eponymoose

R and Spyder springs are similar, but IIRC the rear spring rates are a little different between the two. I believe you can fit either to standard shocks, but need a few extra small parts to do so for the rear. Can't remember the details, but Planet 9 is the place to go to find out. R/Spyder springs with B8 shocks would probably be the best overall solution. I do occasionally have a look on the bay for used R/Spyder springs / suspension, but not spotted anything.

I've never been able to find those 10mm H&R springs in their listings. Re the Eibach springs, I had them with a B12 kit and they were quite simply the wrong spec. Dropped the front too much to the point that it ran out of travel and drove very, very badly. I repaced the springs with the H&R 35mm kit. I thought they were a whiff too low up front too, but that was more a matter of opinion. They drove well. The option I am considering for my current 987 is Cayman R or Spyder springs for a 20mm (they are similar spec / spring rates). I think they need a few extra parts to fit them, but could be a nice compromise between the lowering kits that take the car a bit too low and the 10mm H&R which is probably a bit conservative...

Would you smell the coolant actually in the cabin from a head gasket failure? Possibly, but to me that more indicates a coolant leak somewhere like the rads or a pipe weeping...

The TRW part is the one Porsche will sell you for £400. TRW supplies Porsche. You want TRW part number PMN166. Should be able to get it for a lot less than £280. I paid about £160. It's also not really a 'GT3' MC. It was fitted to various 997 models, including C4S, Turbo and the GT3.

You can put all kinds of tyres on the rims, if you like. I was just talking about the OEM 18s and 19s. Same width tyres. 18s are not narrower.

18s have same tyre width as 19s. They’re not narrower. 235f 265r either way. But feel will still be different. I can’t compute paying a fortune for the full R suspension and then not doing the wheels. You could do Bilstein B16 for probably less money, and that’s a better damper, and also allows you to set the ride height exactly how you want it.

I would lean towards either just going with the Cayman R springs or pairing them with Bilstein sport dampers. The springs are only slightly higher rate than standard and will work fine with the stock dampers ifyou mainly want the -20mm. To get the full Cayman R chassis experience, if that's what you seek, would indeed require the wheels, which are very expensive. The full spring and damper and bar package, too, which is also expensive. It'll cost a fortune. If you are totally price insensitive, I guess go for it. The more cost effective way of getting pretty close to the Cayman R chassis experience would be Cayman R springs and some sport dampers from Bilstein. Do not buy the Bilstein B12 kit that comes complete with Eibach springs. The Eibach springs for 987 are a mess. You could also pair the Bilstein dampers with H&R springs. They are -10mm versus the Cayman R springs but otherwise pretty similar in terms of rates. If it was me and I was trying to keep costs under control, I'd go with the Bilstein dampers and either the R springs or the H&R springs. Otherwise, it's KW V3, Bilstein B16 PSS9 or Ohlins. Ohlins are probably technically the best but probably also need a bit more knowledge to really exploit re choosing springs rates and then setting it all up - so the cost can be quite high. KW are fiddly, too. The Billy B16s are a bit more straight forward / turn key and most people would be pretty happy with the results and would be a pretty cost effective solution all round. If I was doing my car again, I would go B16. Not quite as good as Ohlins, but a fair bit cheaper and will still give you a great handling 987.

People often seem to forget about the private-trade spread. A car that's for sale at £27.5k from a dealer would, in my view, not likely be worth £25k on the same day private, let alone a year later with more miles on the clock. People seem to think they can get trade prices for private sales and I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. Don't think there's any problem with market. If there's no interest in the car, most likely explanation is that it's priced too high. As above, if trade are offering £20k, then £25k is too high - that's probably what trade will be seeking to market it at - and £22k is probably more realistic.

No, just with the throttle pinned!

You're doing it wrong. You should be making sure you never get more than 250 miles from a tank. Aim for sub 20mpg. I've averaged 17 over the last 3.5 years and 65,000 miles.

Yeah, the interior door handles in the 9x7 have always been a let down. 9x6 has metal ones and they feel much nicer. Some cast aluminium handles would be a really nice finishing touch. I've seen the idea discussed before, but don't think it's ever actually been done.

Good effort, OP. That's the way to do it. People constantly complain there's no good driving to be done. Roads clogged. Speed cameras etc. But it's Testicals. Loads of great driving to be had.

Yeah, you'd have to think they simply weren't torqued up when the clutch was done. I think shops make lots of errors that they never own up to. I've had lots of errors over the years like this that you can't realistically pin on shops but you know it's very likely down to error. To be honest, I wouldn't want to work on other people's cars for a living. I know I would make mistakes like that. I've done some super dumb s**t with my own cars. Built up the front shock on my Croc fully last year only to realise I'd forgotten to fit the dust boot. Doh! I suppose it's avoidable if you really do it properly. I'd need a written check list for every job that I'd have to physically tick off to ensure that kind of thing never happened. You'd have to be super methodical, which is very, very dull! Some people I think enjoy being super methodical. I guess that's the kind of mechanic you want. Completely anal!

There are good roads here in the UK including the south of England, which is where I live. Get out and explore. I know several great stretches near me (I live in Bath) and I routinely have stellar cross country drives in the south of England. Every time you drive somewhere over a significant distance, keep off the A roads and stick to B roads and white roads. It can be a bit hit and miss, but you will have some awesome drives. Takes a bit of effort at times, but you will be rewarded, I guarantee. Just to give an example, when I drive back from London, I'll get off the M4 at the Hungerford junction and then B road it back from there. I've had some stellar drives doing that, even at 5:30pm when the main roads are clogged with traffic. Doesn't always work out, but well worth it for the odd Tickle my toes up. Loads of great driving out there to be done / had.

Meyle arms have really gone up! You used to be able to buy them for about £50 a pop, inc. I think now that you can't get the TRW arms, pricing has ramped up on the Meyle arms as the next best thing to the Porsche arms. Somebody making a nice fat margin on these arms now! The underlying problem here is the rip off prices charged by Porsche. They sell arms for £250 ish that could be sold quite profitably for about £75. It's pretty disgusting, but there you go. Such is the ridiculous price charged by Porsche, suppliers can significantly undercut the Porsche price and still charge what is really an OTT price for a pattern part.