Ebay Coilovers - Your Thoughts

[greenerob]

So I am thinking about upgrading my suspension to the M030 this winter. This morning I was looking on eBay on found these that are roughly in the same price range.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190467049083&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170482456770&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with these?

[ekam]

Seriously stuff like these are junk. They go on Civics and Corollas. You do get what you pay for when it comes to suspension.

[Johnny Danger]

I am familiar with the brand in so far as they have been around for a while . I'm sure someone the forum knows more about them.

[JTP]

If they are in the same price range as the M030 I'd go with the M030. It's a proven setup with positive feedback from most users who installed them. When it comes to suspension components I wouldn't trust my life with eBay parts to save a couple bucks.

[yelojkt]

I traded my used Neuspeed cup kit for used FK coilovers (a known cheaper brand) to make a long stroy short I would never do that again. When it come to coilovers I will go with the known good ones. Bilstein; Koni ect.

Some things that I noticed about the D2 Racing set-up, their signal words "D2 Racing Sport" instead of discriptive words like coilovers. The fact that they say their "monotube design" is for less oil leaking. Thats scary. We all know when oil leaks from shocks they quit working. I know it is tempting to save over $1000.00 but when you have to buy a new set in a couple years you realize that you really didn't save money and you also drove around on used up struts for some time. Of course I look at all of my mods as something that I will have to live with for years because I do not move from car to car. If you plan to sell within a year or two than go for it.

[j.fro]

I've got the K-Sports on my car and have been very pleased with them. They've been on the car for more than 2 years and 40,000+ miles, and have seen at least 2 full years of autocrossing. The adjustability is nice, but I really only use three settings: 2 clicks in from full hard, 2 clicks in from full soft, and 18 clicks in from full soft (dead center).
These struts have a number of advantages:
1) each strut is 3-4 pounds lighter than stock
2) The softest setting is way stiffer than stock
3) They give you the ability to set your ride height and corner balance the car
4) The rears have 3 adjustable camber positions
5) The fronts have a much wider range of camber adjustability
6) You can adjust dampening for rough or smooth surface tracks

There are some things to consider:
1) The softest setting is waaay stiffer then stock and the interior WILL develop rattles
2) If you lower the car at all, you are going to need adjustable rear toe control arms to get rid of excessive rear toe-in.
3) depending on the rear wheel/tire combo you've got, you may need wheel spacers to prevent the tire/rim from rubbing the spring or spring collars
4) With the car lowered, you'll have to be very careful about rubbing the front end. There will be places you simply cannot get into.
5) Passengers who get car-sick easily are going to barf in your car

[RandallNeighbour]

+1 on the Ksport Kontrol's. If you have to go non-PSS9's, this is a good setup for less money. Budget for and buy the adjustable rear toe arms. Lower looks and feels a LOT better.

My car turns as if it's on freaking rails. Zero body roll. If you push down on any corner, you hurt yourself because the body just doesn't move. Period.

Just use Insite's recommended spring choices when ordering them instead of what normally is sold for the boxster. I'm glad I did.

$1200 shipped to my door from an eBay seller.

Thanks j.fro for the settings tip. I will try them at the track on Saturday morning. Should I first try the two clicks from hardest and then move to the middle?

PS - #5 is not an exaggeration. The wife will no longer ride in the car for any length of time. "It's too bumpy now" is what I hear.

[Topless]

Originally Posted by greenerob

So I am thinking about upgrading my suspension to the M030 this winter. This morning I was looking on eBay on found these that are roughly in the same price range.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with these?

It really depends on your driving goals.

For sport tuned suspension on the street or the occasional DE, Porsche M030 ROW is hard to beat. It maintains good ride qualities along with a tighter feel, modest lowering, quicker transitions, and it is designed and engineered for your car so it is hard to screw up.

Once you make the leap from street tires to R comps and competitive driving events you may want a more tunable suspension to match your higher levels of grip and your driving style. This is where a good set of adjustable coilovers shine. Adjustability is a double edged sword though. Setting them up right is pretty critical and usually requires math and lots of experience. There are a lot of variables including ride height, rake, spring rates, dampening rates, complimentary sway bar settings, and alignment. Get just one or two wrong and your handling is often worse than stock... which defeats the purpose. About 1/2 the cars with coilovers I instruct in are set up well and make for a good driving experience. The other half are either too stiff, too twitchy, too much bump steer, too much wheel spin, or too unforgiving a novice driver.

If you have the knowledge and experience to do your own suspension setup or are willing to pay an experienced Porsche setup tech to really get it right, you will be rewarded with exceptional razor sharp handling characteristics. Very precise handling is also a double edged sword because it is very unforgiving. An experienced driver will learn to make the most of it on the track and turn very quick laps. A less experienced driver may find the car twitchy and any small mistake will immediately send him into the weeds.

Get very realistic about your driving goals and experience and discuss this with your setup tech before choosing a sport suspension.

[Jinster]

I have a similar setup with G4 Racing coil overs for 3 years now. I am pretty sure all these D2, K-sport and G4 stuff are all the same Made in TW struts, just rebranded.

Major complaint is the ride is very stiff even on the softest setting.

Upsides include lowering, adjustability, reduced bodyroll.

030 is a factory option, so it should be more comfortable than these.

I don't know whether PSS9 or H&R setups feels any softer than these TW ones. Does anyone with PSS9 or H&R care to comment?

Personally, if I was a TW manufacturer, I would just buy some PSS9 and dissemble them and copy the design. You would think you would end up with a very similar product. This sort of stuff really doesn't look too complicated in terms of technology.

Just my $0.02

[mcfly777]

Originally Posted by Jinster

Personally, if I was a TW manufacturer, I would just buy some PSS9 and dissemble them and copy the design. You would think you would end up with a very similar product. This sort of stuff really doesn't look too complicated in terms of technology.

Just my $0.02

Jinster, I agree with almost everything, except the quoted part above. The technology to design and manufacture springs and struts is quite complex (don't know first hand, but reading about it). Not sure how much of it is easily "copyable"... a rough copy is probably not difficult, but assuming that these more expensive brands offer a refined product....

Leo

[Perfectlap]

I would not do coilovers unless you plan to spend ample amounts of time at the track. Autocross will bump you up a class at least without the HP. Any adjustments to the ride height, done properly, requires a whole new set up by your indy specialist to get it properly balanced. My indy does not do that cheap.
On public roads your car will take a pounding and things will start to rattle more and come loose. On a convertible that already has cowl shake to contend with it just makes the rattling even worse.