$1000 to spend on suspension
 

what would u get? i autox my 03 boxster tiptronic every week during the season...

$1000 is a bit tight, if that includes the cost of alignment.

If you can't stretch to $1500-$2000, then about the only thing you can do for <$1000 is top-flight sways and drop-links. They will make a big difference, so don't discount this as a good starting point.

If you can stretch the budget a bit, then I'd recommend RoW M030 suspension kit + aftermarket drop links. This will cost you closer to $1500 all-in if you do your own wrenching but pay for an alignment.

Good luck...

1000 bucks to spend
 

I would get the GT3 front sway bar, a H&R rear sway and Tarrett adjustable drop links front and rear.

This is the setup I am planning on & best prices I have found:

-GT3 Front Swaybar: http://www.pcars.com/porsche_parts/shop.php/porsche/carrera-2/4/turbo-996-/suspension-steering-system/stabilizer/p_137032.html

-ROW M030 Rear Swaybar: http://e-partssales.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=P&Product_Code =M030RearSway&Category_Code=986sus

(the word is that the rear bar doesn't have nearly the impact as the front bar)

-DesignTek Droplinks F&R: http://www.design911.co.uk/fu/pt65_910_-cma81-cmo82-ct287/Porsche/Boxster/Boxster-986-2-5L-1997-99/Performance-Suspension/Alloy-Drop-Links---Control-Arms/

(There hasn't been much mileage on these, but they are comparatively inexpensive and the initial results are good: http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/20886-upgrading-your-sway-bar-drop-links.html )

-Rear Subframe reinforcement (TechnoBrace): http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site/Performance%20Products.html

-Alignment

What tires are you running?

thanx for the inputs Stroked & Blown

im running 245 all around right now on re01-r ....got them cheap when they were on sale....after that im getting kumho xs the new tire...245 front 275 rear

how about strut tower bar? r they worth getting??

Nope. They do look neato...

~~~~

I guess I should explain a bit more:

There's no harm to adding them, but they don't really do anything unless you have upgraded the rest of the suspension and track/autox the car a lot... then the added strength and stiffness is nice to have.

On an otherwise stock suspension, the "improvement" made by a strut tower brace will be in your imagination... :cool:

A couple of monts ago I picked up a complete MO30 ROW kit ( shocks, springs and sway bars and bushings ) for $1K delivered. Got them from the west cost supplier and they are wonderful. If you do the work yourself all you need is extra money for a good alignment. Not all that hard , just long for all four corners ( for me about 6 hours ). Made a big difference. Ed

1 day Skip Barber course at Laguna or a 1 day course at Russell (Sears point)

Seriously..

I'm working with a guy right now on the handling of his TIP.. Somebody suggested the H&R rear bar.. too stiff. It likes to lift the inside rear wheel..


B

comon brad ....i know any track school will improve my driving skill....i am looking upgrade for the car....but thanx for the head up on h&r rear sway bar is too stiff.. im going with m30 rear sway bar

Stroked & Blown...damn that gt3 front sway bar is outta stock...thats a damn good deal too....grr

That stinks....Just saw it on design911.co.uk for $225. Just search the site for 99634370190

Do a solid search before buying a rear bar for your car. From just my prelim looking around.. the MO30 is nothing more than a stock S rear bar..


B

Retail on the 99634370190 GT3 bar is $408 from Porsche.


B

Udo,
As you are already finding out, there is a lot of steer manure on the internet posing as "Boxster Performance Upgrades". Take your money they will, make your car measurably faster... not so much. I appreciate your enthusiasm. Choose wisely.

If you are running 245/40/17 RE01Rs x 4 you are on very competitive tires for street stock. If you are not already outrunning all of the stock 996s and most of the stock 997s in Auto-X... it ain't the car. :)

With $1000 to spend to get the most real performance gains I would:
Lower the car 1", get a performance alignment, and remove 100lbs of weight. Maybe you will still have a little left over to take honey out to dinner.

My favorites are the front and rear strut tower braces..

Rear tower brace? Are you serious? I've always thought the rear would be stiff enough with the roll bar...

:cheers:

No no.. they are a JOKE. The Boxster (compared to the CaymanS) has a huge STEEL bridge between the rear shock towers!!! The Cayman has nothing. In the front of a Boxster, it has two FACTORY braces in place.. and Porsche thought they were good enough for the GT3 CUP CARS!! and yet I still see people selling strut tower braces (WTF??) Most people never pull back the front plastic and SEE the damn things!! LOL They instead bolt a new shock tower brace OVER them.. LOL


B

Brad,
on my 2000 Boxster S that I use for daily driver and track days (DE), Should I go with ROW M030 or Bilstein PSS9?

thanks.

Go with the Bilsteins. I see you have a 914, so this means you have been driving a mid-engine car for awhile :) I run the Bilsteins with 450 and 500 rate springs with GT3 bar and Tarett 4 way rear bar on a lot of Boxster's. This REALLY balances the car out nicely. It is the same setup we ended up with on the BoxsterSpec cars.

Saying that.. I also have Boxster's with 700 and 800 rate springs under them, but not on PSS9's.


B

Brad, I got my hands on a front S bar, so we'll see how that does on the track. We're doing one little change at a time to see how that affects the car's performance.

There are a few more autocrosses this year - I think I'm going to request another number for the car so that I can run too.

Although it hasn't been mentioned (unless I missed it), GT3 control arms and Brad's recommended alignment settings totally transformed our Tip Boxster.