Satisfaction with any product or service is all about 1 thing. The level of expectation you have going in. This is true with homes, cars, food at restaurants, and certainly with coilovers.
Before even considering a coilover, examine what you want them to do. Examine what results you expect from the change, and PLEASE talk to pros about these expectations to find out if they are real or not.

For example, the difference between Moton and K-Sport is similar to comparing a $200K split level house to a $1 Million home. (@ 1/5th the cost). Would you expect these homes to have the same amenities or be built with the same quality???
I put K-sport coilovers on my car a few weeks ago. Let me tell you why I made the choice.
I have a double duty C4S. I don’t drive a lot on the street, but do 10-15 track events each summer.
**Keep in mind that NONE of my handling challenges are related to street driving!
I had three goals for the changes I wanted to make to the car.
1) Reduce the dive and squat on track. (Going into a hard braking zone at 130+ and putting the car on it’s nose only to find out your *** was so light, you had to perform a miracle to keep her from coming around, was not fun. The car also had almost 60k miles on the stock springs and dampers.)
2) I was leaning hard enough in the turns to lift the inside wheel sometimes. I needed the contact patches on the road 100% of the time. So I also wanted to reduce the body roll under heavy loads.
3) Get more front camber to help reduce some of the inherent understeer at corner entry the factory designs in.
I was unwilling to spend $5-8K on parts alone to get this done.

• Stiffer spring rates to reduce the dive. (Compromise on stiffness for the street.)
• Add adjustable sway bars to reduce body roll. Also get some understeer tweaking capability.
• Add camber plates or GT3 control arms to the front to get more than -0.5 degrees (limit of my eccentrics)

The x73/x74 is a cost effective way of adding stiffness (call it $1,500). I drove a car with this change and liked it. Nice compromise for a daily driver that also gets tracked. I also considered new dampers (sport) and stiffer springs, but could not find a way to accomplish my goals any more effectively than with k-sports or x73. I was really only buying the coilovers to get stiffer spring rates.
When I discovered that the K-Sport package had the spring rates I decided on, and also came with front, adjustable camber plates (above), AND adjustable drop links for around @$1100, I really had to look hard. I knew the dampers would be mediocre at best. (i.e. expectations) But I can live with a bit of harshness on the road. I also decide on the H&R Sway bars. They are adjustable.
The install went well. The most challenging part was ride height. I chose the same ride height as the x73/x74 since it is well known, and the factory knows you can go to this height without inducing significant bump steer. There are also published alignment specs to help me lock onto a stable setup quickly. (I went with Alignment specs more aggressive than the factory published….and love them).
I am still tweaking , and need to do a “test and tune” to dial in the bars. But here are my results thus far.
Results:
1) These springs control dive and squat much better than stock without killing me on the road. (Front 6K, Rear 9K). (In hindsight, I could have gone much stiffer and not been unhappy on the street so long as I would have also gotten better quality dampers (not K-sport). Ride quality is far more related to the damper than the spring!)
2) The dampers were not terrible at all. I would simply call them mediocre. I have them set to about ¾ stiff, where they seem to play nice with the springs. The ride is a tiny bit stiffer over bumps than stock, but not harsh at all. Some higher speed bumps are actually smoother than stock. K-sport is similar to the x73 feel, but with a slightly different flavor.
3) Camber – I have the front set to -1.2 now, and I have more available once I do some testing. (Stock limited me to -0.5) This was a free benefit of the kit.
4) H&R Sway bars – Nice. Not as lightweight as the GT3 bars, but they are adjustable, stiff enough for me, and were a few hundred dollars less. I have the front at full soft, and the back at medium to start. Not sure where I will wind up after Test & Tune.
5) Understeer is less on the street – no question. She is more responsive to driving with the throttle also. She turns in so much better on corner entry. I love it. Mid-corner and corner exit handling assessment will have to wait for some testing on the track in 2 weeks.
6) Directional Control – MUCH BETTER THAN STOCK. She is not twitchy. But very responsive. I can change lanes at high speed now at the blink of an eye without any drama. You point, she goes.
WARNINGS –
· GET THE BEST ALIGNMENT POSSIBLE. The 996 is far more sensitive to alignment than any other car I have owned. Before you spend any money on parts, work with a good Porsche-experienced race shop on properly aligning the car. ASK THEIR ADVICE.
· It is also very sensitive to ride heights. Do not go lower than x73 ride heights unless you plan to also buy front and rear arms to adjust for bump steer, and correct for toe.
· K-Sport will limit your ability to adjust heights a lot due to running out of threads on the shock body. To be safe, on the adjustment ring on the body, you will wind up right around x73. If you do not want to go this low, choose a different option.
Conclusion:
I spent $2k on parts and absolutely love my car now. Did I expect Moton? NO. Go in with your eyes open, and do your research. More importantly, be REALLY HONEST with yourself about what it is that you want to accomplish (and what you can live without) and choose what will get you there.
The K-sports are not a long term play for me. I am sure in a couple of years, there will be a set of Motons on the car. I was just unwilling to spend the money right now. Good luck to all.

 

thank you sir for the write up, best one i've read in awhile! points for ya

 

Very nice write up! Alot of things to consider when you change your suspension and think there is an all-in-one package to meet your needs and expectations. I am still doing research and still on the fence on what I want from my car. Thanks

 

Excellent write up! Thank you so much for posting this information. I, too, have been serious consideration to a coilover set up, for my car. I have been asking questions, watching what is out there, your info is extremely helpful. Thankx!!!!

 

any pics on the lowered car..want to see how far it went down w/o scrapping

 

I have been living with the suspension changes on the road now for a couple of weeks. What I notice the most (in priority order) are:

1) Turn in on corner entry is dramatically better. I already know I have considerably less understeer in the car. Not sure to what extent until after testing next weekend. (neg camber, and lower ride height).

2) The car is more harsh than stock. But, for me, there is only one real stretch of road that is bad for me. It was chewed up by the winter very badly. Other than that road, the car is absolutely fine.

3) Tracking is so much better at high speed (alignment)

I am pretty sure I will be stiffening the sways even more. But testing will reveal what I will wind up with.

I can also tell you that, while the car is running a bit lower than before, on a daily basis I am not terribly concerned about scraping. I do from time to time, but simply go slow entering some parking lots, and while it may scrape a tad, I will not lose the splitter.

I will post a pic for you soon.