fantastic stuff, very much appreciate your efforts and opinion sharing. I was 100% convinced on ohlins, but your info and considered opinions has given me food for thought.

Great video! I am in the same shoes since Ohlins are highly rated, however it is also my semi DD so you have definitely helped me out.

Wow! I’m going to try this on my 911 Thanks PIF!

Great serie of videos, thanks a lot! What do you think of the setup with the softer springs now after one more year of driving?

Couple of thoughts. First thanks for taking the time to post. Second I see the Swift Springs are much skinnier in diameter than the Ohlins which would for sure provide a softer ride. Third whenever I raise my cars to work on them and lower them down they sit much higher than if they had been driven for a minute and parked. I'm sure you figured that out during ride height adjustment. Good stuff and I'll likely be doing this.

@PIFDIY

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks UserX, glad you brought that up. Yes, you'll want to move the car back and forth after lowering off a lift or jacks (I think Ohlins recommends this) before measuring ride height. I didn't film it, but I went through a few iterations of adjustment with both the Ohlins and the Swift springs to get the ride height exactly where I wanted it.

great video and sharing! are you happy with the balance of performance vs comfort? have you kept those springs or moved on to other rates? what are you alignment numbers front and rear?

Great vid…. I got Ohlins as well but don’t mind since mine is not a DD. BTW- You may want to consider adjustable rear toe control arm since you lowered your car. Cheers 🍻

@PIFDIY

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks 1drwnd!

I know I am late to the party here, but I have a question, and a suggestion. First the question. Did you loosen the inner joints of the lower control arms and retighten at ride height every time you made an adjustment to the ride height? I didn't see mention of it in the video. You might be shocked how much forgetting to do that can affect ride quality. A shop forgot to do that when doing a corner balance alignment of my old car and when I got it back it rode MILES more harshly. I initially thought they cranked the damping settings way up and forgot to put them back, but they were right where I left them. Took it back and they found the issue and ride quality was absolutely superb again. Totally unlike what you are describing here, as the ability to soak up the high speed, sharp edged bumps your are complaining about in this video was truly exceptional, bordering on magical at times. WAY better than any other damper I have ever had. This was Ohlins R&Ts on a BMW 135i for reference, but the design is similar on the 996(Macpherson Strut front, multilink rear. I had a 987 Cayman after the 135i and wrenched on it a ton so everything looks familiar. I really think you need to double check some other items on your car. If your forget to reset that lower control arm joint, it adds preload to that joint, especially if you lower the car. This increases your effective spring rate. I've also found that using a jack stand to compress the suspension while on the 2 post is not an accurate approximation of having the car on the ground, as the leverage is different. This is especially true on a the front axle of a 911 with the weight hanging out the back. The front end is effectively being pulled upward by the weight of the rear in a way that doesn't happen with the car on the ground, since the jack point is over a foot further forward than the center of the wheel. Ideally those joints should be cracked open while on the alignment rack and retightened at the end ride height. with weight in the car to simulate the driver if possible. Some pros even recommend adding slightly more weight to effectively "unload" that joint and decrease that initial effective spring rate, though you don't want too much of this. I know that might be slightly challenging without a 4 post or a pit at home, but I would recommend making sure this is addressed for best end results. Now to the last suggestion. The ball joints in the front and rear caster control arms, aka diagonal arms or tuning forks, make for very harsh and crashy suspension feel when they go bad, especially on bumps with sharp edges. They are a poor design that is unfortunately not very durable, and are a bit difficult to diagnose as there is no visual indication that they have gone. Thankfully they are pretty easy to replace and don't require a fresh alignment when you do, at least not on the Cayman. Rear could be different on the 996. Front suspensions are identical to my knowledge. I suspect the harshness you are feeling is likely a combination of these two issues. Anyway, hope you find your way to the best you can, and happy wrenching!

@PIFDIY

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comments Alan, this is all good stuff! After my video, the car was brought to a reputable chassis tuning shop that owns a fleet of spec Miatas and services club racers as well as hp street cars. Niche shop that's involved with motorsports, tuning, data analysis, etc. They tried to keep the stance close to what I provided but did the full corner balance and final ride height. I didn't question them, but would be almost certain that they used best practices to achieve the final results. This is their business and that service wasn't cheap :). I think my results were more a function of the poor quality roads in New England, especially close to my home. Personally, I have a lower tolerance to the nvh of a stiff setup because I don't track the car. And as I said in my other video, the Ohlins tech support rep told me that his coworker with a street only 996 also removed the stock springs! They gave me the Swift SKUs for the softer springs that are on his car.

