986S04 Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 Hello BoXa Net. I am pretty new to the forum and although I’ve searched around a bit (hours) I haven’t found an answer to the question I have. Apologies if this is re-hashing stuff. I have a 2004 986S (not anniversary) which I have owned for 2 years and really enjoy driving. It’s done 75k miles and I have some concerns about the suspension, even though the 4 corner push test seems ok and she’s MOT positive. I am also thinking about taking her to a track day so I am keen to swap out the standard set up for some coilovers. I have considered M030 but it’s expensive and not adjustable. Same for a number of other aftermarket shock/spring combinations. So, my question is: does anyone have experience of either the Design 911 Designtek D220 or the Yellowspeed coilover kits? I called D911 up and the woman on the phone was just guessing answers to my questions so I am hoping someone out there has fitted one or other of these (or knows someone else who has). Thanks in advance. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edc Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 @marseille used the D220 ones. Why do you think you need adjustable ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anker BS Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 If you haven't been on the track before its a waste of money to start modifying the car. Start tracking and learn to drive a track and get comfortable and learn to enter and exit corners. It will become obvious when the car becomes the limiting factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobbie Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 7 hours ago, Anker BS said: If you haven't been on the track before its a waste of money to start modifying the car. Start tracking and learn to drive a track and get comfortable and learn to enter and exit corners. It will become obvious when the car becomes the limiting factor. This ^^^ if your current assessment of the suspension is that it's passed the MOT and bump test, that tells you very little about how well it performs. Springs and dampers could be tired, bushes could be worn, alignment could be out. Simply putting adjustable coilovers on is not a cheap shortcut to 'sort' the handling, especially if you haven't got the expertise to adjust them correctly. Best bet would be to take it somewhere like Centre Gravity and get them to do a full assessment of your current setup to identify where the money needs spending to bring the current setup up to spec before looking at upgrades. They can also advise on varying the alignment from standard spec if you want to optimise for track work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenman Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 14 minutes ago, Nobbie said: Best bet would be to take it somewhere like Centre Gravity and get them to do a full assessment of your current setup to identify where the money needs spending to bring the current setup up to spec before looking at upgrades. They can also advise on varying the alignment from standard spec if you want to optimise for track work This. you could have alignment issues that affect the handling, you might find that if alignment gets sorted it feels like a completely different car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terryg Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 My car passed those very basic tests as well but was terrible on motorway bends, personally I find problems show up more here than on fast A roads. A trip to Revolution and the dilution of my bank account solved the problem using standard suspension parts, anyway as the lads above said, no point in thinking about posh suspension parts if you don't no whether the basics are okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
map Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 @Anker BS and @Nobbie as well as the others who've reinforced that approach have hit the nail on the head. I started trackdays on standard suspension, then went to a more track orientated geometry. After that to lowering springs and a more focused geo. Ran the car like that for a number of years and plenty of track miles. The upgrade to fully adjustable coilover suspension only happened when the other dampers/springs had got so tired they were compromising the handling on track. Aside from the sense in making sure the OEM suspension was OK the biggest gains have been the result of coaching from the very first track day - that's where you'll find more speed and perhaps more importantly more fun. As an indicator my first ever trackday at Brands saw me braking from 60/65mph at the brake marker into Paddock Hill bend, more recently the speeds are showing around 125/130mph after the brake marker - sure some tweaks have helped but without doubt that increase is largely down to solid coaching and a willingness to apply what was learned. Put another way - without coaching my incremental spend on coilovers would have been almost entirely wasted. Whereabouts are you based? There are quite a few Boxsters on the forum that have seen suspension tweaks and maybe there's someone near you that can help you more directly with your decision as to your next steps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulQ Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 I think @snotrag had the designteks fitted, but now uses standard springs/shocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patt Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 Designtek = rebadged from US/china and price lift to match. I'll bet you can find that same suspension on ebay or alibarba websites cheaper. Personally the standard new suspension is good value and well up to the job. I fitted Revolution fit Billstein B4's to M030 springs and loved it on 986S Plus you know the springs match the shocks. I'm now looking to do similar to the 981S The M030 springs are actually slightly cheaper than stock ones too ! Or fit the M030 kit (the tip version is still available) and works out cheap for struts, springs and ARB's. Your local OPC or indi can supply and fit. I went my route because I picked up the struts very cheap. EDC fitted the tip kit to his first 986 and it was great to drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
