Opinions/Experience on Shocks/Suspension

Well the shocks on my 2000 996 C4 Cab are about gone. Only 53,000 miles, but there are 10 years old so not a big surprise. The right rear has leaked and the rest are not great. So I am considering various options. I would love to do a set of PSS9's or PSS10's, but the cost is a little bit much at this time. There is a set of PSS9's available for $1,850+, PSS10's are more like $2,700. And of course this does not include upgraded sway bars. M030 ROW's are available for about $1,100 from Sunset, not a bad price as it includes shocks, springs and sways. However with all the coil-overs you are lowering the car, and while this looks good, I am scrapping my front lip on a regular basis with the stock suspension. Amazingly the Bilstein shocks, either HD or Sport run over $1,000 (you might find them a little cheaper if you look around enough). At Sunset a set of just the Bilstein shocks is actually about $100 more than the M030 ROW. Another option is the new Koni Sport shocks that just came out. These can be had for about $850 for a set of four, and are externally adjustable. Now sure if anyone has any experience with these as they were just released. Also found a set of "KSport Kontrol Coil-Overs" for about $1,040. Never heard of them, seems to be an off brand. So I am looking for opinions/Advice from other owners. The M030 setup is very tempting, but they are not adjustable and do lower the car quite a bit. I should note that I don't track the car.

well, i am too replacing my shocks on my 2002 c4s. i too, found off brand coil overs, d2racing.com is one. they are made in Twaiwan and assembled in Japan. They seem to be very popular in the Japanese car set. i have no direct experience with them, but some say they are fine for street use, but some Porsche wrenches say they may fail after heavy DE use. of course, they were trying to sell me much higher coilover sets. by the way, i was advised to "corner balance" the car after installation by an independant garage who was bidding to install a set, and found out that unless you will be driving DE every weekend, and setting your car up with -3 negative camber, that procedure ($400) is useless. good luck in your search. with the labor of installing them ($800 here) almost forces you to get a set of PSS9s because the marginal increase in cost over stock shocks are a small fraction of the total costs. good luck Surfer161

For a Cab that you don't track, I personally would not spend the money for adjustable shocks (like the PSS9/10's). You would end up playing with the adjusters a bit, and then set it and forget it... and be out an extra $1000. The ROW30 sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

^^^^^ what he said. go with ROW30 and save some dough.

The best bang for the buck is the RoWM030. Not only did we put it on our 996CAB but tracked it as well. IMHO, it's how the car should have been delivered from the factory. Almost an inch lower that the 4x4 US ride height requirement and much more stable at speed (no more floaty wandering feeling). For about $2-2.5K all in (parts, install, labor) you will be VERY VERY VERY happy.

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+1... the car will be way more enjoyable with any of those you mentioned. Day and night diff..... you can always put sways on yourself later on. Since you've rebuilt your motor.... installing coilovers should be childs play for you.

my ROW M030 is in the mail, glad to hear no more floaty, Waited 35 years for dream car, then WTF, Car capable of 170 scaring the **** out of me at 120, but I do have the US standard. No excuse for Porsche though, standard still should have been head and shoulders above the 06 Mustang GT I sold to buy it. Can hardly wait!

Considering how terrible the highways are all over the US I would stay with the stock springs and go with the Bilsten stock replacements.

Another option is to pick up a used set of PSS9/PSS10's on eBay. Here's one such set: Used PSS9's on eBay I like the fact that the adjustability of coilovers allows you to set it to your individual preferences even if you adjust it once and forget it afterwards. You can always upgrade your sways later if you so desire, but if you are not going to track it, the sways may be overkill!

Check out TireRack. Bilstein HD shocks are $840 for a set and H&R lowering springs are $315.

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I don't understand this part. Do you have an extra low front spoiler? I don't think there's any suspension upgrade that doesn't involve some lowering and don't let anyone talk you into sticking with stock. I'm over 4 years now with PSS9s and I'm very pleased. You certainly have to pay attention pulling in to parking spots with curb stops but that's a small compromise for the improved handling. You may not need the adjustments so consider M030 too. Factory boys know what they're doing. Don't even worry about sways - I still have stock sway bars and I'm only remotely considering upgrading. Your wasted stock setup is a sign! Time to change your experience a little - have fun!

There is ton of info on here regarding your dilemma. I had the same......I was considering new shocks/shorter springs, RowM030 (cheaper than the $840 +$315 from the previuos post), coilovers or the X74 P-Car Euro Sport. I wanted something that was fixed so that ruled out the coil overs. I would never use them as intended. The new shocks and shorter springs were ruled out because the money spent on that would get me the Row M030 with new sways. So the real problem I had was selecting which Porsche suspension I wanted. I do track the car (3-4 DE's/Yr). The X74 was $1000 more than the RowM030. I went with the X74 and am very happy with it. My car is an aero with the front lip underneath. On steep inclines it does rub at the lip. The X74 lowered the car about and 1 1/8" all the way around. The car is very flat around the twisty's. The main thing to consider is your use. I wanted to stick with Porsche parts. It will be an improvement with whatever you decide.

OK - chiming in you know I always say the ROW is not worth going to from a performance upgrade... I always always always say "more is better" in your case - I think ROW is the best choice. You just want a reasonable stock replacement and cost is a factor. You dont track. You scrape already.... all signs that more is not better for you and FWIW I know 100% you can install this yourself... Geez, you are a great garage mechanic, just get the ROW, pop em in and get a sport/street alignment from a really good alignment guy and be set for the next 50k+ miles Good luck, let us know! IIRC I helped push Pete into the X74

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Among others...I'm very glad I did...Thanks for the nudge!

nudge and I quote: "go with MORE - ROW would be a waste of time and effort... not enough gain - for sure "

OK, my car has an Aero front bumper with a bolt=on lip (thanks to Dell whom I bought it from a few years ago). Even with the stock suspension I rub the lip on a regular basis going in and out of driveways and parking lots. Any lowering of the car is going to make this more of a problem, but I can live with this. Whatever set up I go with I will do the install myself and then have an alignment. The set of PSS9's on Ebay is tempting, but the listing shows that they were on a Turbo. While it also says they will fit a C4/C4S (mine is a C4) the Bilstein part numbers for the C4/C4S and the Turbo are different. This is true for the PSS9's and the PSS10's. While the fronts are the same there seems to be a difference for the rears as the rear shocks show a different number for the C4/C4S and the Turbos. Does anyone know what the difference is between the rear of a C4/C4S and a Turbo is? Both the Turbo and the C4S are WB, while the C4 is NB. Is there a difference in the suspension/mounting on the Turbo?

My guess is they are valved for the heavier car and would not be optimal for yours.