M030 springs & standard shock absorbers

Hi All After 3 years of Porsche ownership I finally joined PCGB! My previous car was a 993 Tip, and I traded it for a 1998 996 C2 Tip in February. The car is fitted with M030 sports suspension, which gives quite a harsh ride, especially on the cr*p roads we have in East Berks/South Bucks. I am considering fitting standard shockers, but retaining the M030 springs. I have measured a standard front strut, and the spring platforms are at the same height as the M030 strut. Therefore the ride height must be determined by the spring length and I want to keep the ride height the same. Has anyone tried this combination? The car is my everyday drive, and although I drive it fairly quick whenever I get the opportunity, I realise that I am going to substitute comfort for handling. I also realise that it is going to be a compromise, but I would hate to go through the pain of parting with around £600 to find that it didn't make much difference!

Hi Richard, Welcome to PCGB and Thames Valley Region!!! I hope I'll see you @ our Next Monthly Meeting: Sunday 7th November 2004: Bird in Hand, Knowl Hill, off the A4 near Maidenhead, from 12:30. Cheers, Fab Thames Valley R.O.

Richard, I know the 030 can be a bit wearing on days when you only want to cruise the B roads, but if you go for a semi-standard set up there is a trade off, the car will roll, pitch & understeer more! My first 996 had 030 (10mm lowered) & after a couple of years I fancied a change so specified the next car with standard set up, MISTAKE, i didn't bond with the car..if you are a press on driver the 030 is a must have! If I was you I'd leave well alone until you can test drive a standard car at full chat on the twisty's!!!

Grant, I'm not convinced about your comments regarding the standard set up. I've had a 3.4 and, currently, a 3.6 and find the handling/ride just perfect for public roads. Even in the Isle of Man, where the de-restricted roads can be very fast and challenging, I felt that the modest levels of roll were very useful in communicating the cars' handling. However, I have done two Porsche Cars driving days (Castle Combe and Thruxton) and I would agree that the cars with Sports suspension had a handling advantage on track. I don't think the benefits versus cost justifies changing either the dampers or springs. You could try running at 10% beow the recommended tyre pressures. Or, swap from 18" to 17" wheels/tyres. Alternatively, when the time comes, a change of tyres might help. Michelins are supposed to give a harsher ride, with Continentals slightly better and Pirelli Rossos the best.

Oliver & Grant Thanks for the input - obviously you are both equally satified with your individual setups. I think I am looking for something of a midway point. I am hoping the stiffer springs of my existing 030, combined with a softer shocker will give me a less harsh ride and a bit more compliance. I realise the trade off, but I have been living with it for 6 months and it is getting wearing. I drove a couple of standardly suspended 996's on local roads (to me) prior to buying mine, and felt comfortable with the setup. When I test drove mine it was on smooth roads and it felt quite acceptable. However, I find it a bit twitchy on the bumpy, uneven roads in my area. I was kind of hoping that someone might have tried doing the same and could give me an idea of what to expect. Good point about the tyres. Mine has Kuhmo's which were on it when I bought it. The rears were about half worn, and I have done 6000 miles and they still look half worn! (They provide lots of grip too.) My old 993 would definitely be looking for a new set by now. When I eventually get round to replacing them I will try the P Zero Rosso's.

Back in 1997, my wife and I tried the then new Boxster near Nice. My wife wanted one so we duly ordered it from Lovetts. The brochure said Sports Suspension provided improved handling with little effect on comfort. So we selected this option. Delivery day arrived, the car looked fantastic. But, the moment I drove down the road I knew the ride was different to the French car. After a few days on mixed roads I was really disappointed. The ride was very fidgety - not harsh, but jiggly and a lot more trim rattles were noticeable. My wife hated it. Lovetts lent me their standard demonstrator and the extra compliance was quite obvious, with no downside to the handling. I wrote to Porsche requesting their advice and they forwarded the letter to Germany. I received a very polite, detailed, reply. This explained that the suspension components were carefully designed, tested and tuned by their engineers to work together and changing individual components would lead to unpredicatable results. The only option was to buy brand new suspension system, which would have cost over £3000 fitted. We decided it was more economical to change the car. Boxster demand was high so we got our money back. Unfortunately we had to wait 8 months for a new one. My wife now has an 'S' and this has the standard, lightly lowered suspension, which, on UK roads, is just about perfect.

