Koni Sport + Cayman R suspension

Recently I’ve swapped my suspension over from B12 ( Bilstein B8 + Eibach springs ) to Koni Sport + Cayman R combo and after driving around for a bit ready to provide some feedback. My main issue with the B12’s was a jittery ride at low speeds and ride height being a tad too low as outlined in this thread . Initially I was planning on going with the full Cayman R setup and reached out to Gert@Carnewal for purchase and he suggested Koni Sports as an alternative based on feedback he has received from other users — this thread also had positive feedback on them. While Koni Sports don’t seem to be very common on this platform they’re a well known brand and are adjustable; plus and as an added bonus that combination was 400+ euros cheaper than the full Cayman R setup. Sold! Customer service from Carnewal was excellent, they’re price competitive and I got the package all the way from Belgium quicker than some USA based vendors. Definitely recommend them for anyone looking for OEM or aftermarket parts… Install was no different from any other suspension. At the rear springs are loose with the assembly out of the car but once installed that’s a non-issue due to suspension preload but I did put a small zip tie to prevent spring from rotating just in case. Since the adjusters are on top you do have to drill a small hole.. Front is super easy and I was able to make it look pretty OEM-like by using a 3/4” hole saw and some dremel work. Rear is a bit more tricky and the plastic trim on the first side I tried ended up looking like swiss cheese The ‘good’ side looks like this — here I used a 1” hole saw. Koni supplies a washer like adjuster for the rear and it’s still a little tricky to adjust so I might enlarge the hole a bit more. Some might have issues with cutting the plastic trim but honestly it’s in an area that I never look at I and I covered up the holes with some Tesa felt tape afterwards. As expected ride height is higher than Eibach’s and, to me, that’s a positive as I don’t scrape entering driveways etc. The biggest improvement was in ride comfort. Running at full soft small undulations are barely felt, there is no crashing over large bumps and overall damping feels right — OEM+ setup is best way to sum it and I can stiffen the damping (rebound only for Koni’s) if I ever want to take it to autocross or track down the road. It’s been a long and expensive journey going from stock to B12 to this kit but it was worth it at the end and for anyone considering Cayman R springs I would highly recommend Koni’s as an alternative to the B8/B6/B4. Here is how the car looked with the B12 setup and how it looks now

I feel like all of the aftermarket lowering options are too much on the Cayman so I've been looking at the r suspension as well. This set up looks nice with the konis. Thanks for the write up!

Looks like a nice stance, better than the B12's. I'd be all over this if you didn't have to cut the rear trim

I've had Koni full coilovers on other cars and have always been VERY impressed with the adjustability to go firm for track/autocross then back to comfy for the street. I ran a set of their coilovers for over 150,000 miles on one car and they rode as well all those years later as when installed... and I'd even bought them locally already lightly used! Plenty of trim pieces available through eBay and other parts recyclers. I'd just buy a spare set and cut those, then you can swap back if desired at some point.

Yeah, cutting the rear trim is really not a big deal and that picture I posted makes it look worse than it is as it’s zoomed in. Plus you can buy used trim pieces in good shape for around $50 each if it really bothers you.

how do you think the Koni 's compare to a lower priced coilover set like ST?

I have not had any first hand experience with those so can’t say. More I drive this Koni +R spring combo though more impressed I am with the composure on rough patches.

I've been on the Cayman R set up for 100k miles now and love it. I do have other goodies like HR sway bars. The harsh CA roads make this set up very compliant, especially as a daily driver.

newold looks like the front is a little higher and the rear about the same height. Hopefully the ride is better for you. A lot of NVH comes from tires /sidewalls spring rate as reported by The TireRack . What does the Koni adjustment knob do to the rebound? Can you actually feel a difference and how many turns or clicks does it give you.

Nice write up. I'm seriously considering this upgrade. My suspension has 68k miles now. It would be great to do a back to back with your car and my stock base to compare. We should get together sometime.

