Just got my car back from having GMG springs and Bilstein B8 Damptronics installed. I was originally going to do the GMG springs on stock shocks, but decided to take a chance with the Bilstein B8. These are a stock replacement shock, so not height adjustable, but shorter and stiffer than stock. They are also an inverted design up front, so the PASM wire comes out the bottom like the standard PSS Damptronics as well. They integrate well with the factory PASM, just like the coilovers but for half the price.

I am really happy with the combination. The car rides very nice with better damping than the factory, mid corner bumps don't upset the car at all, but I still have lots of travel for big bumps (the advantage of the B8 strut/shocks - shorter than stock so even though the car is lowered, I retain all the suspension travel).

There is definitely a difference between normal and sport but it is less pronounced than stock. But, Sport mode is now usable on the street, it absorbs bumps in corners much better than stock. Normal doesn't feel too floppy to go around corners in either.

I'm very happy overall with the upgrade. (I think the high contrast photos make the car look lower than it is, though)

Track impressions to come later.

 

What did the B8 run?

I run Lowering Springs and had one strut replaced under warranty. Wondering the cost of replacement if it happens again.

 

^ About $1500

 

After a detail - (full polish with my Griot's random orbital, and Meguiar's Microfiber pads)

 

looks great!

Larry

 

Congrats. Very innovative way to skin the cat and I am sure you will enjoy the car quite a bit more now.

Not for kitw of course, but for anyone considering suspension change: One risk of using lowering springs is damper failure. This is because the original damper is not designed to handle the higher spring rates of the new springs, and is not designed to operate at the lowered position. You (generic you ;-)) are operating the damper out of specs. When damper failure happens, one has now essentially doubled the cost and erased any advantage of lowering springs in the first place. kitw's solution has taken care of this problem, I would think.

Please provide update as you go along. I am interested.

 

he is not using the original damper.

 

this is absolutely awesome.
very smart way to get EXACTLY what you want.

 

Any updates, thinking about the same.

 

Nice suspension setup. Your detailing is sweet!

 

Great idea to revive this thread. I've been thinking about the damptronics, but I did this before on another car with great results, i.e. changing springs with shorter struts. After all, how many people adjust the ride height after installing coilovers?

 

This is basically the x73 applied to a 997tt, in fact that's why porsche developed it in 08, but lost interest.
With all the pitfalls of b16s, this could be a better option.

 

I've got over 30k on the GMG springs, GMG sways and stock shocks and have been quite happy with it, especially once Stuttgart installed some of their RSS suspension bits.

I just wonder if there were more Bilstein coil over issues vs. stock shock issues when used with aftermarket springs? Just some food for thought. Shocks are designed to work over a range of movement so while the car may sit 20mm lower Im not convinced this will kill shocks. Will it decrease the life of the shock? Probably.

I just seem to recall more banging / clunking bilstein coil overs and broken end links vs. dead stock shocks with guys running springs. Perhaps this solution is the 'just right' solution out of those options?

 

^^exactly, I had the same setup for better than 50k miles, zero issues.
I think this is the best available option, and I'll be adding it soon.
What you're looking at is the 997 version of the x73 suspension., I see no advantage of a b16 coil over to this setup, other than corner balancing (questionable value in a street car).

 

Would be great if kitw found the thread and chimed in on his experience.

Running springs on stock shocks doesn't offer much of a solution at all to me. The car is pretty low already, so lowering that much is not really needed. The biggest issue is that that the shocks are too soft on normal mode and too stiff on sport. I've driven the Damptronic coilover and it offers the perfect blend; normal is a bit stiffer so not mushy and sport is firm, but actually usable.

The other huge benefit of a straight spring/shock swap is that the installation will be much cheaper. No corner balancing or setting the height. In order to adjust the height, you need to load the car measure, get under it and adjust, reload the car and measure, etc. It can be time consuming and I had a tuner charge me quite a bit of money to set a car up once. This eliminates that cost completely. Aside from removing the stock strut hat, this should be a very easy install.

I Googled the shocks and quickly noticed an auto parts company selling them much cheaper than the typical "tuner" price...