Silberwolfen

Good Evening Folks,

I apologize in advance, because I know that this topic has been covered ad nauseum; however, suspension setups are a case by case basis. I’ll be having Taylor Chapman doing the install, and I am following his advice and talking to some of you here on the forum before we begin buying parts.

First things first---I am running 19” Speedline wheels. I might run the car a couple times a year at the track, but the car will primarily be a street car and I see no need to spend massive amounts of cash to turn it into a race car. I did that once with a Corvette ZO6 and it rode like a POS on the street. Even a simple rut/bump in the road would upset the car causing it to hop/jump. I don’t want that.

What do I want the car to do? I want the car to be able to corner (on the road) flatter and with less body roll. Stiff suspensions are perfectly fine with me---UNLESS they cause the car to hop around when hitting bumps in the road. I don’t want to have a suspension where I have to constantly watch for road imperfections fearing that the car will get unstable if I hit them. I want to be able to have some fun carving roads down in the mountains of WV on the weekends, but be able to drive 500 miles across I-70 and not feel like someone beat my lower back with a baseball bat.

What things have I looked at? Bilstein PSS10, H&R, and TPC Stage II Kit. Taylor favors the PSS10, but I am wondering if $3500 for that kit is overkill for street use. I have NO desire to be under the car tinkering that the adjustments or dialing in the car myself. I want to be able to pull out of the shop with the car dialed-in for use on the street. Being that I already have 19” wheels, would the H&R coil-overs be too harsh? There are almost too many choices out there, and I am trying to narrow the field of what I need versus overkill for the street.

Regards,
John G

32krazy!

i will tell you my experience. jrz single rebound coilovers and various gmg adjustable links. car came to me 24" off the ground at the center of the fender lip. sllammeedd!! 19" hre wheels. car cornered like it was on rails. and rode like a shat brick!! hated it.

raised the car a mere 1" all around and went to 18" wheels. car still corners like mad but the ride is compliant and friendly . i now love the car! single rebound is simple adj. up front the rears need the subs abd carpet removed to adjust. so i left all that out found the setting i liked and left it.
honestly i think the pss10 will do you well but the 19" wheels will continue to ride like crap. just my .02

T2

Silberwolfen,

2003 Turbo X50.

KW Clubsports, 18" factory GT-2 wheels, adjustable sways, adjustable drop links, was not cheap but with the alignment the car is completely tranformed, daily driver (yes even in the snow)......

Good Luck!!

Your results may vary.

T2

Dock

I fully understand where you're coming from, as I had the same objectives (in addition to wanting to rid the car of the "high water" look). If I were you I'd go with the PSS10s. You may have to make one or two adjustments post-install to get the desired ride and handling you're looking for that is a good balance across the board, but once you've found the target you should be able to leave it alone for the long term (like you, I'd have no interest in making frequent adjustments; changing the settings for canyon carving, changing again for road trips on the Interstate, then changing back to a good local-streets setting).

mmporsche

^+1

I recently upgraded to PSS10s from factory. They have 10 indent adjustments and they were set at the #2 setting at all four corners when I picked the car up from the shop. They are much smoother than the factory suspension at this setting. My car has a GT2 alignment with more rake towards the front. I also decided to play with the settings a few weeks ago and turned the dials to 10 to see what it did. It is fairly firm but still tolerable - not for that 500 mile jaunt but it would be good for the track. The point is, you have a fair amount of adjustment and it only takes 10 minutes to change the setting - you have to pull your factory sub box to get to the rear adjustment *****. In the end, if you just want to set them and forget them I am sure you can find a nice compromise with the PSS10s.

Silberwolfen

Thank you all for the excellent advice here. I appreciate the feedback knowing that this topic re-surfaces probably once a week.

It sounds like the PSS10 might be the best way to go.

TH996

I have KWv3/H&R sways with 19" GT3 wheels and am very happy with the set up. I am in Bethesda - feel free to swing by to check it out. I had the work done at GT Performance, Inc. in Edgewood. Top notch shop.

-TH

Silberwolfen

Damn TH...that setup looks sweet! I'll be on the look out for your car. Thanks for the offer. If I do I'll send you a PM. I think I have been given some solid advice here this week.

MechanicalEng

+1 on GT Performance

King_James

Honestly a full coil over kit for the street is massive over kill. The 911 turbo is a champ in stock form and unless you're a hugely accomplished driver or have had a lot of skilled training you will not tap out it's capabilities. With that said, you want flatter corners, lower for looks and still ride nice? Slap some H&R lowering springs on the stock shocks. 1" lowering and will ride beautifully. IF that's still not enough some sways will help too.

There will now be eleventy million "experts" tell me I don't know what I'm talking about and you need coil overs etc and stock shocks lowered will blow blah blah blah. You don't and they don't and it will be fine.

Silberwolfen

I agree 100% with you...I race motorcycles and give the same advice. I'm a very skilled rider and tell guys who go out and deck out their bikes the same thing. I can beat most of them around the track on a Ninja 250:-)

I agree all of this is OVERKILL for street cars...without a doubt. That is why I am researching and asking so many questions---a lot of this is becoming very obvious.

Dock

Yes indeed.

But you're doing the right thing researching and thinking through options.

The real challenge is deciding on what the appropriate "target" is for your desired use of the car.

nick49

I'm an former motorcycle roadracer. Raced GSXR Super Bike class for a decade. Motor builder and suspension tuner as well to this day. Anyway, I'd do the H&R lowering springs. A bit firmer than OE and will lower the car about an inch F&R. I'd also do a stiffer adjustable rear sway bar, leave the front alone for now. This is the biggest bang for the $ at about $700 + easy to DIY. If it'd in the cards, I'd switch back to 18" wheels, or wait till you need tires. You can go an very light and inexpensive wheel like the Victor Innsbruck.

You'll find these cars handle a lot like a motorcycle, especially the C2 RWH versions. You'll also find learning to be smooth = being able to go fast. My Turbo Cab is all 100% stock and I can take it amazingly fast in the canyons. I'm either full on boost WFO or hard on the brakes. I don't go fast where there is a chance of traffic or it's not safe to do so. GL!

King_James

I raced my CBR600RR for a few years as well, it's funny but motorcycle guys get it. I saw squids with thousands spent modding and they got lapped by me at the track. Car guys don't seem to figure this out as readily though, seems like they "know" X part is the best at the track so you can't drive on the street unless you have that part and anything less is just stupid. It's bizarre...

Good luck with your car, H&R are one of the best springs out there. Had them on my Audi, 350Z and GTI VR6 loved them.

PAULUNM

Read up on H&R springs "ruining the ride and handling" on these cars...

The coilovers are said to make the ride on street much more compliant than the stock suspension.

I'll be going with KWv3s for this reason.