ROW M030 and H&R Springs suspension questions

[aren040]

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

First of all how much does the ROW kit lower the car?

It depends on your model,I CONFIRMED THAT THE 5SPD ROW KIT IS ONLY $922 FROM SUNSET IMPORTS!!!!!!I'M DEFIANETELY TRYING TO HAVE THAT INSTALLED BY SUMMER TIME!

I was under the impression that it was about an inch anyway.

20mm drop in the front,10mm drop in the rear after it settles.

Also the ROW kit that all of you are asking about, does it come specific for the Base model or the S?

Yes it is specific pending on engine & tranny.

He also stated to get the S front sway bar as it was thicker than the base front sway bar for the ROW M030.

The front 5spd RoW sway bar and base 'S' sway bar are the same part.

Thanks for clearing some of that up. But for the Sway bars I was under the impression to get the ROW Front bar for the S and get the ROW rear bar for the Base. Apparently in the ROW system the Base kit has a bigger rear sway than the S kit, but the S kit has a bigger front sway than the Base kit. I hope that helped clear up a few things.

-aren

[insite]

hi. i have the RoW (purchased from Sunset). i have also messed with Boxsters riding on Eibachs or H&R's. in my opinion, both the Eibach and the H&R lower the car too much, ESPECIALLY if you have an aftermarket nose (i.e. GT3). i have the GT3 nose with the M030 RoW; my front ground clearance is 3.8". that is not much.

additionally, the ride height on H&R or Eibach is so low as to prevent proper geometry / camber settings without additional parts (particularly in the rear). your rear tires will toe out too far to wear (or drive) properly. you will need GT3 or Fabcar shimmable control arms and a set of Tarett toe steer arms if you want to correct this. we're talking well over a grand for this stuff.

now, the H&R aren't as bad as the Eibach. the Eibach are WAY low, whereas the H&R are ALMOST alignable, but still too low for nice aftermarket bumpers. with Eibach, the tires actually sit within the fenders (no visible gap at all). another issue with both the Eibach and H&R has to do with wedge; the Eibach and H&R lower the car evenly (i think) whereas the RoW lowers the car more in front. this dials out some of the factory understeer present in the base car. the aftermarket guys don't give you this benefit.

my opinion? go with the M030. get the S front sway and the base rear sway (this will cost slightly more as the S sway is about $50 more than the base). also, if you want more performance, consider going with Bilstein Sport struts ($800 from shox.com) rather than the factory M030 dampers; they're more aggressively valved. FYI, the M030 without the dampers from sunset is around $350, giving a total of $1150 with the Bilstein dampers.

don't forget to align it right! front camber should be -.6 for slow, -1.0 for spirited and -1.6 for aggressive. rear camber should be -1.8 or -1.9 no matter what. run zero toe up front and a little toe in on the rear.

i'll post some pics of Eibach vs. RoW when i get home so you can visually see what i'm talking about. i don't have pics of the H&R handy. anyone?

[insite]

ok, the one on the left is my M030. the one on the right is Eibach. i wish i had a better close up shot, but this is it (taken from Talladega Grand Prix last Thursday).

[thenavarro]

Everyone,

Thanks for all the opinions. I've about decided to do just ROW M030 setup and sell the H&R Springs. I'll give a review once I have everything rolling.

Take care,

Mike

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by thenavarro

Everyone,

Thanks for all the opinions. I've about decided to do just ROW M030 setup and sell the H&R Springs. I'll give a review once I have everything rolling.

Take care,

Mike

Right on! I bet your decision will prove right in the long run and performance wise. I'm not even going to mix and match 'S' shocks w/ RoW gear,I'm going straight to RoW like you.

Good Luck!

[98Boxster98]

Mike -

Are you using Ruf Auto Centre for the install? That would be cool if they install parts purchased elsewhere.

[thenavarro]

Hi 98 Boxster 98,

Yes, I use Ruf for all my maintenance and any swaps I want to make that I'm not comfortable doing myself. They are cool with installing parts, pieces etc. that I bring in. Hans and Wayne are great guys there to work with. If you go, tell them Mike from Waxahachie sent you! Take care,

Mike