Sounds good!

newold_m, can you compare Ohlin R&T with less spring rate and valving to your setup with R springs and Koni shocks ? This is key to a lot of new to 987 buyers.

Hi Apex1, the Ohlins on my 987.1 had the standard valving but I had gone to softer springs (50/60 Nm). Compared to those the Koni / Cayman R is still significantly more comfortable. Can’t speak for track performance as I have not taken either setup there.

What do you guys think about st coilovers?

Look decent. My only experience is with bilstein coilovers , but I haven't even installed them yet lol.

I used Ohlin's for 5 years and about 35k miles without any problems. So if your car is a keeper, it makes financial sense to get the best for its intended use. Some, like newold_m simply did not like its stiffness. For me, i like a lower center of gravity ride, which puts the coilover main job of keeping the car off the ground. You need high spring rates of 400 lbs/in f and 458 lbs/in r to start with and the shock body to help in the compression mode. Just try this this ride height with ST's, you will be bottoming out on back county roads. Not sure how long shock lasts either. Getting any coilover to last a long time is counter productive as their main purpose is keeping the car off the ground. That said, its about changing the valving to more of a comfort levels like newold_m favors. At 17 clicks from stiff, the Ohlin gives a firm ride but does have some absorption in compression. My car is set up to react to those bumps, not absorb them. The Tarett Race LCA's with soiid bushings start the reaction as does the spring rate of the tires RE71RS, Tarett GT sway bars and coilover springs. So the Dual Flow Valving has its usefulness in the spotlight. So far, I would rate the compression/rebound for Track, (HPDE), Autocross, Porsche Tours, and bike hauling to be about in the center of its usefulness for me. Not sure about ST coilover when looking at all the possibilities of use. Here is a comparison on P9; Ohlins v Bilstein v Cayman R on 987.1S?

I'm just in the process of fitting Cayman R shocks and springs to my 987.1 S. I'd be really grateful if anyone can tell me if I need adjustable rear toe arms, or if the standard arms have sufficient adjustment? I have a set of Cayman R toe arms but I suspect they're the same (I'll measure them), and I also got a cheap set of adjustable rear toe arms but they're steel and much heavier than the standard items, so I'd rather not fit them if I don't need them. I hope the ~20mm drop is small enough that the Toe can be adjusted with stock parts. thanks in advance!

I am still using the stock rear toe arms and have no issues being able to get decent adjustment.

I just finish the diy Cayman Retrofit + koni to my 2008 base 987.1 . So far pretty pleased, and I barely notice any ride height difference compared to stock 100k miles. I would say 2 finger vs 3 finger gap, I'm okay with this given I can barely get out of my driveway without scraping stock. I would say the stock setup had too much isolation for my liking and I wasn't feeling the road and steering through the chassis enough (especially compared to my other cars), but somehow this managed to strike a nice balance between performance and isolation given this is supposed to be my daily driver. Given the difference of spring height vs stock especially the rears was definitely scared of how this would turn out. The rear is the weirdest part, it fits together very loose when the car is off the ground. Stacking strut ring spacers just to make it fit tighter in the back i think would give the car too much positive rake so i left it as-is. I didn't have to do any modifications for the koni front adjusters, the rear I went RWB-san with the Dremel 😂 I will never need to pull the interior apart again for a strut adjustment or replacement. I can Velcro the pieces back together and it would be more discrete I think I fixed a few other things like LCAs, sway Links, rebuilt both axles while everything was apart. I should've added gt2 brake ducts but I forgot. This my first time working on a modern Porsche so I learned a lot and I think I could do it a lot faster with confidence next time lol

@ Holelee07 what is your initial perception of the R/Koni combo?

