Advice Needed on Suspension Upgrade

[Bob in Philly]

I've decided to upgrade the suspension on my 2000 Boxster S, but want to do so
with as little sacrifice in ride comfort as
possible.

Should I just do sport springs, such as Eibach, H&R, etc., and stay with stock
shocks? If so, which brand is least harsh?

Or, should I do sport springs and shocks
and, if so, which brand(s) will improve performance without causing too harsh a ride on poorly repaved city streets?

Thanks in advance!!

[Ad Sach]

Bilstein PSS9 (9-way adjustable coilovers) would be a good choice. More expensive than sport springs, but more adjustment options. I hear you can set it up for competitve driving and then back to a pothole street setup with a few minutes on a lift.

If you plan to drive the car competitively, these springs will pretty much bump you into a class of competition where the Boxster is out of it's league. For street and DE at the track, the PSS9 setup is highly recommended.

[rxgolf]

Where can we get that set up & what's the cost?

[jwocky]

Originally posted by Ad Sach
Bilstein PSS9 (9-way adjustable coilovers) would be a good choice. More expensive than sport springs, but more adjustment options. I hear you can set it up for competitve driving and then back to a pothole street setup with a few minutes on a lift.

If you plan to drive the car competitively, these springs will pretty much bump you into a class of competition where the Boxster is out of it's league. For street and DE at the track, the PSS9 setup is highly recommended.

It requires getting the car on a lift to change the settings? For BMW's I think you can just dial in the settings at the strut mounts. I've never noticed - are our strut mounts exposted in the front and rear?

[Brucelee]

Bob,

Might I suggest that you start with tires and perhaps wheels first as you may get the result you want w/o touching the suspension per se.

I have found the quality of tire to be a huge factor in handling and overall feel of the car. Wheel size can also impact this , and of course, having 18" wheels can visually be quite stunning. The other advantage is that you can pull these off pretty quickly if you decide to change for comfort reasons. Not so easy to do with shocks etc.

I recently had a Boxster in stock that had 18" wheels from a 911. Subjectively, this Boxster handled more sharply and it certainly looked very trick indeed.

Just a thought!

[Bob in Philly]

I believe your advice to first drive my Boxster S with the 18" wheels and PS2's I plan to put on it, brfore making any suspension changes, is very sensible. So, that is what I will do!!

Thanks.

[Brucelee]

"I believe your advice to first drive my Boxster S with the 18" wheels and PS2's I plan to put on it, brfore making any suspension changes, is very sensible. So, that is what I will do!!

Thanks"

Best of luck. Let us know how this turns out for you! Pictures to be posted of course!

[IceBox]

I have the 18" Turbo-look wheels on and while I don't find the handling wanting, I also think some added stiffness with some springsand/or shocks will only improve the car's grip. I've found the back end a little 'soft' at the track in stock set-up, though I don't have an 'S', so this may not be as pronounced on your car. My Pfaff mechanic has told me Apex-I springs and stock shocks will greatly increase grip and handling while reducing ride comfort by only 20%. How he arrives at this equation is a mystery, but it will be the next thing I do, so I'll let you know.