quality?
#1
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H&R lowering springs -- Ride quality?
Now, most of us know that H&R lowering springs are fully compatible with PASM. Most of us would also agree that H&R lowering springs present a visually appealing modification. What remains unclear to me -- since the responses tend to vary -- is how the actual ride quality may or may not be compromised. I understand that the springs make the ride "firmer," but do they necessarily make it a rougher or less compliant ride than stock? Please provide a candid response.
Thanks a ton-and-a-half.
Thanks a ton-and-a-half.
#3
I don't know of anyone who has been disappointed with the H&R's on the 997 P-car. The ride remains supple, but there is a distinct measure of progressive control that prevents your car from uncontrolled "floating" over bumps and undulations at freeway speeds (and greater).
#7
Race Director
It is a bit rougher but on smooth roads it is negligible. The springs definitely look better than stock. The biggest downside, other than $$$, is that the small plastic airdam under the nose tends to scrape if you're not careful.
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#8
does anyone know how this affects the driveability, ( front nose clearance) on an factory aero package ???
i would like to do the springs if someone can tell me its still everyday drivable ????
tks
Casey
i would like to do the springs if someone can tell me its still everyday drivable ????
tks
Casey
#9
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We've had two customers go with the Cargraphic springs and have been very happy with the results. Car looks more aggressive, drives better, and doesn't seem to scrifice ride quality over reasonable roads.
#12
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I'm one that voted "other". I won't mention this again because I brought this up in another thread and had some interesting responses. I had my dealer take the H&R's off at their recommendation. BTW, I have PASM. My symptoms were... whenever I would hit a significant bump in the road my PASM would throw a fault and turn sport mode off. I'm not talking about potholes here, just your typical bump in the road. I generally run with sport mode on but in the softer shock setting (right button on, left button off). When I tried to turn sport mode back on I got a message on the dash that said "sport mode unavailable". The only way to get it to work again was to stop and restart the motor. When I took it to the dealer the shop foreman said because of the lowering springs I only had 3/8" of travel left in the rear shocks. I witnessed the measuring myself, he was right on. This is with the bump stops trimmed as specified in the installation instructions. RUF did the install so I can't imagine there being a problem with the installation. Besides, the dealer shop foreman verified that they were installed correctly and the bumpstops were cut to spec. He said that because of the reduced shock travel available my shocks were "bottoming out", which created the PASM fault. He also said that this reduced travel and contstant bottoming out "made it hard for PASM to do its job". I do miss the ride height with the springs, they look SO much better lowered IMHO. Oh well, whatcha' gonna do huh? One other thing, the shop foreman said that one way to permanently fix this problem MIGHT be to install the shorter shocks from the new GT3 when it comes out. I think I'll just get the whole car instead. Steve
#13
I spoke with ViperBob, a well respected tuner on the 993/996 boards about this. He said the 996 has a shock travel sensor and the parameters can be adjusted through the software to compensate for a lowered vehicle. He didn't know if this was still the case with 997's but did confirm that lowering the car and trimming the bump stops could easily trigger a fault unless the sensor was repositioned or reprogrammed.
MC
MC
#14
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I appreciate the input about the travel sensor. I'm not sure if the 997 has it either. It's reasonable to believe that even if there was a sensor to move, there is still only so much the shock can PHYSICALLY travel with the lowered springs. In other words, the shocks would still bottom out whether there is a sensor or not. Thanks for looking into it.
Last edited by FlyingLow; 06-06-2006 at 05:24 PM.
#15
Originally Posted by FlyingLow
I appreciate the input about the travel sensor. I'm not sure if the 997 has it either. It's reasonable to believe that even if there was a sensor to move, there is still only so much the shock can travel with the lowered springs. In other words, the shocks would still bottom out whether there is a sensor or not. Thanks for looking into it.
The interesting thing is that lowering springs generally achieve their objective by reducing travel and stiffening things up a bit. In most cases, this wouldn't trigger an error because the bump stops won't allow shock travel any further than stock. However, in an effort to make the suspension travel a bit longer, your bump stops were cut. Seems like a reasonable approach to me. This probably allowed the ride to be more compliant but creates a new set of issues. For what it's worth, ViperBob said he wouldn't cut the bump stops when installing the springs.
I'm going to install H&R's on my car when it arrives but I'll leave the bump stops alone and report on the result.
MC