H&R lowering springs

[AZ986S]

Well I decided to take the plunge and installed a set of H&R Sport lowering springs. Struts are stock.

Here's what it looks like after the alignment.



Here's what it looked like before (2 years ago):



I measured the height from wheel center to fender after the install, but I don't have the height before (with stock suspension):

---------------Left---Right
Front (in)....12 7/8...13
Rear (in).......13.......13

The job was not terribly complicated, but took me about 6 hours total to do it, 2 hours in the front and 4 hours for the rear, as the axle and toe control arms have to be unbolted. I had read all about the possible need to install adjustable rear toe control arms, but that this was not always the case. So I had it aligned today and asked for 2.5 deg neg camber in the front, 0 toe, and 2.0 neg camber in the rear, 1/16 in toe in per side. They ended up with this:



They were not able to get the camber in the desired range without having the toe go too far in, so it looks like I'll need to order a set of adjustable arms

Here's the alignment data prior to the spring change:



One thing you may have noticed is that the left rear has more negative camber than the right. This is probably due to the incident last month where the car impacted hard on the left. I had to redo all the rear suspension and replace the broken left axle too.

So the springs provided about 0.5 deg extra negative camber in the front, and about 1 deg extra negative camber in the rear. I think -3.2 deg in the rear is too much considering I only have -1.8 deg in the front. Thinking about it, it would seem that the car would want to push even more now. Since my front swaybar is not adjustable, I do have one more hole I can stiffen the rear swaybar with, so would that help in the interim?

My first impression with the new springs is that the ride is definitely somewhat harsher and you can feel every imperfection in the road, but the car feels like it is on rails! Hopefully I can get the adjustable arms installed before the next event at Wild Horse Pass Bondurant loop on Feb 10th!

[BoxsterSteve]

This is exactly what I want to do to mine.
Keep us posted with updates!

[geetee]

looks good. you could of had a little more toe in the rear

[thstone]

Looks great and the additional negative camber will help the handling quite a bit! Well done.

[Boxstard]

I got H&R red too that previous owner put on the car, and I really like the lower ride height. Now wondering if Koni FSD works with them. I like FSD on my SAAB 9-5 wagon, perfect to absorb Michigan pot holes yet flatter cornering.

[edc]

Originally Posted by Boxstard

I got H&R red too that previous owner put on the car, and I really like the lower ride height. Now wondering if Koni FSD works with them. I like FSD on my SAAB 9-5 wagon, perfect to absorb Michigan pot holes yet flatter cornering.

I like a few others here have FSD on a Boxster with H&R springs. In my case they are M030 spec ones.

[Boxstard]

Originally Posted by edc

I like a few others here have FSD on a Boxster with H&R springs. In my case they are M030 spec ones.

DO we know why Koni suggests not to use FSD with lowered spring? I guess M030 or factory sports springs are OK (my SAAB uses OEM Aero springs), but wondering if any issues with H&R on my Boxster like with 30-40mm lowered from stock.

[steved0x]

Originally Posted by Boxstard

DO we know why Koni suggests not to use FSD with lowered spring? I guess M030 or factory sports springs are OK (my SAAB uses OEM Aero springs), but wondering if any issues with H&R on my Boxster like with 30-40mm lowered from stock.

Koni FSD is approved with Eibach Pro Kit lowering springs for Boxster (not made by Eibach for USA anymore but still made for overseas) - I don't have the specs for those springs but if someone could find them and compare to H&R and the other lowering springs, they would probably be very similar and would work.

I personally run the Koni FSD with USA m030 springs so I don't have any info about lowering unfortunately.

[edc]

My car looks to ride almost identical to the previous M030 set up so I would expect M030 springs to work just as well.

[Boxstard]

Originally Posted by edc

My car looks to ride almost identical to the previous M030 set up so I would expect M030 springs to work just as well.

My H&R springs are in red color, I think they are no longer available for Boxster and lower than black ones which is M030 height?