Suspension updgrade options

I'm thinking of refreshing my suspension this spring. After replacing the control arms, I'll be thinking about replacing the (likely original) shocks and springs. If I'm going to spend the money, I want to upgrade what I have to get some better handling and lower the stance a bit. This is a road car, so I want to keep the best ride quality I can, and I don't need to worry about maximizing performance on the track. I also want to keep the expense reasonable. I've been looking at options and it seems like this are the popular mods: Springs and dampers H&R or Eibach sport springs paired with Bilstein B8 or Koni shocks and struts. ~$1,300 Coilovers * Feal 441 ~$1,300 * H&R Street Performance ~$1,800 * KW V1 ~$2,300 * Bilstein PSS10 ~$2,800 * Ohlins Road and Track ~$2,800 Factory sport suspension ROW m030 suspension ~$3,600 (includes sway bars) What's the best value here - the springs and dampers or Feal 441s? Am I missing anything I should be considering? There are other coilovers available but they aren't brands I'm familiar with.

Feal with Eibach f/r adjustable sways and front adjustable links for just a tad over $2k.

Ohlins all the way. The suspension is amazing. Transforms the car and can be resold when you sell it very quickly.

You could also go nuts and add adaptive dampers from Tractive and controller from DSC. You Tube

Im buying ohlin r&t kit in the next 2 weeks. It seems to be the proven goto for hdpe days and street driving. Its a little pricey and i have been waiting on a coupon code but nothing has poped up since black fri. Looks like their last 10% off sale was end of march 2020. Not sure i can wait to see if they run the sale again..

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This is looking like the best value setup to me. How comfortable is the street ride on the 441s?

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Ohlins gets universally great reviews and would be a no brainer except for the price. That�s probably 10% of the value of the car. Also at twice the price, are they twice as good as Feal? I don�t see myself swapping the suspension out just to sell the car.

Does anyone have any experience with this Flatout coilovers? I�ve seen them mentioned on other RL forums but not here. https://flatoutsuspension.net/collections/sr

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I don't know what the Ohlins are like on the road, but I have the Feal 441 and I am very happy with them. Great handling and compliant.

Anyone part of the Ohlins recall? Got my notice and just starting to.go through the process.

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I think the recall is for 4s and turbo models only. Mines a c2 so i should still be able to get the kit.

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Lots of guys in the Turbo forum have already had the recall done. Have a look: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-turb...turbos-12.html

I put the H&R Street coilover on my 40 jahre in the fall and I like it. It's definitely geared towards street driving and I don't find it harsh at all. The downsides are that you need to keep it essentially at the top of it's adjustment range (any lower and the spring rate isn't enough to prevent the car from bottoming out over rolling bumps), and I feel the rear drop link mount design could be better. I have H&R coilovers on my 993 as well and have had issues with the rear drop links loosening. I don't have any experience with the other kits mentioned, so can't provide any comparative comments. But I am happy with the H&Rs.

I had B8/H&R and ultimately swapped them out for KW V3s. I do track my car several times a year so appreciated the adjustability of the V3s as well as setting ride height myself. I felt the B8s were too soft for track but held up well on the street for daily driving. Out of your list I would probably consider Bilsteins or Ohlins. I haven't experienced budget coilovers on my 996, but I have on other vehicles in the past and there is a noticeable gap.

Thanks theprf for that tip, I was going to start a new thread about this because of the risk of this recall, to make sure as many folks are aware as possible, because even though the struts were registered to me, the recall was sent by Ohlins to my installer and he fortunately notified me. But it sounds like I may be one of the last to know after reading the 996tt forum on this.

Any opinions on Eibach 1 inch lower springs with standard Bilstein B4 dampers (or OEM dampers) for street only or once in blue moon track driving? Has anybody tried this setup?

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OP - Let me help you make up your mind if you haven't already. Just listed my NIB Feal 441+ in the Marketplace for $1150 (plus shipping). The 441+ gets you an upgrade to Swift Springs and these are sprung at 400/600 pounds which is pretty close to the standard 996 GT3 spring rates and a good compromise for street/twisties while still being well-mannered for a track day outing. If you're not familiar with Swift Springs scan the web or check them out https://www.swiftsprings.com/advantage/ . If you do choose Feal's take advantage of the opportunity to upgrade to them, you'll find they are worth the extra over no-name springs due to their proprietary raw material and QC.

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^^^ Nice pitch... Why are you selling them NIB? You clearly have no real world experience with these right - i.e. you never installed them? Who said anything about "no-name" springs? I read through the thread and I saw, Bilstein, H&R, Eibach, Ohlins, KW, among others - of these, I'd say Feal is the least known of the bunch - personally I've got nothing against Feal (I have no experience with them as I haven't installed them on my car either), but I find your pitch "entertaining" to say the least - you should have left it at "Just listed my NIB Feal 441+ in the Marketplace for $1150 (plus shipping)." and left the editorializing for the marketplace...

