996 Carrera 4 suspension refresh options?

996 Carrera 4 suspension refresh options?

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Discussion

m444ttb

Original Poster:

3,160 posts

228 months

Tuesday 14th March 2017
quotequote all
I'm looking to do a full refresh on my 996 C4's suspension come the summer (ties in well with the annual service and my bonus!) and wanted to get some opinions on here. I've already had Koni FSD dampers suggested from someone whose opinion I'd trust but that's only part of the package and I'm always open to alternative suggestions.

For some context I'm probably looking to replace everything that can wear out. The car is on 96k miles and I've seen nothing in the history to suggest any work has been carried out on the suspension. So it'll be dampers, springs, bushes, etc etc. All dependent on what the budget can take of course. I think my cap is probably £2k including fitting. Sadly that rules out XTC coilovers etc.

The car is unlikely to see much on track action so it's really road bias it needs. I wouldn't want to go any lower than say the M030 kit (think that's 10-20mm lower than standard?). I'm also keen to retain a nice NVH balance. I'm not sure if all of this simply adds up to 'replace with OE'.

edc

9,230 posts

250 months

Tuesday 14th March 2017
quotequote all
m444ttb said:
I'm looking to do a full refresh on my 996 C4's suspension come the summer (ties in well with the annual service and my bonus!) and wanted to get some opinions on here. I've already had Koni FSD dampers suggested from someone whose opinion I'd trust but that's only part of the package and I'm always open to alternative suggestions.

For some context I'm probably looking to replace everything that can wear out. The car is on 96k miles and I've seen nothing in the history to suggest any work has been carried out on the suspension. So it'll be dampers, springs, bushes, etc etc. All dependent on what the budget can take of course. I think my cap is probably £2k including fitting. Sadly that rules out XTC coilovers etc.

The car is unlikely to see much on track action so it's really road bias it needs. I wouldn't want to go any lower than say the M030 kit (think that's 10-20mm lower than standard?). I'm also keen to retain a nice NVH balance. I'm not sure if all of this simply adds up to 'replace with OE'.
Sadly I don't think 2k including fitting is quite going to get you a set of Koni FSD dampers, new springs and new arms/bushes all round with fresh geo. You're either going to have to splash out a bit more, do some DIY or package it differently and spread the cost.

For a Boxster FSDs are about 650, H&R springs circa 135, front top mounts say 100. Beyond the suspension also look at your engine and gearbox mounts.

Porsche911R

21,146 posts

264 months

Tuesday 14th March 2017
quotequote all
£2k inc labour and VAT. not going to happen, that's a lot of workshop hours to do all the bush's etc.
I doubt £2k would cover just the basics sorry to say.

m444ttb

Original Poster:

3,160 posts

228 months

Tuesday 14th March 2017
quotequote all
Hmm what if we forget the fitting for a minute then

edc

9,230 posts

250 months

Tuesday 14th March 2017
quotequote all
You're looking in the region of £150 a corner at least for new arms and bushes in parts alone. Parts prices have gone up a lot in the past couple of years. Coffin arms used to be £55. Add in miscellaneous bolts and drop links for another >£150

bgunn

1,416 posts

130 months

Tuesday 14th March 2017
quotequote all
If you buy genuine, 2k won't cover the parts for the arms.

If you buy Meyle, it'll be cheap - some people have had problems, others haven't.

I bought Hartech recon arms (which are refurbished by prekom) and they are essentially as good as new with bushes that have the same shore hardness as original, and to all intents and purposes are 'new' but a lot cheaper. That said, I paid just over a grand for four 'coffin' arms, four diagonal links ('tuning forks') and two rear toe links. I additionally bought two inner and outer track rods for the front that came to £120 if I remember, some rear anti roll bar drop links that came to £90. Two front top mounts and bump stops came to about £100 if I remember.

Additionally, I procured some M030 anti roll bars (my car is a standard 996 C2) which came to £200 odd.

Plus lots of bolts to replace the shot originals, which came to around £150 in total. Plus £300 odd for geo at CG.

Suffice to say, you'll easily spend 2k, but you will get the car back to 'new' feeling - mine now sounds silent, rides smoothly and handles well. If you want dampers as well, the sky's the limit. I plan to fit some Öhlins to mine at some point this year.

m444ttb

Original Poster:

3,160 posts

228 months

Tuesday 14th March 2017
quotequote all
Thanks. I'd forgotten Hartech do suspension parts. Perhaps blanked it from my mind to ease the pain of handing them £11k at the start of 2016!

jkh112

21,886 posts

157 months

Tuesday 14th March 2017
quotequote all
The full MO30 kit was available from OPCs for around £600 which includes springs, shocks and anti roll bars. Good value if that suits your needs.

edc

9,230 posts

250 months

Tuesday 14th March 2017
quotequote all
jkh112 said:
The full MO30 kit was available from OPCs for around £600 which includes springs, shocks and anti roll bars. Good value if that suits your needs.
Bought a lot for my old Boxster in 2012 for about £600. Think it's more like double that now.

jkh112

21,886 posts

157 months

Tuesday 14th March 2017
quotequote all
I understand it is still well under £1000 but is not available for many 996.1 models with better availability for 996.2 models. Although you could fit 996.2 suspension to a 996.1.

griffter

3,981 posts

254 months

Wednesday 15th March 2017
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Autofarm used to supply and fit m030 for about £1400. That gives you an idea of parts plus labour but of course leaves the bushes and ball joints untouched...

