986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post - Full M030 kit (sways, shocks, springs) 3 years old trade for track setup

steved0x · 02-08-2017, 06:17 AM

If you are just getting started with HPDE, then in my opinion I concur with JayG: the ROW M030 kit from Suncoast is plenty capable for you to get started with. I have been doing HPDE for a little over 3 years and have done the following progression:

A year or two on the worn out stock M030 suspension on my 2000 Boxster S. Was plenty capable but not "tight" and kind of wallowy at times. Adding GT3 LCA in the front helped get some more negative camber and helped with tearing up the edges of my front tires as I got faster.
Then a complete suspension overhaul, new control arms, new track arms, and a stiff coilover suspension (KSports). It just wasn't for me, probably because I was not far enough in my driving to fully appreciate/use the new suspension, and also I made some errors during my tinkering with the setup. The car felt tail happy (a desirable attribute for many advanced drivers) but it just wasn't right for me. I had this for much of the 2016 HPDE season.
I went back to the OEM M030 sport suspension in the fall, but replaced the struts with new Koni FSD struts. The car is much softer than the with the coilovers, but is still much more capable on track than what I am able to take advantage of.

I am going to keep my car in the original M030 suspension for a while, until I can consistently drive the car at its limits. Right now the car is much more capable than me

Who knows, I may never get to that point. If I do then I will consider some setup changes.

Stu - what was the car doing at your first HPDE that you didn't like? One thing I noted that when I rode with instructors at first, their cars felt much more "solid" and "tight" than mine. Some of that was probably due to my worn out struts (100,000+ miles) but some also was my sloppy/floppy technique. Maybe some of that is what you're feeling?

If you really get into HPDE, my recommendation would be to get a seat with some shoulder support. That really made me feel connected to the car the first time I took a corner in my new race seats. A set of GT3 "alien eyes" seats might be a good mod for you and give you some of the feel, if that's what you are missing?

02-08-2017, 06:17 AM	#6
steved0x Registered User Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: FL Posts: 4,144	If you are just getting started with HPDE, then in my opinion I concur with JayG: the ROW M030 kit from Suncoast is plenty capable for you to get started with. I have been doing HPDE for a little over 3 years and have done the following progression: A year or two on the worn out stock M030 suspension on my 2000 Boxster S. Was plenty capable but not "tight" and kind of wallowy at times. Adding GT3 LCA in the front helped get some more negative camber and helped with tearing up the edges of my front tires as I got faster. Then a complete suspension overhaul, new control arms, new track arms, and a stiff coilover suspension (KSports). It just wasn't for me, probably because I was not far enough in my driving to fully appreciate/use the new suspension, and also I made some errors during my tinkering with the setup. The car felt tail happy (a desirable attribute for many advanced drivers) but it just wasn't right for me. I had this for much of the 2016 HPDE season. I went back to the OEM M030 sport suspension in the fall, but replaced the struts with new Koni FSD struts. The car is much softer than the with the coilovers, but is still much more capable on track than what I am able to take advantage of. I am going to keep my car in the original M030 suspension for a while, until I can consistently drive the car at its limits. Right now the car is much more capable than me Who knows, I may never get to that point. If I do then I will consider some setup changes. Stu - what was the car doing at your first HPDE that you didn't like? One thing I noted that when I rode with instructors at first, their cars felt much more "solid" and "tight" than mine. Some of that was probably due to my worn out struts (100,000+ miles) but some also was my sloppy/floppy technique. Maybe some of that is what you're feeling? If you really get into HPDE, my recommendation would be to get a seat with some shoulder support. That really made me feel connected to the car the first time I took a corner in my new race seats. A set of GT3 "alien eyes" seats might be a good mod for you and give you some of the feel, if that's what you are missing? Last edited by steved0x; 02-08-2017 at 06:18 AM. Reason: Typos...