Ok, fair question. First let me clarify that I do not have direct experience with lowering springs, so followings are merely what I got from reading many past reports and *rumors*. Take it with a grain of salt and no flame please . And anyone please correct me as needed. BTW, all the lowering springs lower the car a fixed amount, about 20 mm. This doesn't sound like much but it could be a lot if you have a steep drive way. If you want flexibility in lowering, then you have to use coilover such as Bilstein, etc.

H&R: if you are looking to lower ride height while keeping ride comfort the same as stock, this is the one. Note that even though H&R springs are soft, you could add components to make system stiffer as needed: H&R sway bar, LCA, links with heim joints, all the way to R comp tire.

Eibach: Makes springs for a number of companies, including GMG. This is a compelling choice, as it costs the least and comes straight from the source, an extremely reputable company that makes springs for others. I do not know if it feels any different from the more expensive GMG.

GMG or Eibach: Eibach sells its own springs, but also makes the GMG springs. No one has made a direct comparison of GMG vs. Eibach, and no one is releasing any specs, so this will remain an unknown. Owners of GMG springs are happy, but the Eibach might be the same or extremely similar, and costs less.

Eibach/GMG or Techart or H&R: I would pick Eibach/GMG and Techart because of my personal preference for stiffer springs for better handling, if you want to keep the ride comfort same as stock then H&R is the "better" choice. No right or wrong here and all 3 are reputable products.

As noted above, even if you have H&R springs, you could still stiffen the system (worse ride comfort, better handling) by adding other components to make the car quite aggressive. The system could be as soft or as stiff as you would like to be, in the hands of a good tuner, as long as you are open to adding components and tires as listed on first page of this thread.

 

H&R coilover - I got some info from the 2 pages below. Before I comment further, is it correct the model you are talking about is the Tirerack one "premium performance" with:
single progressive spring at each shock - not interchangeable with other standard springs,
non adjustable damper,
only front shock is aluminum?

Also what is H&R's stated goal for "premium performance" line, geared more for ride comfort or for better handling? Do you know what the spring rates are? Spring rates are the heart and soul of suspension system and you could tell a lot from them.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/s...Ceramic+brakes

http://www.hrsprings.com/products/coil-overs/

 

H&R also seems to make these, which have the same name, but the picture shows them with keeper springs. I note that they make two models, one for cars with PASM and ones without, although both disable PASM. I also noticed that neither has adjustable shocks, which is a real drawback.
http://www.awe-tuning.com/h-r-coilov...in-0-5-1-7in-1

 

From your link to H&R's website, looks like TireRack is using the wrong pic. Looks like the Street/Perfomance setup has keeper springs.

 

Yes I noticed that too; very strange. Have you asked them why? IOW, what is the diffrence between the 2 versions if both disable PASM?

H&R is a great reputable company but I did not know they design or manufacture coilover. Do you know if these are re-branded Koni?

Of the ones on H&R web site, I like the RSS and RSS+ for a couple reasons. The RSS+ in particular looks very pretty .

 

Ah, yet another contender to add to this thread - the Ohlin Road and Track coilovers. Quality looks better than Bilstein at around the same price - actually seem to be less. Adjustable in a whopping 20 steps compensating both compression and rebound.

 

Thanks, you've done your homework! I didn't even know this one exist, and I like it a lot. Ohlins is an outstanding shock and this one ticks all the boxes for why one would choose coilover in the first place:
1. Adjustable damping force setting
2. Adjustable height: all lowering springs on market lower a fixed 24mm, coilover allows variable lowering.
3. Interchangeable springs: very few people change springs, but just in case, personally I prefer to have standard size, meaning the straight looking spring of 60mm ID, or 70mm ID for Bilstein.
4. Looks pretty.

