boxster vs 996 handling

[sgt brad]

I have owned my 2002 996 C2for close to a year now. I traded my Boxster S for it to have a back seat for my daughter (snicker if you must...). I have addressed the IMS issue and redid the suspension.

On my Boxster I had Bilstein sports and H&R bars/springs. It was stiff, but not awful and handled really well. It was a significant improvement in fun factor over the stock set-up. The only downside was it was way too low.

Enter the 996. I researched going the ROW M030 option or biting the bullet and jumping in with PSS9 coilovers. However, I didn't want to go as stiff as PSS9. I almost pulled the trigger on the ROW set-up until I realized that I had about 3500.00 in credits on Amazon.

I searched for a few weeks to determine what I could get that would work for me on Amazon and I realized that Eibach had a set-up that 993 users loved. It was progressive, but really improved the dynamics. It coupled the Eibach springs and bars with Koni FSD struts. There was very little out there as far as reviews for the 996, but since the cost to me was only going to be the install and alignment I figured why not.

My original suspension had 56k miles on it and a leaking front strut. I suspected a rear strut was probably going bad as well because the rear end felt very un-planted and "loose." It felt like weird dynamics if you lane changed at 70mph without lifting off of the throttle. Almost like the sway bar wasn't attached if that makes any sense.

So I had the new suspension installed and an alignment that was between stock 996 c2 and gt2 specs done. I have driven the car about 2k miles since the install and everything certainly feels tighter, but the rear end still has that same vague feeling that it had with the stock suspension. My Boxster was tight as a tick and lane changes were almost telepathic. I am left wondering.

The FSD and Eibach setup is supposed to mimic stock ride quality but with improved handling as the suspension loads. I can say that it certainly didn't negatively affect the comfort and only minimally lowered the ride height. My wife never noticed the difference. I am just curious if this handling trait is a side effect of the 911 butt mounted motor vs the mid-engine arrangement of the Boxster. Anyone have any ideas on how to "tighten" the rear end up without making it ride like a brick? Gosh I miss my Boxster....

Brad