I am thinking of lowering the suspension of my C4S. But, I am afraid that this would make the ride to harsh ? I have the stock wheels and tires with 15mm spacers front and back. No track, just city and highway driving.

Which ones are better: the Eibachs or the H&Rs (Meaning: which ones have a softer ride ??)

 

Sorry, forgot the year: 2004 !

 

neither...lower it the right way, springs only is the WRONG way....PSS9s will give you a BETTER ride than stock....To do it right, you need springs and a matched set of shocks...so if you go with lowering springs you need shorter shocks...now you are looking at springs and shocks, they cost of those pluss the added installation is almost what PSS9's will be...I think you are talking less than a $500 difference installed....I think you will find that people who installed springs only experience handling issues and the "pogo" effect, where the front seems to bounce mid corner on high speed turns...PSS9's are rock solid, stable, improve the handling and give you a smooth comfortable ride...the down side is for hardcore track guys they say they are too soft....

 

Listen to Newport, he's giving you solid advice.

-Stan

 

For the record, I did just springs on my Boxster...Eibach pro...the ride was HORRIBLE, and it had the front end pogo effect...it wasnt horrible, but made a solid handling car a little bit skittish...it still handled great, just not as stable...when I got my 996, I immediately did PSS9's...the best mod I have done...WAY better ride than my Boxster (and my stock suspension on my 996) and better, more stable handling...The problem with just springs is that your stock shocks were not designed to be used with the shorter springs. So when the shocks should be at their normal, non compressed state, they are compressed, wearing them prematurely, reducing shock travel, making them more prone to bottoming, and the reason the pogo effect happens is because you hit a bump and they are already partially compressed so it rebounds much harder because the shocks try to go back to the original position, not the compressed position. So you would need Bilstein Sport shocks which are shorter and designed for lowered cars.

 

There is a group buy on these right now on a different thread! Do yourself a favor!

 

I am in 100% agreement with newport996 on this as I experienced the affect of pogo when I installed just H&R springs on my stock shocks/struts. For me it happened at higher speeds and during cornering it just became so unsafe to drive the car. I had the springs on for 3 weeks and replaced them with the x74 suspension system.

So I would not recommend to anyone replacing the springs only, if you are thinking it is just temporary, stop kidding yourself, I said the same thing and thought I would deal with them until next year, but I couldn't. Save your money and do it right the first time.

BTW...I have the springs for sale

 

In my avatar I had the techart springs and stock shocks (this is the ride height of the car when I bought it). Pretty nice drop but the ride comfort is, like everybody above pointed out, horrible. I changed to PSS9 about a month ago and the difference is amazing.

BTW, like SpeedDemon, I have the old springs for sale as well (I will beat his price guaranteed ) j/k Speed

 

I concour as well, I presently have H&R lowering springs only (purchased the car with then installed), anything at 130 mph or above and high speed cornering is spongey and unnerving. I will be installing the PSS9's this winter along with a few other mods. Save your pennies and do it right. You can also look into the M030 ROW suspension. Not as pricey as the PSS9's, it will lower the ride height and improve handling over the stock suspension.
Good luck.
James Greer

 

Consider this, the negative comments are from owners of models other than the C4S which, by the way as I'm sure you know shares the same suspension as the Turbo. Unless you're a track junkie with the disposable income of a third world country, the springs alone will do. Three years on my H&R sports and lovin it.

 

+1
2 years and 48k km and 20+ track days on a C4S.
If your going to do everthing then do it right and get the x73 done, the others just ain't as good.

 

Actually you are not agreeing with him, you are agreeing with me..X73 has springs AND shocks designed for the lower ride height....ALL Porsche suspensions that lower the car, ROW M030, X73, X74 all come with springs AND shocks...so if you wanna lower it RIGHT, get a suspension that has springs and shocks that are designed for lower cars, OR get H&R/Eibachs AND Bilstein Sport shocks...but when you do the spring & shock combo, you are getting very close to the cost of PSS9s which allow you to have the ride height YOU want and the shock dampening which directly affects the ride quality YOU want....so you can set it the way YOU want it....

 

Doesnt matter what car you have...this theory applies to ALL cars from Hondas to Bentleys....It will be WORSE with the C4S because of the extra weight....and by the way, the C4 suspension is not that different than the C4S...the differences are in the spring rates, which you are changing, so it now becomes the same. There is no difference in suspension geometry or components...its pure and simply firmer springs to handle the extra weight in both the front and rear of the car. Its pretty simple...your suspension is the DIRECT connection between your $80k MSRP car and you the driver....do it right and maintain its handling characteristics, or do it wrong and it'll handle like a Honda with chopped springs. Again, springs and shocks are going to be about $1500....plus install, about $750....so $2250 total....PSS9 about $2000 (as low as $1750) plus install $500 (yes it costs less to install coilovers than it does to install springs and shocks) about $2500....so it could be as little as $250 difference or even about the same!

 

No I don't agree with you, unless your specifically talking about just adding the springs on a C2 with its stock soft suspension. The C4S stock suspension is damn good and adding lowering springs doesn't create a pogo effect nor do they cause the car to bounce in mid corner.

My statement is that the PSS9s are not as good as the X73 setup and probably not any better the the stock C4S suspension, so If you want to upgrade the stock suspension, then doing the X73 is the route to go. If your doing it for looks go with just the springs.

 

Completely disagree with your entire statement....he said he wants good ride quality...PSS9 is BETTER than stock at a lower ride height...Springs only will be HORRIBLE....X73 will be in between....now handling wise, the X73 MIGHT and may say MIGHT have a slight advantage because of the sway bars, but as far as a spring/shock combo, its NOT better...how can a non adjustable spring and shock combo be better than an adjustable setup? Oh I know...its too difficult to turn 4 *****....For the street, there is no better system than the PSS9s, if you go for the track, go with JIC's....X73 is ok for the guy who doenst wanna make decisions on height or ride comfort, just decide for me...no thanks...I also can change my dampening based on my needs...when I am commuting on the freeway, I can set it nice and soft, when I hit the canyons, I can set it nice and firm....X73, its just stiff...all the time. Oh and I decide my ride height based on my car, 18's vs 19's, road conditions, etc...how I want MY car to look, not how some guy in Germany thinks it should be.