996.1 C2 suspension refresh recommendations

[reds12]

I can recommend Meyle control arms (upper & lower), they are excellent for the price. I run Bilstein B8 and H&R 30mm springs (lowering has not been an issue), combined with an X74+ alignment and H&R ARBs (see below point). The car is perfect for my preferences: 'sporty', predictable, but not crashy or harsh. Front strut mounts will definitely need replacing but you would be surprised how long the rears will last! Drop links probably worth doing regardless, and track rods might be worth thinking about too if you're tackling the lot!

I wouldn't agree that the ARBs are not worth considering though, if they are original I would suspect they are heavily corroded (my rear was at the point of failure on a '98 65k car). I run H&R ARBs now and would highly recommend, completely transformed the car, particularly turn in.

If you want to just plod about then the above might be a bit drastic, I understand the Koni special actives are supposed to be a bit more compliant but I have no regrets on my setup. Engine mounts still on my to do list but have been eyeing up the RSS items.

 

[bridge]

I’ve just fitted the spider performance refresh kit to my C2, I also got some new rear top mounts as they aren’t in the kit and used polybushed on the coffin arms as they seem prone to wearing out quickest. I paired it up with ohlins R+T coilovers.
I’ve not driven the car yet, but I’m hoping for good things!

Other thing worth considering whilst it’s in bits is replacing any rusty brake pipes and the hard lines on the power steering rack.

I also found my caliper bolts and drop link bolts were seized solid so replacement front hubs were required, no amount of oxyacetylene would free them off

 

[911UK]

I can recommend Meyle control arms (upper & lower), they are excellent for the price. I run Bilstein B8 and H&R 30mm springs (lowering has not been an issue), combined with an X74+ alignment and H&R ARBs (see below point). The car is perfect for my preferences: 'sporty', predictable, but not crashy or harsh. Front strut mounts will definitely need replacing but you would be surprised how long the rears will last! Drop links probably worth doing regardless, and track rods might be worth thinking about too if you're tackling the lot!

I wouldn't agree that the ARBs are not worth considering though, if they are original I would suspect they are heavily corroded (my rear was at the point of failure on a '98 65k car). I run H&R ARBs now and would highly recommend, completely transformed the car, particularly turn in.

If you want to just plod about then the above might be a bit drastic, I understand the Koni special actives are supposed to be a bit more compliant but I have no regrets on my setup. Engine mounts still on my to do list but have been eyeing up the RSS items.

+1 to what @reds12 said, I've done the exact same, but run the softer Bilstein B4 on H£R spring but with the uprated H&R ARB, works well
and replaced a lot of the suspension arms/links, etc with Meyle

 

[Slippydiff]

Standard, new OE engine mounts are a gamechanger, they may not be the stiffest available, but they were designed to do a specific job and control a specific mass, and they do it incredibly well.

As someone else pointed out, comparing ANY 20 year old, 100k mile items with brand new 964 RS (or indeed any of the other uprated items available)
is grossly unfair.
I swapped my 20 year old, 60k mile items (that looked fine) to brand new OE items, the results completely transformed how the car drove, and not just around around corners, but also in a straight line over fast cresty roads, where previously the mass of the engine and gearbox would get out of synch with the rest of the car and cause some very strange yawing motions.
As soon as the new mounts were fitted, the car was transformed.

If you're doing a suspension overhaul, change everything, coffin arms, tuning forks, top mounts, top mount bearings, ARB droplinks, outer steering rack tie rods, inner rack joints, the lot. Especially if you're going to fit coilovers and lower the ride height (at all).

As I found to my cost (and considerable annoyance) 20 year old suspension components don't take well to being at one ride height for 20 years, then all of sudden being asked to undertake the same duties, but 20-25 mm lower...

Cue load of rattles and knocks that weren't there previously ...

Meyle no longer the excellent brand it was. The caster bushes used in their coffin arms are a softer shore hardness than the OE items apparently. CTE or OE are the only brands I'd use now (though I splashed out on a pair of the Eibach adjustable front coffin arms, and have been very impressed with them to date) Likewise tuning forks, OE, CTE or Rose Passion remanufactured items.
ARB droplinks, rack inner joints and rack outer tie rods. TRW.
Top mounts, Lemforder fronts if you can find them, and OE rear top mounts.

I've gone the Ohlins R & T route with my own custom spring rates, the car is very different animal now, and it's ability to traverse our increasingly poorly maintained roads at ridiculous speeds in the wet or increasingly occasional dry days, completely unperturbed by the state of the Tarmacadam beneath the car, is quite frankly mind-boggling.

Here are the ride heights currently. The front will be raised 8mm and the rear dropped 5-6mm next week.

As others have said, don't go the spherical bearing/Rose jointed route, it may improve chassis response, but they WILL wear, and become noisy, and the more they wear, the noisier they get (and the faster they wear ...)

With the state of our roads, you want to retain every last bit of compliance you can (allied to the best dampers you can afford) and coilovers not only allow you to do that, they also give you the ability to maintain sensible ride heights.

 

[911UK]

+1 to what @Slippydiff said
oem soft is under rated and is perfect for uk roads !