anyone else think their car needs lowered?

[dmcutter]

Based on comments from another forumite and the posted measurements of lowered vs stock cars, I am about positive my S was lowered by the original owner. Is there an easy way to visually verify what was done, i.e. any sort of identifying marks on springs, etc? Is this something that the car would have to be on a lift to look at? I guess the obvious answer would be to try to track down the original owner and ask him...

[dmcutter]

Okay, that was easy. Googled the original owner and called him. Sho nuff, Eibach springs. Dang, there's like NOTHING left to do to my car except the turbo or supercharger....

[Bavarian Motorist]

Just a question:

Can I lower my car w/ just lowering springs? Do I NEED the entire setup?

If so, I would like to do this. They aren't that expensive!

Well... You could...
You could also take a blow torch to the springs to collapse them, thatd be "cheaper" if thats what your looking for. Oh ya, they wouldnt work any more and itd be like driving a cinder block.

[Bavarian Motorist]

Well, is it realistic to just use the springs? I guess that's a better question.

Ya, people do it all the time. You wont get the same benefits as a full coil over suspension, but if you dont track the car you wont mind too much. The reasoning against only getting springs is that if your gonna blow $600 bucks on install, you might as well pay another $700 for the shocks.

[Bavarian Motorist]

Do you recommend just saving a couple hundred more and getting the entire pss9 suspension?

I found it for 1795 I think...

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by Bavarian Motorist

Just a question:

Can I lower my car w/ just lowering springs? Do I NEED the entire setup?

If so, I would like to do this. They aren't that expensive!

Hi,

One drawback to using only springs to lower the car is that the geometry is not preserved. You will increase the negative camber which will increase the car's tire-eating abilities...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[z12358]

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

One drawback to using only springs to lower the car is that the geometry is not preserved. You will increase the negative camber which will increase the car's tire-eating abilities...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Any drawbacks to using spacers like lwc did?

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by z12358

Any drawbacks to using spacers like lwc did?

Hi,

Generally not, but there are a couple of caveats.

• Not all spacers are created equal. Be sure to use quality hub-centric spacers. The cheaper ones are often not machined to exacting tolerances and vary considerably. This can induce a tire imbalance. Also, they must be installed carefully, it's very easy to introduce some variation just by installing them willy-nilly.
  
  Keep the spacers to no more than 17mm. Going wider effectively softens the Spring Rates because you are essentially lengthening the lower control arm and it's angles. Too wide, and again, you induce greater negative camber. It will also change your steering response at the limit, something which may cause someone unfamiliar with the feel to improperly respond with negative consequences.
  
  Finally, whenever doing any work to the Wheels, Tires, Suspension, you need to get a full 4-wheel alignment. Alignment isn't as permanent as many people seem to think. Hit one good bump or Pothole, and you'll likely throw it off. Everytime I auto-x my cars or track my formula vee, the alignment is altered. This needs to be done much more often than many people think to remain spot on. On a Street Car, it should be done annually, or whenever doing any work to the areas mentioned above.

Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[porsche986spyder]

I've had 2 other cars in the past and only lowered them by using springs.On my turbo Neon, I used Eibach with no need to replace the shocks or buy an expensive coilover kit. My second car was a superchaged, not turbo, PT Cruiser. It too was only lowered using springs. I used H&R. Now keep in mind this was only done for astetics. So if your doing it just for the looks, there is no need to buy a complete coilover system. But if you want to take it to the track, by all means, use a complete coil over kit. I had 18" rims and tires on both cars with no problems. These cars were driven on a daily basis. As for the alignment, absolutely. That should be done anyway with out beign even said, at least as a maintenance issue also. So far I have not heard anyone mention sway bars or strut tower braces. If your going to lower your car and change the wheel size then you will want to add both of these to the front and rear. As for the camber, that should be done when the car is give the alignment. All of which can be adjusted and dialed in. Considering the ride quality of my boxster, I'm still not sure if I would lower my car, only because I feel it is to low already. I have 18" rims and tires on it now. But if I dicided to lower it, I would only buy the springs, strut tower braces and some better anti-sway bars. As for cutting stock springs, I would definately advise against it. Stock springs are not made of the same thickness of metarial used on aftermarket lowering springs. Plus the after market srings are pre-wound closer together for a stiffer spring rate. People who cut thier springs will notice a bouncey feel, and you shocks will surely go out very fast. That's my 2 cents!

[eslai]

My two cents, even though it probably is redundant at this point:

Lowering a car "on-the-cheap" will always give you unsatisfactory results. I personally say "don't screw with the suspension".

I've had a lot of experience with different suspension setups on my Eclipse. We did a lot of prototyping for different suspension setups for race and street, especially trying to find a cost-effective and viable setup that could perform well on both the street and track. We used off-the-shelf springs from different manufacturers, specific monotube coilovers, different control arms, bushings, an odd assortment of sway bars--even custom fabbed some parts on a lathe in our quest.

After a lot of experimentation we ended up with a setup that would cost people about $4000 and handle like a dream, but would still be more harsh than most people would want to use on a daily basis unless they were pretty hardcore about turning. I was shooting for performance, not looks, but yes, the car was nicely lowered.

My point is, it takes a lot of money to do things right in this area (imagine if I had been doing all that on a Porsche...yikes!). If you just want the car to look better, don't slam it, go the wheel route like SD987 suggested. If you start tweaking with the suspension, you're going to end up with a sore ass and a scraped front bumper, along with a polarizing look (I hate the look of a wheel slammed up into the fender, but still having massive gaps fore and aft of the tire).

Keep in mind as well that just lowering the car on springs is going to screw up your camber, reduce shock travel, pound you in the back, and potentially lower your roll center enough to really screw with your overall suspension geometry. You might end up with an unpredictable or just plain poorly-handling car.

By the way, I have PASM on my 987 and I disagree with SD987--I can easily see the difference between PASM and non-PASM-equipped cars, but I don't think the standard ride height looks bad, personally.

[z12358]

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

Generally not, but there are a couple of caveats.

• Not all spacers are created equal. Be sure to use quality hub-centric spacers. The cheaper ones are often not machined to exacting tolerances and vary considerably. This can induce a tire imbalance. Also, they must be installed carefully, it's very easy to introduce some variation just by installing them willy-nilly.
  
  Keep the spacers to no more than 17mm. Going wider effectively softens the Spring Rates because you are essentially lengthening the lower control arm and it's angles. Too wide, and again, you induce greater negative camber. It will also change your steering response at the limit, something which may cause someone unfamiliar with the feel to improperly respond with negative consequences.
  
  Finally, whenever doing any work to the Wheels, Tires, Suspension, you need to get a full 4-wheel alignment. Alignment isn't as permanent as many people seem to think. Hit one good bump or Pothole, and you'll likely throw it off. Everytime I auto-x my cars or track my formula vee, the alignment is altered. This needs to be done much more often than many people think to remain spot on. On a Street Car, it should be done annually, or whenever doing any work to the areas mentioned above.

Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Thx. If someone (apart from lwc) has pics of their stock Box (especially 987) with spacers I'd appreciate to see them. I wouldn't want to fiddle with the suspension (which I like a lot as it is) if the vusual effect is only marginal.

Z.