Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

I became intrigued by Stuarts thread awhile back, intoducing the GAZ shocks and more recently the finding of the SPAX line. What impresses me is the apparent build quality without the $1500 price tag....and the fact that these are NEW and not some hacked up retro-fit (e.g. "hacksaw" Konis). We do NOT have these GAZ/SPAX versions here.

I am looking at purchasing/importing several full sets (5) to the States for testing, but was VERY curious as to any real-time experiences (or even "what you've heard") in respect to either brand.

Some critical questions/considerations would be:
~effective/performance rate
~build quality
~Manufacturer Reputation (overall/outside of Porsche products)
~ease of installation (OEM mounting points?)
~longevity
~adjustablility
~warranty
~customer service

Any insight is greatly appreciated.....and its about time you Brits built something for these cars

Patrick

Hi Patrick

Happy to oblige!

In order of asking:

Performance excellent
Build quality seems fine but finish is not good (outer casings prone to rust very quickly)
Manufacturer rep is good over here
Bit of a fiddle to fit, need to make up brackets for brake pipes/ABS sensors. Nowhere to mount air ducts, boo!
Don't know yet, signs not good with outer appearance
Adjustability absolutely excellent
2 years, might be claiming soon!
Very good at source, yet to find out reaction to rusting

Hope this helps. In hindsight I would have painted them first but they were a lovely shiny aluminium finish which looked like it would last no problem. Everything else has been spot on and worth the fiddle to fit them.

Must add used the car through all the snow and salting of the roads. Didn't think it would be a problem! Oops!

Stuart

Stuart,

Thanks man, that helps a ton. I can anodize them here at the shop so hopefully that would help a great deal with corrosion.

That, and we do not have salt on the roads where I am.....hell it was 93F degrees today

One question: other than the sensor brackets, and brake line attachment points, are they a direct bolt on unit? Or did you also have to modify the GAZ mounting points to match the Porsche?

Thanks

Patrick

Patrick, I fitted them to Stuarts car, they bolted straight on. I made up an L shaped bracket to mount the ABS stuff on and chopped the brake pipe steady off the old shock bottom then welded it onto the L shaped bracket. If you PM me your e-mail address, I will try and dig out a picture of the bracket and installation,.
Alasdair

Alasdair,

That would be great. PM sent!

Patrick

I would also consider the BC Racing Coilovers. They get many good reviews for other cars and utilise Monotube damper technology too. Pricewise they are similar, if not slightly cheaper than the GAZ products. These also do come with all of the brackets required.

Only thing is that you'll have to tell them that it is for a 968...

Do you have a link for them?

And I assume that they will only fit '87~up due the reference to the 968? Thanks for any input

Kind of strange how we have over a 100 some parts suppliers (stock,performance, race,etc....) that supply everything from chips to turbos to exhaust to interiors.....but really only 2 that supply shock/struts (Koni-Bilstein). Yet you guys over there seem to have 4,5 or maybe even 6 different choices (Koni, Bilstein, GAZ, Spax, BC)? Awesome

Patrick

Have just fitted the Spax kit on a 968. Finish is good being powder coated and the spring carriers are aluminium on a stainless thread.
Brackets are there for all but the air deflectors.

It went on easy enough as you would expect.

I've only driven a few miles and bear in mind every suspension part front and back has been off and lubricated the alignment is all over. First impressions are great, I was worried it was going to be very hard at the front but seems OK - bear in mind the rears are not coilovers.

Will know more after a wheel alignment Sat.


Rich