Can you easily lower the stock suspension?

I don't have a need for an adjustable track/street suspension and would rather not have to spend my limited mod budget on ROW MO30. Could a good independent shop adjust the ride height by something like 1/2 an inch and not upset the system? Have searched the forum but didn't come up with an obvious thread to look at. Also, is consensus that Brandywine is the place to order parts from? I want to get the factory wheel spacer set. Thanks, Piccia '02 Targa

The cheapest way would be to get some lowering springs from either Eibach or H&R and install them yourself. Pretty easy as long as you have spring compressors. They basically hold the spring compressed while you put the coilover together.

But then again you do NOT want to have mismatched shocks and springs.

Get porsche ROW springs for your particular model car. About $485. Lowers 20mm front and 10mm rear, like most of the rest. The shocks will remain stock. Springs will be same as Rest Of World lower height. You also need the front shorter shock stop bumpers, about $10. Try pricing at Hendricks ( N.C.)

I would not recommed this! The ROW M030 has completely different shocks front and rear. The shaft lengths and travel are both different. The front use the same bumpstops, but have shorter shaft lengths and different valving. The rear bumpstops are made specifically for the travel on these shocks. The rear shocks are a lot shorter and much stiffer to go with the increased spring rate form the ROW springs. The ROW rears have a much shorter bumpstop as a result. If you put this on your standard shocks and hit the bumpstop, you have most likely bottomed out the shock internally, which will damage it. There is a good article up on the PCA website that expains this. Ride height is not adjustable on a regular 996, unless you change springs. This will probably not fit into the budget you are looking for. Best advice is to not do anything.

Not quite true as I have done these things on cars before. Unless you really hammer the car on a dip you won't bottom the shock out. I'm not saying its the best thing to use a H&R spring with OE shocks, but they work OK on a daily driver who drive at most 6/10. I do recomend the ROW M030 for the best compromise of ride and performance. Actually there is a ROW standard spring that lowers 10mm, but they are also closer in spring rate to the OE USA suspension. The M030 version lower 10 mm more then the ROW standard and have a higher spring rate. There is no adjust ment that can lower a 996. Its not a torsion bar set up that can have the spring plates adjusted. Springs are the only solution.

Keep in mind that is adding springs and not changing the bump stops. It was suggested to use ROW rear bump stops on stock shocks. It is the bump stop that prevents the shock from bottoming, not the spring. Putting a shorter bump stop on the stock shock is asking for a problem.

Thanks for the responses. I'm planning to do one mod per year for 4 years of ownership. So I think I'll just wait and do the whole M030 when I'm ready.

One mod per year.......

Sorry - one MAJOR mod per year. By major I mean in the $750 and up range. I've already got a few minor things in mind. You never know how silly you'll look when typing fast.....

It's all good.........