Turns out this is a VERY, very well-reviewed choice for our/my BMW E90 M3 (which I still love btw, not as much as the Turbo but close :-)). One thing I don't understand is on the BMW forum, people seem to switch the Ohlins-recommended rear spring from 370 to one that is doubled the rate, 740 (!?). In general, street damper is set up for maybe about a 150 change in rate; if you change more than this a. it doesn't sound right, and b. you risk damper failure unless the shock is re-valved. Don't be surprised if you have to do a little tweaking with the spring rates in your Turbo too.

I think this is an excellent choice for a non PASM Turbo coilover, but were I to do this, I would check a couple things:
1. Call Ohlins USA (very helpful, I hear) and ask them what the spring rates are for our Turbo application. Don't give them a hint of what you are thinking :-). From these spring rates, I think we would have an idea what application is intended for the shock, what it might feel like, how much the damper could handle, etc.
2. Check on the minimum lowering height. Web site seems to list 20mm, this might be a little too much depending on what you are looking for and where you drive. I would like the minimum lowering range to be 5mm-10mm or so. I lower mine 10mm-15mm and for me this is about the max I would like to lower.

 

Even more complimentary to the Ohlins mark, their disclosure is much better than most. They actually disclose their spring rates, which they list as 70/120 N/mm front and rear. I believe this worked out to 400/685, but I could be wrong.
Also, the manual mentions that if adjusted to "base" spec, the lowering is 5 mm front and rear. One can adjust from there and they spell out how many turns per mm of lowering. Really looks like an awesome system.

 

^^^Thanks for the nice Ohlins data; I'll add some comments later but I like what I see so far. If you have time and are serious about getting these, ask them what position they would like to set damper with above spring rates: how many clicks from full counter clockwise position, front and rear.

Repost from ealier in thread: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/997-turbo-gt2/136096-pics-review-my-bilstein-pss10-lowered-red-turbo-12.html

3. Spring Rates Summary: Spring rates are the heart and soul of the suspension system, they tell you the intention of the car/vendor: Is this going to be a street car or is this gonna be a track star :-). Note that the damper also contributes significantly to how the car feel: a Bilstein with 400/600 springs will feel completely different from a JRZ with 400/600 springs. This is because the damping forces in the 2 coilovers are different, JRZ has damping forces designed for heavier springs and for more vigorous requirements of track use. Also other factors such as constructions are different; one example: Bilstein re-uses the stock's top mount/bearing which has rubber parts to soften the blow, JRZ to best of my knowledge does not - anyone pls correct me as needed. So although the spring rates give you some important idea, the bottom line is you won't know until you actually drive the car.
Source for spring rates below: Very extensive web research (ie no guarantee whatsoever of accuracy :-)) and Excellence Magazine. GT3 rates are posted for comparison, and do keep in mind the GT3 is around 300 lbs lighter than Turbo, meaning if anything the Turbo's springs could/should be even stiffer than GT3's. Also, 997.2 Turbo's engine is lighter, making the increased spring rate noteworthy. Anyone with more info please correct as needed.

(KW rates corrected per 997TTMeister's link)

Stock 997.1 Turbo:
Front: 206
Rear: 457 Linear

Stock 997.2 Turbo
Front: 206
Rear: 514 Progressive (342 initial, 514 final)

Bilstein Damptronic For 997 Turbo
Front: 340 Linear
Rear: 565 Linear
Helper springs (no contribution towards rate) 115 front, 145 rear

Bilstein Damptronic in my Turbo (stiffer springs than Bilstein OEM)
Front: 448
Rear: 600

Ohlins Road & Track For Turbo
Front: 400
Rear: 685

KW V3 For Turbo
Front: Progressive, unknown final rate, possibly around 300
Rear: 970
For 997 GT3: 285 front/ 970 rear
For 997 C2S: 230 front /740 rear

Moton/JRZ For Turbo (starting min. rates, stiffer if needed)
Front: 500-600
Rear: 700-800

Stock 996 GT3:
Front: 225 Linear
Rear: 550 Progressive

Stock 997 GT3:
Front: 257
Rear: 600

 

Can,


I believe the KW V3 are rated at P for progressive in the front and 970 for the rear.


