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THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHI bought Raceworks Coilovers, so you don't have to.
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Check everywhere
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
Someone said you tried to email us, I�ve checked everywhere but don�t see it.
I bought Raceworks Coilovers, so you don't have to.
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Leading evidence: 'Check everywhere' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Check everywhere' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
I checked the fenders to make sure I was even side-to-side.
I bought Raceworks Coilovers, so you don't have to.
Install front first
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I bought Raceworks Coilovers, so you don't have to.
Set final ride height
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
Once I had the pre-load done, I set the final ride height.
I bought Raceworks Coilovers, so you don't have to.
Use on subarus
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
Feal COs have been used on subarus for years with good reliability.
I bought Raceworks Coilovers, so you don't have to.
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35 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
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Generation: 20261026T181445Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
Backstory
If all you care about is my driving impressions, skip to the bottom.
I have been looking to refresh my suspension for a couple of years, but the big hurdle was always ride height. I needed something near stock, which on a Canadian C4S, should have been 158mm front, 163mm rear. Of course, after 17 years and nearly 145,000 km, it was actually a little lower, at 150mm front and rear.
Along came "Raceworks", claiming their coilovers could be set to "stock" ride height. I enjoy a good deal and I like to support startups, so I dove in. Here is my review.
Ordering was easy, and they were very accommodating with special requests. First trouble came before I even installed. I ordered the rear shocks with a rubber top mount, as I was worried about Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH). They arrived with their standard monoball. I have exchanged several emails with them, and they professed to be working on shipping me the proper top mounts. However, after waiting 8 weeks, I gave up on ever seeing the top mounts as promised.
Install
I installed the front first. There is no way that these would ever get to 158mm ride height. The best I could get out of them was 140mm. I settled at 128mm, which is the X73 height for this car (so is that stock height?) Also, one bolt was 1mm out of alignment and I had to file the mounting hole slightly, but I got it in there.
One bolt out of spec.
The front drop links are adjustable, and it was easy to get the sway bars neutral when the car was on the ground. The hardware was good, and easy to adjust. The front shocks came with camber plates.
Adjustable drop links
The rear install wasn't without hassle either. The rear shocks seemed long enough to get to "stock" height, but I set them to 133mm to match the X73 height for the car. All was good with the rear install, up to the drop links.
The shock has a "collar" onto which the drop links should be installed. It is adjustable in height, but there is no indication as to what height. Once the shocks are on the car, turning this collar interferes with other suspension components, so I left it. It has two pinch bolts which have to be very tight to keep this collar from rotating as you are driving. Butting it up onto one of the other collars would only work on one side, on the other side, the force would lust loosen it anyways.
How tight should these be? The manual was silent.
Worse, the rear drop links, although adjustable, weren't reverse threaded on one side. What this meant was you couldn't turn the barrel to change the length. Instead you had to install the rear drop links with the tires on the ground so that the sway bar isn't loaded. What a hassle.
It took me a couple of test drives to get the pre-load right. The manual indicates 10mm of pre-load, but I found the car more planted at 12mm.
Once I had the pre-load done, I set the final ride height. I made sure I had factory pressure in the tires, and made a tool to measure from the ground to the measuring points. I checked the fenders to make sure I was even side-to-side.
Tools of the trade.
See this post for how to measure:
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...de-height.html
Post-Install Alignment
I had all of this professionally aligned to my specs:
Front
Camber L/R....-0.7/-0.7
Caster L/R...+8.0/+8.0
Toe L/R...+0.05/+0.05
Total toe front...+0.10
Steer Ahead...0.00
Rear
Camber L/R....-1.6/-1.6
Toe...+0.10/+0.10
Total toe...+0.20
Thrust angle...0.00
Impressions
I love them. No really, it is like having a different car. if there is more NVH I can't tell, and bumps on the highway that I would avoid because it would unsettle the car are now not an issue. Small bump compliance is great for a sports car. There is no crashyness (TM) or harshness. There is no clunking or other strange noises (but I did make sure to tighten everything that came from the factory). The valving seems spot on. I have the dampers set to 4 clicks from full soft. The springs are standard Front Spring 400lb, Rear Spring 600lb. My understanding is that stock was 180lb front, 320lb rear.
