I've just bought some poverty Pork…

[edc]

I've had them all but the best for me is the OE shortshift with some steel bushes to remove a little more slack out the mechanism. Second would be the 987 with the same bushes.

[snotrag]

Said it loads of times - Koni Actives (the old FSD's). They are superb for those who want a compliant and sporty road car.

[edc]

snotrag said:

Said it loads of times - Koni Actives (the old FSD's). They are superb for those who want a compliant and sporty road car.

I've had these for several years already too. Best value by far. You would have to spend a lot more to get a noticeably better damper. Cheaper than OEM replacements.

[snotrag]

I've used Bilsteins of various types, Shows, Ohlins even on one car, and whilst some may be been sportier, the Koni FSD/Special active I ran on a 986 were something else.

In fact, im currently looking for a new daily driver and I've been regularly cross checking against the Koni catalogue to see if they do a damper to suit the various estate cars I'm looking at!

[TameRacingDriver]

edc said:

snotrag said:

Said it loads of times - Koni Actives (the old FSD's). They are superb for those who want a compliant and sporty road car.

I've had these for several years already too. Best value by far. You would have to spend a lot more to get a noticeably better damper. Cheaper than OEM replacements.

Cheers, I'll certainly consider these if/when my suspension needs replacing although it's had some recent work anyway including coffin arm replacement and to me it drives superb

[2Btoo]

ATM said:

I'd say ditch the 18 and embrace the 17 too.

This. A thousand times over. No - make that a million times over.

My 987.1 Cayman was transformed by going from 18's to 17's. OK, transformed is a strong term but it was hugely improved for fitting smaller wheels. Supple, steering feel, feedback, comfort .... they all improved. I'd never go back to 18's on a 987 now.

Someone who was here once upon a time under various different guises was always enthusiastic about fitting 17's. He was right about that one.

[ATM]

TameRacingDriver said:

ATM said:

This is the sweet spot for Me. And why I am starting to think that standard dampers and pram ride height is the way forward. Along with smaller wheels. I'd say ditch the 18 and embrace the 17 too.

Yeah I know what you mean although (vain comment coming up) I really like the GT3 alloys on my new one so I'll probably keep those but I think the suspension is standard so it still was really nice I thought.

I think I read somewhere that standard 986 arms have soft bushes so it all moves around quite a lot which helps for smoothing out road bumps etc. Has anyone here made the move to stiffer bushes and noticed any difference?

[ATM]

2Btoo said:

ATM said:

I'd say ditch the 18 and embrace the 17 too.

This. A thousand times over. No - make that a million times over.

My 987.1 Cayman was transformed by going from 18's to 17's. OK, transformed is a strong term but it was hugely improved for fitting smaller wheels. Supple, steering feel, feedback, comfort .... they all improved. I'd never go back to 18's on a 987 now.

Someone who was here once upon a time under various different guises was always enthusiastic about fitting 17's. He was right about that one.

I have been downsizing wheels on all my cars. But I am not the man / person you speak of. Just pick up a 17 front [with tyre on] and compare the weight in your hand to an 18 [with tyre on] and you will soon start to think about how adding lightness is much better than adding bling.

[TameRacingDriver]

I'm certainly not denying the effectiveness of downsizing wheels but from what I remember of my old S on 17s compared with this one, I don't feel like this one has lost much for the slightly bigger wheels and I really like the look of the GT3s so, yes, it's a bit of bling but I kind of like it so they'll be staying for now. I may consider it when the time comes to replace tyres but not until then and even then maybe not. We'll see

[Orangecurry]

...and just so you think everyone is having a go at you, I agree with the lightweights above. Your split-rim SportDesign BBS wheels are very heavy even for 18s.
http://www.944racing.de/wheelweights.php

Presuming you are on 7.5/9, they are 2kg each heavier than the equivalent 'Carrera' BBS or nicknamed MY02 wheel, which some people thinks looks better as well.

If I were you, I'd keep an eye out for a reasonable priced set of BBS Sport Classic in 17 - these are another 0.5kg each lighter than the MY02 18s; but it's not just weight. Narrower tyres make the cars dance on 17s......

Sport Classic 17s look fantastic on darker coloured cars, and they have an illusion of looking bigger than 17s.



...and on light coloured cars...

