Different angle

 

Looks Great !!

 

I am in NYC... Can you PM me details of the springs? Thx -Mike

 

The rings around the headlights in black would look really kool.. just a thought

 

I love this thread...so many beautiful cars.

 

great looking pics and location. California??
What did you do with suspension, looks lowered?

 

The location is the mountains along the North Carolina/ Tennessee border. I bought the car a few months ago and it was already lowered with H&R springs. It may be a little too low for me but I do like the way it looks.

 

I'd like to lower mine too because there is just too much space in the wheel arches, but with the Aero kit I'm afraid I'd be replacing the front lip every month. Just about any time you depart the street in Charleston you have to go through a ridiculous gutter.

 

Yup, I just installed a Cargraphic AirLift and some Bilstein coilovers for that exact reason. Lowered the car 1/2" and can lift the nose 2" on command with the AirLift to clear, gutters, speed bumps, & for steep driveways.

 

How much did that run? Sounds like the perfect solution.

Here's mine going into the driveway. bought curb bridge from Griots to help.

 

Don,

I actually bought mine from another forum member when he removed it prior to the sale of his GT3. The kit is different between the C2S and the GT3 (and different again for a C4S or Turbo) and although I have a C2S, I inadvertently bought a GT3 kit so I had to make some mods in order to make it work. Both versions of the kits (and most others like it from K&W, Umbrella Auto Design, TechArt) are only compatible with coilover suspensions, not with the standard C2 or C2S suspension. GT3s come with a coilover suspension as standard. If you have a C2S, you'd have to plan to upgrade the stock suspension to a B9 or B10 if you don't have PASM, or a B16 Damptronic setup if you have PASM, and want to preserve that capability. If you have a C2S, new Bilstein suspension kits are about $3,500 - you can find them from other members used for $1,800-$2,000).

The difference between the 3 versions of the Cargraphic AirLift kits are how the top spring retainers work with the strut top mount to the car. On the GT3 kit the top of the spring is retained in the AirLift assembly top and then the airlift assembly is retained directly against the mount plate (see attached PDF). I've also attached a photo of what the complete assembly looks like after installation into the car. The black section between the red Tarret Monoball Top Mount and the blue strut spring is the AirLift assembly in it's collapsed position.

I looked at the K&W version and the TechArt version but both of those are hydraulic and I didn't want to run the risk of a leak or a burst and have hydraulic fluid leaking or spraying all over the place in the front section of the car. When I installed mine I used the optional auxiliary compressor they offer which is stronger and faster than using the compressor that's part of the OEM roadside assistance kit, but either will work. I installed an Optima 34R battery to make enough space in that area for the auxiliary compressor and then fabricated an angled mounting bracket and support for the AirLift control box so my installation is completely hidden once the front trunk trim panels are refitted. I inlcuded a shot of the battery, compressor & control box installation.

Since I was taking the entire suspension apart to install the Bilsteins, I installed a complete Stage 3 RSS Tarmac Series setup and adjustable sway bars & drop links as well, which I'm loving as to how it makes the car handle.

Had I not been able to find the AirLift kit used like I did, I probably would have gone with the Umbrella Auto Design lift kit (http://www.umbrellaautodesign.com) - you can talk with Ravi - he's the designer, developer, & owner of the company and fits these to more marques than Porsches too. I like his metal tops, the speed at which it operates, and how substantial it looks. The only thing I didn't like about that one was it works based on a compressed air reservoir, which is how it attains the speed. A compressor keeps an air tank energized so that when you push the button, the car lift immediately - it's very cool, but I could not figure out how I would find space for the reservoir tank and the compressor without sacrificing some of my front trunk space, which I didn't want to do. The TechArt Kit was very expensive by comparison and I don't know much about the K&W kit, other than it's hydraulic, which was not my preference.

To answer your original question about cost, a new Cargraphic AirLift Kit is about $4,500 (try Sport Car Boutique if you're looking for a dealer), the Tarret Monoball Top Mounts I needed to buy to use my GT3 Airlift Kit on my C2S are about $450 and then you need the Bilstein Coilovers (if you don't have a GT car or a car with coilovers already). Those are another $3,500 new or around $2,000 used so all in, $7,000 to $8,500 depending on whether you go new or used on the Bilsteins, plus installation labor, which I can't quote for you as I do my own. The car should also have an alignment when you're done.

Hope that's helpful.

(site Admins - if you need to move this to a different thread due to content, feel free, as I'm sure Don will have had a chance to read it by then. Thanks.)

 

Here is my one month old car at work

 

Pete,
Over the top response. Thank you for taking the time. This tells me everything I need to know.

Best Regards,
Don

 

Nice color

Hope your enjoying yours as much as I'm enjoying mine.

 

Driving back from getting it detailed