Extract from KW in the below link.


http://upgrademotoring.com/suspension/kw/porsche.htm

 

OEM gt2/3 coilovers are made for Porsche by H&R.

 

Geoff thanks for the correction; finally found the KW official rates. 970 is more reasonable than 1200; KW spring rates - very stiff rear and much softer front - are still a puzzle to me. This differential rate in any other coilover would cause severe oversteer and possibly diving with braking.

phound: I am fairly sure that at least for 997, the OEM GT2 coilover is Bilstein. The PASM technology in the Turbo is Bilstein proprietary I believe, and I can't find the page anymore but there was one from Bilstein that states it is OEM for all 911's, at least as of 3-4 years ago.

 

I believe that Bilstein makes the shocks for H&R because if I recall correctly my old TT H&R coilover kit had H&R springs with Bilstein shocks badged with an H&R sticker.

 

Good news for Southern Cal Porsche fans: world's largest Porsche center in Carson proceeding as expected. I wonder if they will save the old statute of the golfer, and now replace the club with a checkered flag?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>
http://www.autonews.com/article/2013...#axzz2iNREx2qW

LOS ANGELES -- It’s 53 acres of dirt today, but in little more than a year, the Porsche Experience Center here at the collision of the 405 and 110 freeways will have Carreras, Caymans and Cayennes tearing around a custom-built test track made for Porsche owners and prospects.The Los Angeles center will be the fourth experiential marketing site Porsche has constructed. The others are in Atlanta; Silverstone, England; and Leipzig, Germany. Another is being built near Beijing for the Chinese market. But the Los Angeles center will be the largest, said Detlev von Platen, CEO of Porsche Cars North America.

The location makes demographic sense, von Platen said. The California market accounts for 25 percent of Porsche Cars North America sales -- roughly 10,000 vehicles a year, which is more than the U.K. and French markets combined. More than 400,000 vehicles per day will pass the center.

The center is designed to supplement the dealership experience, particularly in Los Angeles, where performance test-driving situations are difficult. Dealers are expected to send customers to the center for test drives, but no retail activities will be conducted.
“It will be a high-performance training center, where enthusiasts can experience and drive the car in all the conditions you normally couldn’t get in the real world,” von Platen said in an interview with journalists. “There will be a variety of tracks and conditions. It may not have big speeds, but it will be as much fun as 200 miles an hour on the highway.”

In addition to a 0.4-mile straightaway, the modular circuit can be configured between a half mile and two miles of low-friction track, designed more to test driver skill than flat-out speed.
“Not only is it fun, but it’s an educational piece. Each module has 30 learning lessons,” said James Taylor, the center’s project leader.
The expected customer throughput per day on the road courses is about 100 drivers, but specifically suited events can handle up to 500 people in a day. Porsche has invested about $29 million in the center.

Admission fees?
Porsche executives waffled regarding the admission cost to access the circuit. On weekends, people with appointments will be able to drive their own cars on certain parts of the circuit, and compare that performance with that of a Porsche. That service is expected to cost around $250.

 

Per rec. of others on this board (VID997, E55AMG, etc.) I finally got a set of Bridgestone RE 11 to replace my Michelin PSS. Prelim impression is that this is the best my car has ever felt, short of the Pirelli Corsa cup tire (which I can't use because it is so dangerous on wet roads).

RE11 is stiffer than PSS, about 1/2 way between PSS and cup tire. The stiffness reduces ride comfort but makes handling and steering so much more precise and fun. Body roll is reducing noticeably compared to PSS. Noise is about same. The key is that the reduction in body roll makes the car corners as if it is on rails.

Before you run out and order these tires, please note my bias: I place handling above all so I tend to sacrifice comfort a little more than normal people . I also live in a hilly/mountainous area so body roll has to be minimized for my taste. If you find yourself with same preference, I would recommend them without hesitation. I think of them as cup tire with less dry traction, but without the wet road danger ;-). Cheaper, sporty, SO MUCH fun!