[TameRacingDriver]

Will you lot feck off and stop trying to empty my wallet even more

[squareflops]

I went from 18” to 16” on my little 2.5 and the difference was measurably better! The weight difference as mentioned was stark. I’d like to try 17” in the future but even if the 16s do look a little lost in the arches I much prefer more sidewall and less alloy

From



to

[Orangecurry]

[FriedMarsBar]

Spotted this on FB, If I was closer to Hamilton, just outside Glasgow, I'd have a look at this.

[2Btoo]

ATM said:

I think I read somewhere that standard 986 arms have soft bushes so it all moves around quite a lot which helps for smoothing out road bumps etc. Has anyone here made the move to stiffer bushes and noticed any difference?

I have polybushed my 987 Cayman all 'round, and it was MUCH better for doing it. However the work was replacing old rubber bushes and I had a full geo done at the same time so I can't be sure how much was down to the polybushes themselves. They do squeak a little when you start moving, particularly on cold mornings, but are silent by the time I am 100 yards down the road. No noticeable harshness to speak of.

(I'll add that my 987 Cayman also has Sport Chrono and PASM and runs on 17 inch wheels. I am far more into handling precision than pure performance grunt.)

ATM said:

I am not the man / person you speak of. Just pick up a 17 front [with tyre on] and compare the weight in your hand to an 18 [with tyre on] and you will soon start to think about how adding lightness is much better than adding bling.

You are indeed not the person whom I spoke of ( ) but the weight difference is indeed huge! That, coupled with the greater sidewall compliance and the slight loss of grip makes a big difference to the way that the car feels.

[pneumothorax]

Just picked up one from a local indie. 3.2 S 2001, on small wheels. 102k miles and drives perfectly, new clutch and a service history with either Porsche or Hartech so it's been looked after. Went to see it and agreed a deal at £6.5, dealer said he needed to do a few things to it, collected it a week later and it had 4 new matching tires on, feels like a LOT of bang for your buck, had forgot how good these are and I don't know if it's my eyes only, but these early cars, with ambers are starting to look really good.

[80sMatchbox]

TameRacingDriver said:

I'm certainly not denying the effectiveness of downsizing wheels but from what I remember of my old S on 17s compared with this one, I don't feel like this one has lost much for the slightly bigger wheels and I really like the look of the GT3s so, yes, it's a bit of bling but I kind of like it so they'll be staying for now. I may consider it when the time comes to replace tyres but not until then and even then maybe not. We'll see

I have the same wheels on mine and love the way that they look....though most others wont as they are matt black! I've never driven another Boxster on smaller wheels, to be fair, I've never driven another Boxster.

It may handle better on 17s but I think it handles great as it is and combines with the look, I'm sticking with them.

My ideal wheesl would be BBS LMs though the price on those is a tad high compared to the price of the car!

[TameRacingDriver]

80sMatchbox said:

TameRacingDriver said:

I'm certainly not denying the effectiveness of downsizing wheels but from what I remember of my old S on 17s compared with this one, I don't feel like this one has lost much for the slightly bigger wheels and I really like the look of the GT3s so, yes, it's a bit of bling but I kind of like it so they'll be staying for now. I may consider it when the time comes to replace tyres but not until then and even then maybe not. We'll see

I have the same wheels on mine and love the way that they look....though most others wont as they are matt black! I've never driven another Boxster on smaller wheels, to be fair, I've never driven another Boxster.

It may handle better on 17s but I think it handles great as it is and combines with the look, I'm sticking with them.

My ideal wheesl would be BBS LMs though the price on those is a tad high compared to the price of the car!

As I said earlier, I've had another S but on 17s and going from memory I really, truly believe the car I have now on the 18s drives as well to my tastes but we will see as the months progress.

I've spent money on cars this way before trying to chase perfection and on occasions made it worse than when I started. If something is already good and satisfying I can't see the need to change it. What's that saying? Don't let perfect be the enemy of good and all that.

[ATM]

TameRacingDriver said:

What's that saying? Don't let perfect be the enemy of good and all that.

Never heard that one before.

My recent favourite is stop starting and start finishing which describes perfectly my current situation with little jobs on my cars. I'm trying to finish jobs on a car properly before starting on another car and then having 2 in a state of midway through.

Another is you can't polish a turd. But hopefully that doesn't apply here.

My favourite is if you want your car to go faster then buy a faster car.

[paulguitar]

I'm back home with my new car. I'm blown away, absolutely love it.