I wish they could get their customer service down. These could be a great entry level option, but I can't recommend buying them. I have told them they have burned through the goodwill they created on this forum. They certainly have with me. Although they have a 3 year warranty, I wouldn't count on any support.
Thus the reason I'm going a different route. I would have love to have helped a young company but this and another bad Customer Service story ruined it for me parting from my hard earned cash.
I've been very pleased with my feal coilovers on my 986 boxster. comfy on street at 10 clicks, good on track at mostly full stiff. Could have gone higher on spring rate.
QUOTE=Quadcammer;15978961]I've been very pleased with my feal coilovers on my 986 boxster. comfy on street at 10 clicks, good on track at mostly full stiff. Could have gone higher on spring rate.[/QUOTE]
Deleted
Went to the website and got this SPAM warning. I am going to sound like snob, but I really don't think any of the low to mid grade parts are worth buying for a 911 of any year. There is no bad deprecated 911 in the last 50 years so these cars deserve the best parts imho.
Its not like a 2016 Audi S5 that is going to be 10k less in 3 years. I get it for most cars. I just figure it is better to buy parts that are top quality and can last long durations. 911's especially ones owned by members of this will be kept and maintained for probably decades.Why cheap out on them and have install issues or inferior stuff?
Benjamin Franklin: "The bitterness of poor
quality
remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."
You mean like engines that grenade without warning? There is a reason why the 996 is the cheapest 911 you can buy.
That being said, I do have an IMS solution in my car.
My impression of the coilovers is that they are of good quality, but the support is lacking. If they went out of business tomorrow, it wouldn't make the customer service experience any worse.
That's definitely the way I'm taking this.
I don't have the money that, I suspect, you have for luxury items. I work on my own cars. I have to. To pay someone else to do what I can do, would mean I'd be driving a Toyota or a Honda (and by that, I mean a basic POS).
Sorry - we're not all able to just open our wallets and let our every desire be realized. Carry on.
Maybe the real legacy of the 996 is that it has allowed the rest of us to enjoy owning a 911. Maybe it is better that they are kept on the road with good parts rather than rusting in barns waiting for the "best parts".
I would never be able to afford paying a shop to do maintenance on my car or any of the old euro cars I have owned. It's borderline crazy to buy a 20 year old European car and have to pay shops thousands upon thousands of dollars a year for maintenance. I can understand some people do that. But those people would probably buy something more reliable with the same features like a 997. The cheaper parts for these cars are not like half price they are more like 30% less. I think its not worth it. With the money saved from doing my own labor I want the good stuff. When I hard a part on my Ohlins coilovers go out, I tried to contact them three times and each time they responded to the initial communication and then completely ghosted me. So the followup service is always a bit inconsistent pretty much anywhere.
It is kind of sad that we can't get good service, even from good companies. I wrote to Falkin looking for some tire measurements, and the info they gave me was obviously wrong. At least I got an answer I guess. I am still waiting for Raceworks to get me my top mounts...well, waiting is the wrong word.
There would be a lot of dropped jaws if I advertised what I paid for my 911. The 996 is the only model that I could realistically consider, given my liquid assets. No regrets. Loving it everyday.
Those that think only the best parts and the most money spent is somehow a badge of honor, are in a different world from me.
I applaud your effort to think outside the box and take a chance on an unproven suspension kit. It seems the components are of reasonable quality, but the customer service is clearly not there. Hope you find a way to complete the installation to your satisfaction.
Every time I call Bilstein, I get a live person at the end of the line and they are always helpful. Parts are readily available, and service (like rebuild) is accessible and reasonably priced. I'm afraid I seem like a shill for the company, but it isn't intentional. I've always gotten my money's worth (value) out of every one of their products I've ever purchased. As a result, I recommend them enthusiastically.