@TheAlanFish

Жыл бұрын

@@PIFDIY understand your confidence, but I would still check it if you can. Pennsylvania/Maryland roads are no better than New England roads, and the R&Ts on my 135i were like a magic carpet ride. Truly stellar ride comfort. That’s why I suspect there might be something else going on with your car. I was also shocked how much of a difference changing out the caster arms made, and it was in the exact lane you were complaining about. You could do both fixes without needing to do a new alignment too. And just for the record, the shop that forgot this on my car was of the same ilk as yours. People just forget stuff sometimes.

Great video with very important information for us who´s is thinking of getting Ohlins on our cars! How would you compare the Ohlins to the stock X74 kit? I have X74 on mine and i find it really harsh.

@PIFDIY

Жыл бұрын

Sorry, I have no experience with the X74 suspension.

Maybe you're missing stiffer anti-roll bars, like M030/X74? Softer springs for straights & anti-roll for turns

I enjoyed this video 7 months later. I’m not entirely sure what I’ll do with my 996 suspension. About 130k on the stock so I’m going to figure out something

This is a common story, a lot of people share your experience.

Thinking in buying the Öhlins coilovers for my 996 turbo. I am scared about spend the money and feel the car too much harsh as it's not my intention to take the car for the track. Please, could you tell me the cost of the softer springs? Thank you for share and for your time to help us. I appreciate a lot!

@PIFDIY

2 жыл бұрын

I paid about $350 for both pairs. The part numbers are in the video so you can look them up for an exact cost.

If you could do it ALL over again what would you go with suspension wise? I’m in the same boat as you. I’m 100% street car (C4S) here but just want slightly lowered stance with very complaint ride.

@PIFDIY

Жыл бұрын

Hi, yes I would. I think you can achieve a perfectly suitable street setup with lowering springs and quality set of shocks. That said, I don't think it would feel as "connected" as the Ohlins and of course, you'd have no adjustability. Is that difference worth twice the price? For me it was.

why didnt you need spring compressors for removal of the ohlins spring? because you can loosen it from the pre-load adjustment first?

@PIFDIY

Жыл бұрын

Exactly!

Do you need to replace the bushings if doing an suspension upgrade?

@PIFDIY

Жыл бұрын

You'll want to inspect control arms, ball joints, bushings, etc. while under the car and replace what's needed.

Why the hell did you mess with a different brand of springs when Ohlins can provide whatever spring weight you want?!?

@PIFDIY

Жыл бұрын

Ohlins RECOMENDED these Swift springs for my application.

@Ketta3Sportback

Жыл бұрын

@@PIFDIY WTF?!? Sounds strange since the Ohlins springs are an integral part of the whole kit........That being said, when you have to change the spring rates to get the comfort you want you are starting a slippery slope of unwanted compromises...... BUT, did you manage to sort the suspension out to your liking?

@PIFDIY

Жыл бұрын

@@Ketta3Sportback Yes. The car is more compliant for street use at the expense of track performance. If you're looking for track or autocross performance, stick with the OEMs springs. Mine is a road only car, so easy choice. I mentioned in my video that one of the Ohlin's employees runs that exact spring rate using those Swift springs on his 996 C2 street car.

@henryculley943

9 ай бұрын

@@PIFDIY Hi PIF, I see you've now moved on to a more modern Porsche platform 🙂I hope you're enjoying it. Just a couple of points about this video. You state the R&T's have no rebound adjustment. This is incorrect, the adjuster on the R&T dampers controls both rebound AND compression, and the way the valving works, the adjuster actually impacts rebound far more than compression, the split is roughly 80% rebound/20% compression. The original spring rates that Ohlins specified/fitted to the R&T's for the 996 C2 are quite frankly (as you and numerous others have found out to your cost) ridiculous. Even with the reduction down to 570 lb rears and 280lb fronts, the rates are well in excess of those fitted to the 996 GT3 RS, , a car I've owned, and was an incredibly stiff, track focused car. For reference, the Mk1 996 GT3 used 370 lb rear springs and 200lb front springs and the rears springs were progressive, the Ohlins and Swift springs are linear, so you'd struggle to get the compliance the OE C2 or Mk1 GT3 springs provided. I bought the R&T's for my 996 C2, knowing full well the spring rates were waaaay too high (like yours was, my car is for road use only) I'm currently running far softer spring rates than even the Swift springs you fitted, and the car is way more compliant, beautifully damped, and has huge amounts of grip, along with turn in that is way better than stock.

@PIFDIY

9 ай бұрын

Really great info here Henry, thanks for posting this! Sounds like you have a lot of experience and knowledge on the subject. Interesting that that the R&T adjustments affect both compression and rebound. And to 20/80 ratio! Had I known that, I might have experimented with a few other things but not having two separate adjustments really does limit what you can do. So glad you chimed in and shared the info about the spring weights. Shocking that the Swift springs that were recommended were heavier than even your GT3 RS! Glad you found the sweet spot on your C2. I think if I still had my car I would've asked for your spring rates and given it a try!