Lowering my 996

I would like to lower my car but not sure how much of an affect this has on the balance car. I am looking to lower it by 30mm rather than putting a kit on it. Hopefully it will help the floating at speed issue. Can anyone advise for or against doing it? I have a 1998 C2 tip.

Lowering it won't help the "floaty at speed" feeling on its own. Are you sure your geo has been done properly? I would take the car to Chris Franklin at Center Gravity for a full geo before doing any other suspension work.

It did have a full geo done by Parr after the lower wishbones were replaced in 06. I have had the car since summer last year and at that point the car had done 3k since the geo. Since then the car has done 10k and has always been floaty. Having the bigger wheels has helped keep it more planted. Any idea what actually causes the floating problem?

Hi Lee. I have the factory fitted 030 (10mm lowered) suspension on my '03 C2 996. I'm not sure whether you'd be able to get something similar after-market but I personally find that -10mm is quite enough on occasions when it comes to steeper driveways and some traffic-calming obstacles. My suspension is not just -10mm lower it is also noticeably firmer too. I'm not sure whether it's this extra firmness that gets rid of any 'floating' at speed but I can't say that I've ever experienced it. The car also corners like it's on rails! [ ] Having owned this car for the last 4 years I think that I might find the X74 (-30mm) suspension to be a bit of a bone-shaker for daily use![ ]

Have you checked to see all the lip spoilers, and flaps in front of the tyres are all present and accounted for? They would definately contribute to a floaty feel (that is to say moreso than the floaty feel 911s have as standard)

Hi Lee, My C4 has H&R springs (-30mm) and everything felt exactly same as before, just looked better cosmetically. On the rare occasion it will scrape on the odd speed hump etc but is fine otherwise. Paul

The rear tends to droop over time, so that can contribute to it being nose high. At speed, a nose high attitude will force more air under the car thus causing lift. Having too little toe out will also cause it to feel like you don't know where the front is going. Too much toe will make it wander at speed. If you give Chris a call & describe what's happening, he'll probably be able to tell you what's wrong.

I had that floaty feeling at high speeds and then took my car to Chris Franklin at centre of gravity. He discovered that car had too much toe and adjusted the problem plus the front right and left traction arms had worn causing the car to move at higher speeds.(floating feeling) Since being fixed it drives like a dream and the floating has gone.[ ]

I have M030 kit on mine too. I enjoy it but sometimes on poor surfaces it can be a little tedious. I experienced float too but after a new set of Michelins and geo set up and probably getting more and more used to car I don't really notice it anymore. I believe the tyres and geo played a huge part in resolving it though.

I bought my car with 18" Sport Design 2 rims and standard suspension. Changed it for the M030 full kit (bough from Carnell) which lowered it my 10mm. I also have a slightly lower front lips from a GT3 (I think). Looks slightly better lower with the occasional grounding, but nothing significant. Good on good roads but not so good on not so good roads. A passenger of mine recently felt it was harsher than a GT3 which I thought was a bit strange. Handling changed a little with the suspension kit, but I wouldnt say it was transformed, but was certainly worth the effort & cost based on slight improvements to looks and handling. Personally, I think 30 mm may be a bit low - I would want to see one and feel it in person but thats just my opinion. Good luck, Rob

I had a C2 996 which i recently got rid of the one thing i had always wished i had done was uprate and lower the suspension I have a golf vr6 with bilstein sprintline shocks eibach springs lowered and eibach anti roll bars and powerflex bushes throughout the ride is sublime if you like to push on with your driving easily better than the original the control on dive roll and cornering is exceptional I now have a 996 turbo and have just bought an x73 suspension kit from porsche it uses bilstein b8 struts and is matched and valved to the car by porsche the standard shocks are monroe i believe, the crazy thing was my golf had better suspension components than the turbo I would definately talk to Chris Franklin at Centre Gravity he really knows his beans I would also get him to install and set up your car i am sure you will not regret it you may want to look at the porsche kit chat with Chris first I priced the individual components to make an x73 kit and couldnt do it for the money porsche were selling it at(including club membership discount)The only time I will say Posche were offering a BARGIN! you may find the same deal with the x74 the beauty of the Posche kit was it didnt alter my insurance premium as it was an option worth thinking about good luck and enjoy

Hey Richard, i'd love to know the differences you've experienced with the x73 kit against the standard.

Hi Marcus I will let you know on that one Chris Franklin is so busy it wont be until early june before i can say