Another but different suspension question

First, yes, I have reviewed many past threads on suspension systems for the 996 but wanted to get some fresh opinions for my situation. I would like to add a bit more stiffness to my 13 year old car (have 60 k miles on it and 19" wheels). My situation is that I can not lower the car due to approach angle into my garage (have a steep downhill driveway). Have read many threads that the M030 suspesnion "although states a 20mm drop in front and 10+mm in rear" in reality does not lower the car much. Can anyone chime in on their experience with the M030 suspesnion? What other options are out there "without breaking the bank" that would improve handling but not lower car?

If you wanted to just improve handling start replacing your suspension components. They could possibly be over 20 years old obviously depending on the year of your car and if they have been replaced before. Also 19" wheels aren't favourable on the 996 and will raise the car up.

H&R Street Performance coilovers, reasonable price and I am enjoying them. With the age of your car you will probably need to replace the suspension components that have bushings. And there are a lot of them and it will add up fast. There are bushings kits to reuse the orig parts and just replace the bushings but the labor involved in removing and replacing the bushings on the orig parts is extensive. Just buying new parts is almost the same price if you hunt for the best deals.

I'm putting on ROW 030 today. I'll measure and lyk. My driveway is steep also. I just barely touch the nose going up, not always if i do it right. But I can not back in. Rubs every time, every angle I try. Therefore ride height was a consideration for this suspension upgrade.

Cheapest suspension update is a good alignment at a race shop. Dealer or chain tire shops won't deviate from official specs. Get as much negative camber in the front as you can get and reduce the negative camber in the rear. Zero toe in the front and just a bit of toe in the rear. Watch out. The turn in will be crisp and positive but the set up will definitely get the rear loose which as we know is tricky in a rear engine car.

Ignore this. That's not even a good race alignment. And on the street all it will do is wear your front tires quicker. And the other bushings referred to have minimal impact compared to the shocks when it comes to ride stiffness. You are on the right track. Simply replacing your existing shocks (springs don't need replacing) or upgrading to the M030 will be an improvement. I would also take a look at Feal coilovers. They will do custom builds at dirt cheap prices and the reviews have been positive so far.

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Have you considered installing some approach ramps that would ease the transition into your garage? There are some off-the-shelf products for just this job, or you could just use some wood. That would open up some options. I have Eibach Pro-Kit springs on my car which lower the car about an inch, and I have no issues scraping on any reasonable approach or departure angles.

I wouldnt put track car quality on it, I would maybe buy new shocks and H&R springs. It will be great

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I'm installing a set of FEAL 441's on my 996 turbo right now and they are able to be installed at, or even above the stock ride height even though they initially told me they'd be lower than stock by an inch. They are a nice option if you want a sporty feel (pun intended!) with dampening and ride heigh adjustability. You can't replace the OEM top hats on the stock system and get new OEM shocks for the price of this setup which includes front and rear top hat/camber plates.

Thanks all, from what I have read (on many threads) is that the ROW 030 which also includes sway bars is a nice option at a reasonable price for the spirited driver that does not track their car. I have read that many were not happy with this set-up since they were looking to lower their car and it did not. Have others installed the ROW 030 and found that it did not lower their car? if so, this would be an advantage to me and not a disadvantage. As for Post #2 when stating "19" wheels aren't favorable on the 996 and will raise the car up", I did quite a bit of research and based on various threads the issues with 19" wheels was primarily related to additional weight that the suspension system was not designed for. The Kinesis wheels I got were approx 7 - 9 lbs lighter ea than the OEM wheels and since going with lower profile tires (so as to maintain same overall tire dia "within an inch") the weight of the tires were minimal add to that I saved an additional .4 lbs per wheel (unsprung weight) with the titanium lug nuts, I will say I was worried about a rougher ride but surprisingly it was not.

I agree with slacker...throw on some new shocks, leave the springs alone, and check the rubber bushings but stay with stock, forget all the stiffer is better myths. Lots of people like harsh rides because it makes them think they are going fast...but actually the car is less stable that makes for slower. Also, while many people think 19s look cool, they add nothing to your spirited street driving. Go back to 18s.

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Key to this is that there are two M030 suspensions...USA & ROW (Rest of world). The ROW suspension is about an inch lower than the USA spec (aka "off road look"). It's possible that the folks that didn't get any lower actually got a USA M030 ???

I installed ROW M030 on my car yesterday. Of course, I forgot to measure ride height before I had it up on stands. I think it did lower my car ever so slightly. I was still able to back out of my driveway slowly without scraping the nose. I did capture the difference in springs. Obviously the shorter ROW 030 springs are stiffer so less static sag. But i was surprised how much shorter they were (f & r):

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So to be correct, I should be asking if anyone who has installed the USA M030 has experienced much if any lowering in their car? Thanks Slakker & johnireland, I will look into some fresh shocks and bushings also. As for the 19" wheels, I think i'll keep them, unless their is a reason that they would be detrimental to the car. We all have different views on what we like, and I respect all.

The 19" wheels look great. And as for "unsprung weight", when you do the actual calculations even 50lbs has minimal effect on performance.

I had the same questions and appreciated the different opinions so here is mine: I have driven an '03 with the stock suspension, with bilstein sports on stock hardware, with stock hardware and FSD's and then I installed the complete ROW M030. As others have said, the M030 did not lower the car very much. But it is stiffer and it improved the handling. I track the car and I like the M030. If I did not track it, I would say I liked the FSD the best. They work well and reduce the expansion joint effect. If you do want to track the car occasionally, ROW M030 is the opening bid.

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This was the first I have heard of FSD shocks. I read about them on the Koni web site then did a search here on rennlist. While searching here I found that many have asked if anyone has used the FSD shocks but found no responses. Has anyone used them with stock springs and are they as advertised on the Koni web site. Looks to be my answer if I find it is a good set up. I do not track "yet" and need to keep stock height.