Feal is owned, ran and managed very closely by Odi Bakchis - Odi is a successful pro driter and from what I have seen has put a lot into making Feal outshine most competitors at the price point. The fact that each set is assembled by his folks would give me some peace of mind, also knowing that the support staff for things like spring changes, revalves and repairs likely smoke any of the other brands you would look at in that price range. You Tube

@dporto - Happy to entertain! I did feel my comments were equally "hey look here's a good deal for something you're obviously considering buying" as they were "if you're considering Feal....get the Swift Spring upgrade it's worth it". Honestly editorializing is a pretty big part of why I'm a paying RL member...to learn from others here and share what I've learned with the community. I do actually have "real world experience" with Swift having run their springs on two coilover setups on a 240Z that I've had since I was 16. The "no-name" spring reference was with respect to Feal's standard 441 springs. Since most of these are entry level setups you're getting the coilover manufacturer's spring also (or one they OEM from someone). With the 441+ upgrade you get Swift springs (as well as some other features below not in the rest of the OP's list). As to Swift's respect in the suspension industry, it probably says something that Ohlins uses "their" springs on their Road & Track setup, but when you drop another $2K to move up to their Track setup, you get Swift Springs. I don't see Moton / MCS / JRZ / Penske putting H&R, KW, Bilstein or Ohlins springs on their coilovers; I do see Eibach, Swift and Hyperco on those setups. Feal 441+ ($1600 MSRP) - Linear F&R Springs / single adjustable (upgradable to double or triple adjustable as well as remote canisters) / Swift Springs / Top Hats Included * H&R Street Performance ($2250 MSRP) - Progressive F&R Springs / non-adjustable / Re-Use Your OEM Top Hats or Replace * KW V1 ($2300 MSRP) - Progressive F & Linear R Springs / non-adjustable / Re-Use Your OEM Top Hats or Replace * Bilstein PSS10 ($3000 MSRP) Linear F&R Springs w/ Tenders / single adjustable / Re-Use Your OEM Top Hats or Replace * Ohlins Road and Track ($2,800 MSRP) Linear F&R Springs / single adjustable / Re-Use Your OEM Top Hats or Replace * Ohlins Track ($4,600 MSRP) Linear F&R Springs w/ Tenders / single adjustable / Swift springs / Top Hats Included My point is that Feal is building their suspensions on a model more like Ohlins Track / KW Clubsport or Moton / JRZ / MCS than on a more entry-level performance model like most of the OP's initially referenced setups. Am I saying Feal is at the level of higher-end Ohlins / Moton / JRZ, etc...probably not. But, they are offering some similar features and build-to-suit at an affordable price. Yes...I'm a fan of what they're doing. Why did I not install them and am now selling them NIB? Well, I decided on going with a more track oriented setup and just got the JRZ's I ordered before the Holidays. Now we could talk oil...if you'd like

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Sent you to a PM. Looking forward to hearing back from you. Michael

Ohlins has an awesome setup, really the best quality you can get, however the standard spring rates are very firm. I ended up changing out mine with some Swift springs. I just need the weather to warm up from the current -15 to get out and see home much of a difference they make

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I tried Eibach on my 996.2 cabriolet and they made the front about 1/2 higher than the rear. Completely NG. Switched out for H&R and all good!

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Just to make doubly sure. Your cabriolet height was nothing like the picture below?

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That is correct, it did not look like that, there was another older thread where the guy ended up chopping a coil of the front to balance for his eibachs. I didn�t want to bother with it and switched to H&R. I can dig up the pics if you want to pm me.

I'm pretty sure that Eibach springs for 996 are designed for coupe and NOT cab. This is because the weights are too different and the kit is the same part number for both. (My assumption is that Eibach designed the springs with coupes in mind but it is theoretically possible to be the opposite, but improbable) If we take the 996.1 coupe (lightest carrera 2) and the 996.2 cabriolet (heaviest carrera 2); https://www.ultimatespecs.com/car-specs/Porsche/M574/911-Coupe-(996-series) The Porsche 911 Coupe (996.1 series) Carrera 2 weighs 1320 Kg / 2910 lbs. https://www.ultimatespecs.com/car-sp...et-(996-series ) The Porsche 911 Cabriolet (996.2 series) Carrera 2 weighs 1425 Kg / 3142 lbs. That's a 232 lb difference but the two online retailers I looked at are listing the same EIbach spring part numbers for both cars! This has got to be wrong and bad for consumers. I believe the springs should not be sold as cabriolet parts especially considering H&R have different part numbers for coupe and cabriolet. Maybe the Porsche Club of America should step in and raise this matter with Eibach?