bumpy journey of changing absorbers

Absorber stops were disintegrating. Probably works well as an indicator of absorber health! Since the car was about 5 years old I decided to go ahead. with the fronts as they were the most urgent. Wanted to keep stock height for ramp and basement parking clearances on my 987.2. I tried Bilstein B4 (OE spec replacements) and after 3 days I swapped them out for a full set of B6’s. B4: OE spec tends to hit the limits quite soon but offered decent comfort overall. On bad roads and potholes seem to react too slowly and hit their limits early and would "thunk". I also always felt that the chassis still had plenty to deliver but didn't have the right partner. B6: Smoothens out the large bumps due to faster damping rates but you feel many of the smaller bumps that you will not notice with the OE Spec. Favourite corners are now taken with more confidence and speed compared to stock or the B4. The techs mentioned that it felt a little like in PASM sport mode. For those with back problems stay away. this is not a “comfort oriented” suspension. I live with it purely for the performance (and the fact the money is spent). Takes a while to break in or settle down - initially they were bumpy as hell and I felt like swapping them out more than a few times.....took about 2,000kms to settle in. Roads that work well are smooth roads and nice . worst roads are with undulations (harmonic) and sharp edges (like the joint of a freshly laid tarmac) and yellow speed lines are a little rough. to help, some pointers include upping the tyre pressure 2 psi to 34/36 front/rear and trying nitrogen (the jury is still out on this) to try to stabilise pressures. Low speed ride is busy. (For KayEL residents if you ever use SMART tunnel or KLCC basement carpark with long rough and bumpy concrete sections daily forget this suspension outright) Wish list - wish Ohlins or Lotus made some suspension for my car..... Some may not like the yellow coloured struts - but its quite discreet on grey. and not really noticeable unless you're looking for it. Hope this helps anyone else shopping. They look like they're quite widely available in many countries. YMMV.

any other B6 users here? care to chime in?

I appreciate the review. I'm eventually going to get to replacing my shocks, and I'd been considering the Cayman R retrofit, but it's gotten expensive enough that I'm thinking these Bilsteins may be the right direction. I'm also curious about the B8s with H& R springs .

I have the B6 Kit with Eibach springs .. For track dedicated car, it is a it on the soft side but for street, I really love it. Bit low for some folks I assume as well. Basically zero clearance between wheel well and tire in front and around 1/2 to 3/4 inch in back. Ive not driven an R suspension car, but assume it may be similar. For the money, doing it over again, I would do the PSS9 kit for 800 more, but if your goal is street then good value!

duder, do budget for some other parts to be changed as well including strut bearings, some small parts like suspension mounts (partly foam at the rear and break down over time).

thanks rackhenry. I would have thought B8 with lowered springs? do you face any issues with clearance on the lowered springs? on the stock springs B6 maintain the stock ride height - of course before settling down they do look quite tall as with all fresh installs. It would be interesting to hear from someone who may have tried R suspension in comparison - although I did hear they're a little less "busy".

OK maybe I have the wrong name, it is the "Bilstien Sport Shocks" with Eibach , it is sold as a kit by Tire rack . Can you conform the B sports are the B8, I will fix my post. Thanks!!!

rackhenry, appreciate the input - I understand that both B6 and B8 are similar just one model is meant for stock height and other for lowering. and they're the only 2 models for our car that are yellow in colour I've also considered getting lowering springs but had to ensure clearance for parking garages and speed bumps in my town so had to scrap that for the daily duties that the car goes through. here's a pic of my current setup.... hmmm... yes it would be nice to adjust the suspension with PSS9 but i recall the cost difference in my country is more than 800USD. btw I just read on some Bilstein websites that B4 is about 10% firmer than OE specs.

Yes I don't think the Eibach would work for the clearance issues...

Very helpful - love these types of threads. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Hi! I know this is an old thread but I am currently lowering my 2009 Cayman on B8 Bilstein coupled with Cayman R springs - These dampers have built in bump stops and not required at all! Anyone here?

If the are inverted struts the bump stops are internal, otherwise they would be visible under the blue boots.

Install 'em as-is, and go enjoy the ride! Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

as you can see from my earlier pics, the Bilsteins install without the bump stops. magicayrton, would be keen to hear about your experience using CR springs and B8 struts.

No problem - I will try to post a write up when I get round to fitting them! Thanks.

I am ready to install now

So.. The Bilstein B8 dampers and Cayman R springs are on and I am very impressed.. Very sporty, firm but not crazy... Excellent traction and turn in on fairly standard camber and toe settings. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. Cheers.

To complete the transformation, you should consider installing the Cayman R-specific rear anti-roll bar and mounting bushings. The front bar is the same part number for both S and R models, IIRC. Also, and finally, a Cayman R-specific wheel alignment will "put the icing on the cake", so to speak. I performed the same suspension mods as you've just done, on my (former) 2007 Cayman , except I used Boxster Spyder coils springs -- and only b/c the Cayman R hadn't yet debuted at that time. Congratulations, and enjoy your new ride in good health. Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Magic, I'm going down this exact route as soon as my B8s arrive. How many finger height before and after? Is the a lot more firm? Cornering should be better I guess. Have you tried these at speed (past 120mph) and if so, does the lower stance help reduce the front end floatiness? Looks great!

Thanks for the headsup to this thread Tiger

@magicayrton : Your car looks great! Don't sweat your choice of dampers. The R is pretty stiff and bouncy on rough roads too. The car is now tuned for higher speed, so take that thoroughbred of yours to the track and let it run! [emoji206][emoji469] Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Higher at the front? Interesting. If anything, I'd like slightly lower in the front to help with down force at speed to reduce the float feel. But yeah.. I can see where you ar coming from with humps in general on a lowered ride.

Don't get me wrong it's plenty low enough and about as much as you'd want on the street here in the UK. It's much lower than before (20mm at least) and just looks right. On track you'd want more camber and therefore lower too.

B4 for me, I use KLCC underground car park occasionally!!

Today I ordered Bilstein B8’s to go with H&R Sport springs for my 2010 manual Cayman base. Put this combo together completely by accident and budget and can’t believe the positives through YouTube and forums. They get installed next Friday and will report back. I can tell already that my car thankfully will not be super low or slammed and that was EXACTLY what I was trying to avoid. Pretty excited.

A long shot given the age of this post but how did the Bilstein B8’s / H&R Sport springs set up go - i am looking at this exact choice

Hi Hemi22, i recall both B6 and B8 had internal bump stops. of course its been a while... but found this on bilstein 's website. https://media.carparts-cat.com/webdata1/ImageData/ArtBild/491406/16/E4-WM5-Y302A00.PDF