My initial impression of the stock Cayman was that it was quite soft as a pillow, numb...isolated, not very communicative chassis wise for a sports car (see my list of Pcars in sig). Furthermore, my daily driver that this car is supposedly replacing is a s2000 also with koni therefore I had some interesting expectations and comparatives. I have not tracked this car nor driven it that many miles yet. As for shock settings I have it set right now between 1 to 1.25 of 2 turns rebound. This is most peoples track setting but is how I intend to drive it daily. Ride comfort, noise and vibrations is the best hands down of all my cars even stock - and this is the biggest improvement even in my Honda when I put in koni . The worst by far is 911 (hot rod with Bilstein .. full monoballs) followed by the Honda which used to be almost as bad. The Honda stock is a real go kart little suspension feel, but koni made it acceptable and quite nice. The 911 right now feels like an actual go kart with a solid/no suspension. Communication improved a lot like 15% oem+. I thought it was pretty bad and numb before like rubber double bagged plus lidocaine . Also noted, that I changed a few things in addition to the CR koni struts .. I can now feel the road through the chassis and not information overload like my other cars. I would say Honda and 9146 the best here. I feel the CR spring is springier than stock (I think they are something like 10% more lbs rate than stock). It reacts faster (this is good for keeping the tires on the pavement). I think I could go up a few more notches maybe like 20-25% might be my personal happy medium and well within Koni ability to control it. So imo this is a very mild change. You do this mod because you want an improvement without going much lower. I was shocked at how little the ride height changed for me. (I'm happy I didn't want to lower the car). I was afraid of 20mm that people noted this does over a stock CS I feel overall that handling, confidence, ride quality all improved at the same time no downside. Basically I got performance without sacrificing and even improved ride quality. This is a small incremental change not ohlins . I will maybe update this after I have had more time with it. I'm very happy I went with Koni , I like them in my other cars and I do not like the Bilstein in my 911 lol Close BEFORE pics i can find I measured the AFTER install height from Arch to center of center cap) 15.0" rear and 14.0" front Base cayman with 18" CS 5 spoke wheels

Great recap!! SO glad I am doing this R spring and Koni shock. It is time too....the front upper strut bearings groan when you turn the wheel tightly.....and I feel like I have very little rebound damping. For reference my base 987.2 with 18" S wheels sits 15" front and rear on 110000 mile OEM suspension.

Finished my KLoni Sport / R spring , new everything suspension refresh. This is a great set up. Back off the rebound and it is civilized, turn it up a notch and its slot car. Damping value and springs work really well together. Car is definitely lower and a scrapes a bit more on speed bumps and driveways but not excessively. Really enjoying this!!

Where did you buy your set up?

Springs new of PCA marketplace. $400. Shocks from Carnewal . Yes even shipped from belgium a great deal. Suspension refresh kit from Spyder Performance UK.

How loose was the rear spring/strut before installing? My mechanic thinks something is wrong but I have told him it will be fine after installation.

It was loose. Didn’t measure the slop but I’d bet an inch. I used a hole in the lower seat to throw in a wire tie and I also made some reference marks so I could make sure it was lined up.

Getting ready to do R springs and Koni Soecial Active (Red) shocks. Suspension refresh from Spyder Performance, and the rest of the parts for FCP . Wish there was a good fix to the loose rear springs. The fix would be slightly shorter shocks, or (not recommended) have a machinist turn the top of the strut rod to take off the height needed. I will use a stainless steel wire tie. Still concerned about the top springs seat, but don't expect to get the car airborn.

Yeah the right fix is to shorten the stroke. But if you are airborne long enough to unseat the shock you’ve got a ton of other problems.

Did you cut an opening in the strut tower cover?

only needed to cut the rears, the fronts no modifications needed it already has a hole/slot in it i cut it in a way that i will never have to take the interior apart again to adjust or replace struts.

I "marked" mine and let the KONI adjusters rub on it during a drive. Pulled it all back out and used a hole saw from the back side and cut a 1" hole. I slotted a. small screwdriver to easily turn the adjuster. Not worried about plugging the hole, but caps are available on amazon .

Looks great. This is what I am planning to do today.