Richard, It doesn't seem very popular to mess about with suspension in the UK. Have a look on Rennlist & Renntech sites in the US as they seem to talk a lot more about suspension mods - perhaps because their standard setup is even softer than ours !! regards

I have looked at some of the Rennlist postings, and it appears that their M030 is softer than ours. Several of them have changed to "European" spec M030. I have looked at the PET, and the struts and springs are different for US and RoW. On the standard suspension, the US spec cars have the same shockers, but different springs. So not much help really. Thanks for all the replies. I have booked the car in to have it done at the end of the month while I am away on holiday. I'll let you know the outcome.

Oliver whilst I understand that you are happy with the standard set up (& many are!) with respect you can't really comment on the sports suspension after a couple of track days, you need to live with both set ups over an extended period & on familiar roads. Up to 7/10ths the standard suspension is fine & does certainly offer a slightly improved ride quality. BUT (& it's a BIG but!!) things start to fall apart when you really press on over the twisty stuff, with the 030 car you feel a part of the car, connected & in control , with the standard car it still goes round the twisty stuff but by comparison it pitches, floats & rolls & is definitely not as focused or involving as a drivers car. The standard car also understeers dramatically more than one with the 030 option. Having said this each to his own & if you are happy with your car great, but to me a Porsche is for driving & the standard set up is too mass market, the 10mm lowered set up offers a good compromise (standard on the C4S &TT) sitting between standard & the track focused X-74 (30mm lowered & standard on the GT3's).

Grant, I do get the opportunity to drive quite a lot of different 911 variants. Porsche Cars GB occasionally use some of my earlier 911s for display purposes and they normally lend me one of their demonstrators. This year I've had a couple of C4Ss and a C4. The reason I cited the driving days was because they provided a unique opportunity to drive different configurations back to back.

030 aside (we can agree to disagree!!!) what other tasty 911 shaped beasties have you got tucked away in garage then?

Hi Richard, I believe that the ride height on US vehichles is slighty higher, probably something to do with crash tests etc..... So, the shocks may be the same but the springs slightly higher. Having the 030 shocks and US may give a higher ride and would probably be less firm...... just a thought!

Grant, my interest in 911s has always been towards the lightweight, driver focused road/track cars, where less is often more. So, mainly the RSs. Porche Cars and Porsche Club tend to use my 2.7RS Sport (lightweight) and 3.2 CS for display. For track use I play with Caterhams. Eoin Sloane always describes my taste as 'catholic', whatever that means. However, it may explain why my preferred 996 is a straight-forward C2 Coupe. Of course, handling and ride preferences are subjective, but I find the standard, properly, set up 996 to be perfect for road use. It is really only necessary to stiffen and lower the suspension as weight increases. The C4S, for example, probably needs the sports suspension to overcome the extra weight it carries. It also reduces the understeer that is slightly more evident in the standard C4. All Colin Chapman's designs had two ditinctive features - lightness and compliance. It's the same with Caterhams. Their performance comes from their lightness and low c of g. We usually just stiffen the arbs at one end to dial out too much understeer.

Oliver Was yours the 3.2 CS that Porsche Centre Reading had in the showroom earlier this year? It was absolutely superb, and if it was yours I am very envious.

Great, an RS & Club Sport plus a 996, you are spoilt for choice! I can now fully understand why you want the 996 as standard, you already have two other very focused 911's for press on days! Incidentally my prefence for 030 came from two 996 carrera 2's that I had (pre & post facelift) rather than my current 4wd Turbo.

Yes, the CS was at Reading for quite a while. It was part of the 2.7RS/3.2CS/996GT3RS display (all white and red). I do have a soft-spot for the earlier cars. I used to have a 356. Less than 100bhp but lots of fun. You learn to use the momentum to maintain rapid progress. Brakes required a bit of anticipation though. Later cars are terrific, of course, but you really can't exploit the performance on the public road. £ for £ I reckon the Boxster S is the sainest fun. Can't wait for the new one.