Coil over's or change the factory shocks?

I installed H&R spings on my 2002 coupe a while ago and have really liked the look and performance of them so far. Only about 20% of the time do I encounter some roads, that at speed, seem to make the car "bounce" a little more than I like. I understand that any performance springs are not perfectly matched to the OEM shocks. I know that coil overs would probably be best, but econimically, would changing my factory shocks to Bilstein's or Koni's improve things? Car has 33K miles so I would think factory shocks are still ok. Thanks in advance for you input!

You should consider the complete factory Euro 030 suspension...

Have to agree....I recently had the RoWM030 setup installed and love it.

Thanks, that's what I'ver heard from others. Who is the best to buy it from and how much?

I got mine from Sunset Porsche (board sponor over at Renntech.org) since they offer dealer cost +15%. Mine came out to about $1K shipped. Then another $650 for install and alignment.

Ditto

An '02 car would do better with the X74, similar price. You are probably experiencing bump steer at high speed as the shocks bottom out, that's why porsche switches out the shocks as well in these setups.

Isn't X74 about double the price of M030? Last time I checked at Suncoast they were advertising M030 for a little over a grand where as X74 is close to $2500. http://e-partssales.com/Merchant2/me..._Code=996sport

I stand corrected, I swear I saw the x74 on sale someplace for 1695.

Yes, X74 is about double the price of M030. Question: For those of you that have installed the M030, has it offered a noticable lowered look? My car now has the H&R springs with 18" factory 5-spokes and it looks good. Lowered about 1.5" all around I am thinking of going to 19" wheels so they may fit better with the M030? They say M030 lowers 20mm in front and 10mm in rear. That will porbably not be as low as what I have now.

If you prefer a lower look keep the H&R springs...should work fine with the rest of the M030 set up.

Interesting thought. Maybe I should just consider changing to Bilstein shocks from the OEM I have now? Perhaps that would work better with the H&R springs?

You need to take into consideration that for about the same price, the M030 kit also comes with updated sway bars...

Yes, that might be the least expensive route. The row 030 will not lower the car as much as the H&R springs. I installed row 030 on my car recently, and after 450miles, the total lowering is 13mm front, 8mm rear, this on a 99 cab with 39k miles. The initial lowering was 8mm all around. So, if you want to keep the lowered look you currently have, you may want to install the Bilstein HD shocks or Bilstein Sport shocks with your current springs. You could also upgrade your rear sway bar to help reduce understeer. I am very much impressed with the row 030 package. Understeer is all but eliminated, turn-in is much improved, and overall grip is vastly improved. The tires seem much more efficient with the row 030. Ride is a bit stiff on low speed city streets, but over 45mph or so, it is perfect. The car seems transformed. It's pretty much amazing how much better the car drives and handles now.

Front dropped 17mm rear 11mm when I had mine installed. I really like the look. Although I would prefer just a tad bit lower.....still happy though.

I hope my car continues to settle. Another 4 or 5 mm lower in front would be nice. I think I'll go do a bunch of 100-0 braking runs....... following a bunch of 0-100 acceleration runs of course...... followed by a couple of mountain drives........ followed by

I guess should re-measure my drop since I have done a few DE's since I had it installed. The numbers I quoted were right after install.

Yeh, I'm curious if your car has settled also. I asked the tech who did my alignment about settling, and he said yes, it probably would, and that camber would just go a bit more negative.

I'll go measure in a bit and see (then post the results). I have a meeting this week for some misc work at the indep Porsche mechanic I use locally and am going to have a check of alignment settings, etc.

Kevin, here is a before and after of the front right wheel. As you can see the drop is significant. The original standard shocks and springs had 40K miles on them. Now, my RoWM030 shocks and springs have about 3K and 5 track days.

Yes, that's a significant difference. Looks like the reading is about 26-1/4" on the dropped pic. My right front is at 26-1/4". My left front is 26".

To date about 27mm in the front after settling. Couldn't be happier!

Looks good! Handles good too, eh?

Not to get too technical, but to avoid misleading others, it's worth mentioning that bump steer has nothing to do with the suspension hitting the bump stops: http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/longtech3.htm

Not misleading. More likely the compression and rebound is mismatched for the aftermarket springs and can cause uncontrolled bounce. Or you could have a bump steer like effect from coil binding, which occurs when you have mismatched (shorter) springs on stock/std shocks. Hit a big enough bump and the coil spring will bind up leaving essentially no spring travel, no bump stop in the world will stop the shocks from bottoming out and sending everything haywire. You see it all the time on ricers as they bounce and shimmy down the highway.

Handles so much better. That floaty feeling at high speed is gone and it performs great on the track. Perfect compromise for those of us that use our cars for both track and street. One day soon I will add a track ***** to the garage but until then I think this is a perfect setup.

I agree the RoW 030 is a great street/ track setup IMO, and the car looks great too. Mine sits at exactly 26" all around, measured at the fenderwell.

Hey Doug! How's it going? I think we're talking about 2 different things... If you're saying that the your experience with bump steer will be different with a different spring/shock setup, I agree, because it will change where the wheel will be in it's up and down travel any particular situation. The point I'm making is that the amount of bump steer that the car has at any given position in the suspension's travel will not change as a result of spring, shock, or sway bar changes. The amount of bump steer has to do with the geometry of the steering rack and suspension arms. Usually, a street driven car should have very little bump steer, but the article mentions that bump steer can be dialed in for specific handling purposes. On street driven cars, it's annoying to have the car dart in one direction or another as wheels go over bumps or into dips.

Not to sound too stupid...but where can I get more info on the RoW 30 kit and what exactly does it do for/to the car. I don't usually track my car but I do like to run it through the paces when I drive it hard. In my part of the country we have several "trails" with multiple switchbacks and extremly curvy roads....I can't help but think that this kit would improve handling.

Shoot me an email and I will forward you a pdf copy of a great article that talks about exactly what you are looking for.

Bford100, I had Eibach springs with stock shocks and the car was bouncing like a goat (especially in the track). Changed to Bilstein sports and the car handles very good now. I would suggest just to change the shocks and keep your money for some track days. Bought mine (shocks) from e-bay for $650 or so.