Best budget coil overs Carrera 2

I was planning on lowering my 1998 3.4 c2 with spax springs that I have but I'm now thinking of going the coil over route. I'd be working to a very small budget(for coil overs anyway) so the bilstiens etc are out of the equation. I have m030 from the factory and the car has 75k on it. Suspension feels very good and tight but I'd like to have fresh stuff. I've had bc's before in my old Impreza p1. Very hard but I thought very good. Been doing a bit of googling and can't find these available for the 2wd, just the 4 and turbos listed. Can anyone shed some light or recommend other alternatives? The car will only ever do 2-3k a year so if it's little on the hard side it's not the end of the world. And maybe the odd track day. I'll maybe sell the standard m030 shocks and springs on to help cover costs as well as the spax springs

Personally I wouldn't bother with coilovers for your usage, if you are going to fit (need!) them then you might as well go for a quality set and spend several thousand pounds plus at least another £1000 more getting it set up properly and replacing every other worn suspension component on top. I spent many hours considering the same route and I'm glad that I fitted M030 and then lowering springs a couple of years later when I then decided I wanted to go lower for vanity. If your shocks are fine then just fit the Spax springs, if the rear sits really low then buy (or make) some adjustable toe arms/spacers and get them fitted BEFORE you get a geo done to save yourself wasting £100 on something that you'll need to repeat. If the rear isn't lowered too far you will probably be fine with the standard toe arms. I bought my adjustable arms for £215 so it's not a huge expense anyway. When I was looking I couldn't find BC's for my C2 either so was considering PB coilovers which seemed well made: https://pbbrakes.com/porsche-911-996-2wd-coilover-suspension-kit.html Price doesn't include VAT & import duty, just don't expect the adjustability to be anywhere near linear like Ohlins etc! It's easy to make cars handle worse than they did before you start modifying. The Designtek coilovers don't seem to fair well in the U.K. weather and after reading a few posts about them decided they weren't a sensible option either. Good luck

:yeah: This will sound harsh Ned but I say this to everyone, 'Do it right, or don't do it at all". Just try your springs on the M030 dampers. That is how my car was when I bought it and it was pretty good to be honest. Not crashy or horrible. It was running too much negative camber but that's a different issue anyway. These cheapie coilovers just can't compare to the proper brands. Fit what you have and look out for some used decent brand coilovers, then at least you can get them rebuilt etc.

Ned, I can certainly see the appeal of coil overs vs springs, I had h&r springs on original everything and it seemed OK but a bit low. Changed out to Eibach springs and Koni special active shocks and replaced all 4 coffin arms and tuning forks and the ride is much better but it's still a bit too low really. Coil overs would give the ability to get the ride height right where you want it and as long as your aim was not to go more than -30/35mm you shouldn't run into geo problems requiring adjustable rear arms. Bear in mind a few parts might be destroyed when you swop suspension as they are rusted solid. If you are on original coffin arms they are worth replacing and not expensive for a set, spyder performance on eBay were my suplier Cost wise just swopping the springs is going to be cheapest, a set of front top mounts (autodoc) Is cheap and these often get destroyed replacing springs. Add a spacer to the rear spring perch unless you want to run a lot of neg camber. The PB coil overs look really good value, about the same money as my springs and shocks. only other things I saw budget wise when I looked were ksport and design tek, (we get a discount with d911 ) but these were about 50% more than the PB coil overs or koni /Eibach setup. Bear in mind you can run up a good labour bill fitting shocks and suspension bits as getting on for 20years many parts are rusted solid. Get someone who knows what they are doing with 996s to look at it first on ramps and assess what bits need replacing or will get destroyed so you know before you start and can source the parts in advance. Keep us updated with what you do, interested to know how you get on with whatever you choose..