I think ^^this^^ will have the overall effect of "thinning the herd" so to speak. I see an awful lot of young folks (in their 20's) who have the means and enthusiasm to buy these cars but not to properly maintain them. We all know what maintenance deferred means for them. They'll never reach the lower numbers of the air-cooled cars, but the stock of good, well maintained street cars will dwindle to the point where the $15k examples will be few and far between.
so for the people who like to poo-poo the cheaper brands, have you ever compared the two in person and if so, can you elaborate on what was so bad on the cheaper units.
When we really look at a coilover, its not rocket science. Sure, for a top level race car, tuning of the shock will be important. For the average weekend warrier, you're looking to get a stiffer ride, less body roll, acceptable ride quality, and decent longevity. I haven't found any indication that feal or similar are not going to deliver any of that.
Feal COs have been used on subarus for years with good reliability. They are rebuildable @ $75 each, they use swift springs on the higher end versions, and they have performed well on my track car.
The difference between feal and ohlin (maybe someone can point them out) will not be noticeable to the average HPDE driver (here come all the Senna's telling me they can feel everything). I'd rather use the $1500 to $2k difference for tires and DE entrance fees.
Cool. Enjoy whatever you choose. I don't know why anybody would care if you choose to buy a more economical coilover (or other part). It's your car and your choice. Nobody else's opinions matter.
For my part, I'll continue feel pretty good about all of the hours of engineering and real world racing test development of the brand I chose. To me, it is worth a few extra dollars to get that quality, support, parts, and service - and to know that there is a reliable company that will stand behind their products, and answer the phone when I call. Others may not value that the same as I do.
I'll continue to try to steer people in the direction of the choice I think is smartest. I don't have feelings if my input is ignored - it's their/your car. Enjoy whatever you choose.
What's really sad is, RW is watching...I got this PM (below) from him on 7/12 after I made a comment about communication.
"
Someone said you tried to email us, I�ve checked everywhere but don�t see it. We are in the midst of a domain transfer so emails through the site might be going to limbo during the transfer. That being said, how can I help you?"
I see it the other way. The availability of "OEM" parts keeps them on the road. Long before "numbers matching" concourse 996s fetch real money, cars that run on gas will be legislated off the road.
Huh? What's "the other way"? I didn't say anything about "numbers matching" or "concourse quality" or even "fetching real money"... I think you totally missed my point... which was; the price point that these cars currently demand, is making them available to people who either can't afford to, or don't care to properly maintain them (i.e. they're "disposable" - this happened with the earlier cars as well, they were just made in much smaller numbers)). OEM parts are still generally expensive (compared to parts for non-Porsche cars), so many folks simply ignore warning signs/symptoms or use cheap or even used parts for many repairs - yes this keeps them "on the road" but for how long is questionable. As for fossil fuel burning vehicles being legislated off the road, that won't happen in my lifetime. There are simply way too many cars currently on the road, and too many people, jobs, businesses dependent on them to just go away...it just won't happen for quite a while (>40 years). You haven't even begun to hear the arguments against the production of electric vehicles (including real - non subsidized costs, environmental impact, etc). When they actually start to become a large scale alternative to gas engines you'll start to hear the kicking and screaming from the fossil fuel interests...
100% this. These yahoos took my money, did not communicate for over a month ("oh, sorry, we had a bunch of orders and sent yours overseas. but we're getting new stuff made now, still want?") and then refused to honor a refund promise.
Hard pass would be my advice.
Good Review, I think I have the worlds best luck with these guys, I had emailed them about a part, and within one hour, they responded and are shipping the part today. Makes me sad to see that not everyone gets this treatment.
Update:
Eventually raceworks sent me the rubber top mounts. Of course, they came with no instructions. The are several mm (6mm to be exact) thicker than the monoballs, and now the screw on adjuster ***** don't fit.
The ride with the new mounts is very good. I noticed a drop in NVH immediately (I just had my butt-dyno calibrated as well, so these are accurate numbers).