Chris Stott

13,180 posts

196 months

Wednesday 15th March 2017
quotequote all
As others have said, it will cost you a lot more than that for a full refresh.

My 996.1 C2 has 160k on it and went in for top mounts last year. Whilst there, Indy also replaced a number of arms and bushes front and rear that were knackered. Without touching shock/spring/ARB's, bill was £2k.

Even just doing this work made it feel like a new car again.

skinny

5,269 posts

234 months

Wednesday 15th March 2017
quotequote all
I'm in a similar position as the OP.
What is the best option for dampers and top mounts - I don't want / need coilovers or anything adjustable, maybe suitable for a spring with a 10-20mm drop. Just a bilstein B6?

Looking for as close to OEM as poss but with a saving over getting them from OPC.

Edited by skinny on Wednesday 15th March 20:36

was8v

1,927 posts

194 months

Wednesday 15th March 2017
quotequote all
Get recon hartech (or TRW if you can find) arms (or Meyle)
TRW rear track arms and TRW inner and outer track rod ends
Get 997 top mounts as they are cheaper (get sachs brand for a c2)
Get Bilstein B4 (same as OE) £700 or B6 dampers
TRW droplinks

Get a geo setup anywhere that has a full on laser rig.

Might scrape under £2k if you choose a local garage to do the spannering, its all pretty easy straightforward stuff to do.

Edited by was8v on Wednesday 15th March 11:32

mmcd87

626 posts

202 months

Wednesday 15th March 2017
quotequote all
I think when I refresh the suspension on my 996 I will likely go down the Koni Sport route, with the adjustable dampers and H&R springs, and run them full soft on the road.

rival38

485 posts

144 months

Wednesday 15th March 2017
quotequote all
I was in the same boat / thinking along the same lines as the OP - this time last year. My then, newly acquired 2001 3.4 c2 on 90k did not drive very nicely. I took it some distance to Center Gravity for a full check over, to find out exactly what the issues were.

Slightly surprisingly the original (not MO30) shocks were OK. The only hardware it needed was a pair of front track rods, the rest of the issues were alignment (or non alignment) related. Proof if any were needed that even a well regarded Porsche dealer and service center can not always be trusted in this department - the car had sailed through that element of its PPE !

The car was transformed with the CG geo - which achieved exactly what I wanted. A planted and reliable front end - blow the increased Tyre wear. I will probably do the shocks this autumn & will likely go for the Koni FSD `s because the car mostly gets used on rural B roads and does not go on track.

Before you start pulling it to bits, it is definitely worth getting somebody who really knows their stuff to give you an honest opinion on what actually needs doing.

skinny

5,269 posts

234 months

Wednesday 15th March 2017
quotequote all
Actually that's a good shout. I've seen some people come away from CG with a big bill, but also they won't try and sell you anything that isn't needed so others come away not spending as much as they feared - and they are seem to be the experts so will be able to diagnose exactly what needs doing

EGTE

996 posts

181 months

Thursday 16th March 2017
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Those do look nice!

bgunn

1,416 posts

130 months

Thursday 16th March 2017
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Nice spot - grease nipple on the balljoint is a nice touch too. I'd say greasing those camber adjustment threads is a good plan.

Elephant racing do some nice kit too - price is quite ahem, pricey, but I particularly like the monoball packages they do, and may well start kitting out my car with those as things wear. (Will be a while as I've just replaced everything!) The caster adjustment bushes might be the first though as I do notice squirm under very heavy braking even with new arms.

Lovely thing about the 9x6 9x7 platform is that it's well established and upgrades are everywhere now..

BK911

61 posts

185 months

Wednesday 13th September 2017
quotequote all
m444ttb said:
I'm looking to do a full refresh on my 996 C4's suspension come the summer (ties in well with the annual service and my bonus!) and wanted to get some opinions on here. I've already had Koni FSD dampers suggested from someone whose opinion I'd trust but that's only part of the package and I'm always open to alternative suggestions.

For some context I'm probably looking to replace everything that can wear out. The car is on 96k miles and I've seen nothing in the history to suggest any work has been carried out on the suspension. So it'll be dampers, springs, bushes, etc etc. All dependent on what the budget can take of course. I think my cap is probably £2k including fitting. Sadly that rules out XTC coilovers etc.

The car is unlikely to see much on track action so it's really road bias it needs. I wouldn't want to go any lower than say the M030 kit (think that's 10-20mm lower than standard?). I'm also keen to retain a nice NVH balance. I'm not sure if all of this simply adds up to 'replace with OE'.
Hi,

Just bought a C4s too... lovely thing, reminds me of what driving a proper car is all about!!

Mine needs a suspension refresh too...

Can I ask what you did in the end?

Cheers,
😉