986S04 Posted March 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 Thanks for the replies. Mrs F also thanks those of you who are kindly trying to reduce my spending As a general reply to the above, I plan to do this myself and will replace other suspension components. I had expected to get an alignment done but felt that I'd like to get everything done in 1 go then do the alignment (not myself). As EDC stated in another post, it's a 75k mile/ 14 year old car. I think the shocks are going to be less than showroom fresh. I'm not surprised he found that changing shocks/springs made an improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
986S04 Posted March 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 On 21/03/2018 at 8:59 AM, Nobbie said: This ^^^ if your current assessment of the suspension is that it's passed the MOT and bump test, that tells you very little about how well it performs. Springs and dampers could be tired, bushes could be worn, alignment could be out. Simply putting adjustable coilovers on is not a cheap shortcut to 'sort' the handling, especially if you haven't got the expertise to adjust them correctly. Best bet would be to take it somewhere like Centre Gravity and get them to do a full assessment of your current setup to identify where the money needs spending to bring the current setup up to spec before looking at upgrades. They can also advise on varying the alignment from standard spec if you want to optimise for track work. Many thanks. Yes, all those things inc shocks/springs are likely to be less than perfect. The coilover idea was to address one of those areas but not instead of replacing other worn suspension parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
986S04 Posted March 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 On 21/03/2018 at 11:29 AM, map said: @Anker BS and @Nobbie as well as the others who've reinforced that approach have hit the nail on the head. I started trackdays on standard suspension, then went to a more track orientated geometry. After that to lowering springs and a more focused geo. Ran the car like that for a number of years and plenty of track miles. The upgrade to fully adjustable coilover suspension only happened when the other dampers/springs had got so tired they were compromising the handling on track. Aside from the sense in making sure the OEM suspension was OK the biggest gains have been the result of coaching from the very first track day - that's where you'll find more speed and perhaps more importantly more fun. As an indicator my first ever trackday at Brands saw me braking from 60/65mph at the brake marker into Paddock Hill bend, more recently the speeds are showing around 125/130mph after the brake marker - sure some tweaks have helped but without doubt that increase is largely down to solid coaching and a willingness to apply what was learned. Put another way - without coaching my incremental spend on coilovers would have been almost entirely wasted. Whereabouts are you based? There are quite a few Boxsters on the forum that have seen suspension tweaks and maybe there's someone near you that can help you more directly with your decision as to your next steps. Map, thanks for that experience dump. I don't consider coilovers a surrogate for experience, don't worry. I'd be very keen to speak to/meet others who've done suspension tweaks (and especially the 987 airbox thing which looks heroic). I'm in Birmingham during the week (& some weekends) otherwise York. Also keen to catch up at a track day (for moral support!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
986S04 Posted March 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 On 21/03/2018 at 12:39 PM, PaulQ said: I think @snotrag had the designteks fitted, but now uses standard springs/shocks. Possibly not a resounding recommendation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
986S04 Posted March 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2018 On 21/03/2018 at 1:42 PM, Patt said: Designtek = rebadged from US/china and price lift to match. I'll bet you can find that same suspension on ebay or alibarba websites cheaper. Personally the standard new suspension is good value and well up to the job. I fitted Revolution fit Billstein B4's to M030 springs and loved it on 986S Plus you know the springs match the shocks. I'm now looking to do similar to the 981S The M030 springs are actually slightly cheaper than stock ones too ! Or fit the M030 kit (the tip version is still available) and works out cheap for struts, springs and ARB's. Your local OPC or indi can supply and fit. I went my route because I picked up the struts very cheap. EDC fitted the tip kit to his first 986 and it was great to drive. Thanks. Yes, quite a number of the coilovers out there look pretty similar (identical?). I've done a bit of research in coming to my ideas & sadly the B4s and springs (any) will work out more than the D220 kit, hence my question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edc Posted March 23, 2018 Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 I've tried standard, new M030, old M030 and new Koni FSD and H&R springs. All with new arms and bushes. After some experimentation I think the best for me is the last combination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
986S04 Posted March 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2018 Thanks again for that information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.