Chrono

The stock 997 ride height is a bit high for my tastes. My car is an S, and I'm actually OK with the stance in the front. Some offset might help to fill in the wheel wells, but I'm OK with the height. Newer tires would help the look, as these are rounded over a bit, which exasperates any gap:


It's the back that bothers me. Especially when light hits it a certain way and exposes all of the dirty junk in the rear portion of the fender well. Again, some offset would help, but it's just too high...


Obviously, that picture, isn't good for highlighting the exposure of the dusty innards, but it does illustrate that the front looks fairly sporty, while the rear is Bronco-style.

Why the discrepancy in height between front and rear? Is the because it's an S and the front is lower than a base? Does this picture look "normal" to you for the S?

So onward to the fixes: I'm thinking of spacers and lowering just in the rear.

Is it odd, not recommended, or plain wrong to just lower the rear? What would my options be for lowering the rear 1.0" to 1.5" or so? Would this cause a driveability issue by not lowering the front?

Secondly, are spacers a pain when removing wheels? Do the spacers just fall off or do they stay snug on the hub?

Thanks for any input.

Chrono

This pic further illustrates the height differential between front and back. Front looks fine to me.

Robocop305

The back seems a little higher than my S. Front looks about right. I ended up going with H&R and I love the look and feel.

StormRune

The back looks a bit high to me as well. Maybe something about the alignment is off as this can affect ride height to some degree.

Buddhamonk

lower offset wheels won't help a whole lot. Trust me I tried with spacers initially and then with wider wheels. Your stock stance looks just like mine (I think the dark color accentuates the gap)
Luckily I have a set of lowering springs in my garage waiting to be installed

sandwedge

Looks like a stock S both front and rear. Front is always a little tighter. I'd go with H&R's on all fours and 7/15mm spacers front and rear for stock wheels. The stance you get with that is right on the mark imo.

PhilD

Looks normal to me.

I would do springs all around, it will look wrong lowered at the rear only and most probably will not handle that great.

They are held on with the two screws that hold the rotors in place.

PhilD

For reference this is with H&R lowering springs and 19 x 8.5 +45 front and 19 x 11 +52 rear rims.

John@Fabspeed

Hnggg!!! ^^ That car looks incredible, flawless execution!

Chrono

Thanks for the excellent responses! Phil's car is spot on the money.

voda

Looks normal. I usually go with " Porsche knows best" and am reluctant to alter anything that may influence handling characteristics. Form follows function. .

englebert

That's a pretty naiive point of view. The release of any road car is subject to various laws and requirements across the various markets Porsche sells cars; the finished product is not the ideal car in their engineers' eyes.

One more vote for the H&Rs. No discernible ride quality loss and the ride height is perfect, especially at the front. If you only fit spacers, it can often just exacerbate the arch gap.

voda

I'm sure I'm not alone, but I don't appreciate being referred to as "naiive" (FYI: it's actually spelled "naive"), so you may want to keep judgmental language that does nothing to positively contribute to a thread to yourself.

In addition, I think your statement about the various laws and requirements and engineers is nonsense. Porsche takes pride in the end product being the best set up for the conditions which the car/driver is meant to experience. I highly doubt the engineers sit around and say, "Let's aim for a really good end product, but let's make sure it's not great. I mean we owe it to the aftermarket guys to give them a chance to make up for our calculated shortcomings. All right guys, let's get cracking and make us a mediocre product!"
Let's face it, the C2S is a daily driver Porsche that needs to appeal to a large population for sales, etc. Jump into a GT2 RS and you'll feel the difference. Every modification you make to a stock C2S will make a difference. Saying it doesn't, is like saying a particular drug doesn't have a side effects when in truth all drugs have side effects, some are just less noticeable. So maybe the mods you make don't make a noticeable difference in function and maybe they'll satisfy your taste in esthetics, or maybe your willing to accept a trade off in function for esthetics. To each his own...I won't consider you "naiive" or naive for your decisions.

IMO, it is usually best to determine the look of the car and experience you desire before purchasing the car and then buy the one that meets your needs and expectations. Usually cheaper and easier to do it this way. This is why when adding another car recently, I personally chose to purchase an F430 over a Scuderia. The Scuderia has a look I like better, but after driving/experiencing, I just had to go with a stock F430.

sandwedge

There's no arguing with that but it seems like they have no choice but to give in to US regulations when configuring cars for delivery here and make them sit taller than the original design calls for. Which (as I've said before) really means that lowering a US sold Porsche isn't a "mod' but a return to factory specs.

Here's a 3-page thread from 6-speed on the subject: http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/9...est-world.html

Buddhamonk

before and after the rear. I actually love the car this way. Ton of clearance on the front (took the car for a short drive around the block to make sure everything was fine before I start doing the front)