I am about to rebuild the suspension on my 2002 base Boxster (145K miles, lots of clunking, banging, and squeaking). I purchased a set of Bilstein HD struts, and since my plan is to do some track days with the car, I've been thinking that since I'll have the suspension apart, I may as well replace the springs with something a bit sportier.
Although the Boxster handles well, I'm somewhat underwhelmed by it's softness, and benign response when pushing it a bit in quick driving. But I like that the car isn't harsh and doesn't beat you up over rough pavement; yes, I'm looking for that perfect compromise in suspension tuning! Hmm, I must be getting old! Or maybe I've just spent enough time on the track that I want a mellower experience on the street.
The ROW M030 springs and sway bars sound like the way to go, but I'm not too excited about paying $1600 for the kit, as the struts I already have are equivalent as far as the M030 struts. Since the car will primarily be used for street duty, I'm not interested in super stiff or really low springs, so that is why the ROW M030 kit sounds perfect for me. I've been searching, but can't find any used springs/sways for sale, which leaves me with aftermarket options (which appear to be few).
It appears that H & R and Vogtland are the commonly available options. They both claim to lower the car just over an inch, which is not what I really want (I've lived with lowered cars on the street before, and don't want to go through having to be extremely careful over the smallest bumps, avoid driveways that slope, etc.), but since I'm kind of stuck with those kits, I can probably live with an inch lower.
My question to all of you is if any of you have experience with these springs, and especially if paired with the HD Bilsteins. Are they pretty livable on the street? Do you have to be really careful about the car scraping or bottoming over bumps?