So, we're gonna be moving a few hundred miles north soon and on my trip up through the much, much rougher roads to look at houses I took a pretty good beating from the suspension. My car's (2007 2.7, 92k on the clock) got a decent amount of miles, so struts on the way out isn't exactly a genius deduction but looking at the car it seems like the gap between the tops of the tires is notably smaller than I've seen in photos of other peoples' cars. I'm starting to think one of the jabronis that previously owned the car took it upon themselves to either cut the springs or just install some cheap lowering springs on the stock struts (I haven't had the wheels off personally, so it's kinda hard to tell which). If I'm gonna go through the effort or expense of replacing the struts and mounts at all four corners, I may as well spring for a set of new OEM...err..springs if they're needed.
To wit - does anybody with a stock 987.1 base (or S if the suspension setup is the same) have a minute to go measure the gap between the tires and the fender arches? I'll update with my measurements later after I mow the yard. If anyone has ideas on better ways to measure this, I'm all ears. I guess from ground to the bottom of the rockers by the wheels would also be a good idea?
The official way to measure ride height to make a comparison is typically the center of the wheel to the inside edge of the wheel arch. That gives you a number that isn't changed by things like tire inflation.
Also - would be useful if you told us Cayman or Boxster - the ride heights are likely to be different.
I should probably get around to putting my details in the signature, it's a Cayman FWIW. Thanks for the measurin' tip.
Finally managed to get down and measure things - I'm at 15" even from the middle of the center caps on the rear, 14.25" on the front. This is with 18" factory wheels.
I use Tapatalk and can’t see sig blocks anyway… [emoji3166]
Shawn in VA (USA)
My stock 2007 Cayman S with factory 5-spoke wheels has a measurement of 14.5" in front and 15" at the rear. So it sounds like yours is pretty close. The extra quarter inch could be tired springs (or shorter replacements), or even some extra stuff in your frunk (mine is empty).
My '08 Boxster Limited Edition with 18" wheels measures about 14 5/8" F and 15 1/8" rear. The 1/8" higher ride than others have noted above might be due to my car being fairly low mileage... or difference in spring rate/ length for the Boxster.
Thanks, folks. Given the mileage and minimal difference, I'd wager my springs may indeed just be a tad tired rather than the car being intentionally lowered.