I'm not set on the idea of any coil overs for a few reasons. 1. I couldn't be bothered with the adjustments even though I say I would. 2. I can't seem to find any decent info on cheaper stuff. 3. And probably the biggest reason is my own stuff seems to be in very good order. Until I get it out at least. Just asking for experience from those on here that have been there and done that

I went through the same though process 18 months ago. Ended up with H&R Street Coilovers vs cheap ebay coilovers vs Bilstein or KW. Looks then price were the driving factors. I knew springs would drive me mad if the height was not spot on. At the same time added solid rear sub frame bushes (good drop there to start with) / Adjustable rear toe arms / front camber plates / new front bearing plates. Then a decent alignment. Car is semi daily driver / weekend twistie car. The trade off with the H&R coilovers is that they adjust height only no damping adjustment. Happy with the result. Cheers Jim.

Looks great Jim. I was hoping not to go so low that I'd need the toe arms but I might just go so the springs and stick a set of adjustable arms in. Decisions decisions :?:

http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=129633&highlight=coilovers

I went through a similar thought process in the Autumn last year. I had settled on the Koni Sport set-up but could not find stock anywhere in the UK and none with Koni in Europe (I know others have ordered successfully from eBay sellers in Germany). After pricing up the alternatives, and without being able to find a great deal of feedback, positive or negative, I plumped for the Designtek kit, which was broadly the same price as the Koni, but comes with monoball top mounts. To be honest I've only done about 700 miles in the car since I bought it in August, and only 500 of them were on the new shocks, so the jury is still out. Getting the geometry and ride heights set caused some head-scratching for my indy (who had never fitted this kit before), but eventually worked fine. There is a very good range of damping adjustment. I've currently got them set about 5 clicks off full soft (30 something clicks available) and the ride is controlled and compliant. There is no noticeable harshness caused by the monoballs. They are definitely softer than the KW v3s on my Cayman track car, but seem to me a very acceptable compromise for a road car with a more sporting edge. I should add that my background is with race-spec suspension (964 RS, 968 Clubsport, Clio Cup racer, Cayman "RS", all with pretty aggressive track set-ups, so my idea of "acceptable compromise" may differ from others !!!) I am unlikely to test their track ability, and suspect this is where they might be found-out versus more expensive alternatives. There's more tinkering to be done with geometry and set-up, but for now I'm pretty happy with them. That's not to say that I wouldn't have been equally happy with a fresh MO030 set up, but I decided to go the aftermarket route........

I have an m030 set up as standard. I decided to try the spax springs I have and go from there. Due to lack of time and space( I'm going to have to move the car in the garage to get at each corner) it's gona take a little while. What I have noticed from changing 1 spring is that the spax are very soft compared to the m030 but have more coils so I've no idea how this will fair out in the road. Time will tell

I'll be honest I have no issue with budget coilovers in terms of what they are capable off when new, my only concern is longevity and how they cope with UK climate. That's what I want to understand. No point spending £800 on coilover that in 2-3 years time you will need to replace when if you spent £1500 they would be fine after that time. Im probably going to be doing 5-6k miles a year in my car and some winter driving so its definitely a consideration for me. If you only do limited mileage in summer months then I think the cheaper option is definitely viable. Have to think though that a large appeal of these cars is the handling so messing that up for the sake of saving a few hundred pounds is also something to consider. Not saying going cheap would do that but its more likely to I suspect. Right now Im still on the traditional dampers and springs mainly due to rough £1k budget (if I ever get that) but would love coilovers.

I'll try what I have here first and see what happens after that. I know there are loads of excellent options but to spend £2500 on bilstiens or similar, then whatever else needs refreshing and setting up, it's too much for me. It's always going to be a toy so the budget is always going to be tight. I like the idea of adjustability but it sounds like it's more hassle than it's worth

You can get KW1 for £1500. No need to go Ohlins etc

I didn't know that. Are they not a fortune to rebuild? And are they any good?

Hi, I would like not sound dramatic but I will steer away from coilovers unless you will be driving..... slow or high setup to avoid damage - depends on road contdition -, myself personally would go with lowering springs max -30mm as more then 30mm will kill shocks very quickly. Also should point out with coilovers all other components of suspension OEM ones will be wearing down very quick, and if not new it will be matter of days.