2007 Cayman S Suspension Saga. Need a little help deciding how to go forward.

Hello all. I have unfortunately been dealing with an ongoing issue with the suspension on my 2007 Cayman S that has at this point well and truly exceeded the point of ridiculousness. I will include a summary of everything that has happened below for those interested, but the current situation is that my car has KW V3s on it that are not performing correctly and I need to fix the situation, as my car is unstable over bumps at speed and especially under braking. KW seems copacetic to a refund as they are under warranty and it appears one of their adjusters has failed, but I need to figure out a path forward before I can go that route. Given my experiences with coilover systems on this car(2 out of 3 bad from factory so far), I am hesitant to go with another one. That would leave me with basically a few options. 1. Return to factory non PASM suspension. My car is a non- PASM car from the factory. I liked the way the car rode and handled prior to the onset of issues, but am a little hesitant to go back to the factory ride height as I do feel it looks a little goofy. . 2. Factory Non- PASM with lowering Springs. Can anyone relate experiences with such a setup? As much as I am not a fan of the factory ride height, I don't want to compromise on ride and handling in the name of looks. Is there a quality combination to be found here? 3. Factory style aftermarket replacement options, usually slightly lowered and with different dampers. Biltein, Eibach, etc. Anyone have any recommendations 4. Factory PASM conversion. I know this is possible, but do not know the details on all of the parts required. Does anyone offer a comprehensive kit to do this job? If not, is a part's list out there somewhere that I have not found yet? Ride height is again not to my preference, but I would tolerate it if they are the best option. Adjustable ride firmness seems a nice benefit to have, and I do enjoy it on my daily driver, an 06 E55 AMG Kombi. 5. PASM upgrade kit such as Bilstein B8s with H&R lowering springs. Similar questions to above. Is the performance difference over factory worth the extra money? etc. 6. Factory upgrade suspension from a higher model. I think it was the Boxster Spyder suspension that I have seen mentioned? This option seemed as though it might be a little too track-focused for my tastes though. Regarding intended usage and preferences .The car will never be a "track car" but may make a trip around the Nordschleife at some point, as it is only an hour or so away. Primary usage will be street driving, but it is not my daily so comfort is not the main focus. I do tend to prefer somewhat compliant suspensions over super stiff ones, as I find them more capable in real world situations though. The car cannot go super low, as the transition to enter my garage is a little steep. Front ride height is currently 35 cm from the fender lip to center of wheel, and it cannot go any lower than this and still clear. So, what are your thoughts folks? What would you do in my situation? Below is a (relatively) quick summary of everything that has happened with the car since the problems first emerged. The problems started in the middle of a 2 hour drive out of the blue. Long story short, I now understand that I had an aerodynamic part failure (center radiator blanking panel connectors broke on one side, letting air in where it was not supposed to go but then closing back up at rest) that lead to instability on the highway which was initially misdiagnosed as a suspension problem. Further investigation revealed that the rear shocks were in fact worn out, so the decision was made to go with a coilover system. Initial coilover system purchased was Ohlins , which I had previous stellar experience with from a different car. Initial Ohlins kit had a bad damper out of the box that caused teeth-shatteringly bad ride quality. After a lot of trouble, I was finally able to get them to replace the kit. New Ohlins performed much better, but instability was frustratingly still there(hadn't found the aero issue yet). Three weeks after installation of new Ohlins , I moved to Germany and my car was shipped over to join me. Shipping company completely destroyed all 4 Ohlins dampers and my steering rack in the shipping process. As Ohlins is not available in Germany due to TUV certification costs, I decided to replace them with KW V3s with the insurance payout. V3s have never felt right from the start, but installing shop insisted they could find nothing wrong with them. Finally found my aero issue and corrected it a few months ago by installing a factory third radiator kit. This helped with high speed stability but further exposed that the KWs remain a problem, and it appears to be getting worse. Damping adjuster on front left KW does not seem to work properly, often spinning with no click to verify settings, and damping on that corner seems to be too low. Car leans heavily and weight shifts forward when you corner to the right, but not so when cornering left despite repeated verification of settings being the same. Car also darts left under braking, terrifyingly so from autobahn speeds. It should be noted that virtually every wear item in the suspension has been replaced a this point. Front and rear lower control arms and diagonal links, tie rod ends, etc. There is nothing left untouched that could be the culprit.

Just my two cents... I also did not care for the factory ride height on my non-PASM 2006 Cayman S. I do not track the car so it's just street driving. I wanted something lower without a harsh ride and did not want to fuss with coilovers, lowering springs, etc. etc, where, unless you have infinite amounts of time and money, you'd spend too much effort trying to tune it to give proper handling . I also did not want it so low that speed bumps and pavement changes could potentially damage the undercarriage.I chose the Cayman R suspension retrofit setup since 1) it was factory designed and tested and 2) it lowered the car about 20 mm. Suncoastparts.com sells the complete kit with all OEM parts. I found the ride to be less harsh (as enunciated by my wife) when hitting sharp bumps at speed without the usually attendant damping and springing issues typically found with a DIY lowering setup.

Ahh, it was the Cayman R, not the Boxster Spyder. Or maybe those had the same suspension setup? I remember reading and/or seeing video reviews that stated one or the other of those two was too stiff for street driving duty. Specifically, they said it would get skittish and lose traction over rough pavement surfaces. Ride height does look proper though. When you say you found the ride to be less harsh, do you mean less harsh than stock, or less harsh that typical aftermarket setups you have experienced? That wasn't quite clear to me. Wish there was an easy way to try things out and see what actually fits your preference, but like most mods it is really hard to find someone who has already done what you are considering who will let you drive or ride in their car to see what it's actually like. Edit: Found the reference I remembered regarding the Cayman R suspension. It's from a Smoking Tire Video comparing the Cayman R and the BMW 1M. Matt Farrah States that the Cayman R is too stiff for his preferences. Specifically, stiff enough to make it unpleasant as a daily driver.

Tomerie, What struts did you use? And did you use the 3mm or 6mm spring cups? Thanks Van

I used the struts, springs and spring cups that came with the R Suspension kit from Suncoast . Don't know if they were 3mm or 6mm. Also installed the Cayman R rear sway bar ; it did not come with the kit.

What might be the difference here? A quick search finds all sorts of sim racing coverage for some reason. Would it possibly affect ride height?