How will I know my shocks need replacement?
 

Ok, I know the normal answer to this question, you push the car down and see if it bounces, but perhaps there's more to it?

My car is a '85 Carrera, not dropped, with Bilstein shocks all round. Of all the cars I've ever driven it's the most stable at any speed and it handles great. With my full body weight I can't depress the car even a centimetre, on any of the four corners. The shocks are very firm, to say the least.

A few months ago I raced the car on the track and for a few laps I had a Porsche racing instructor with me. He reckons the reason my car isn't handling well (!??) is the soft shocks (!!!!!???). Most of the cars on the track were full-blown racers with slicks and racing equipment, perhaps the instructor is used to that.
Or, and that's my real question, perhaps my shocks are indeed old and tired and I just think they are good because they feel firm when I test them the normal way. How do you test shocks that are so firm?

Thanks

Anybody?

I have the maintenance on my 88 Carrera (126000 miles) done at an independent Porsche garage with a good reputation, and a few months ago, I asked him the question "how are my shocks" and after I went back to pick up the car after the servicing, he said "they're OK, don't worry about it". My car/shocks are just as
Patronus described: staunch and firm. Yet I wonder???... So, Patronus just asked a good question (baai goed, Patronus) and deserves a reply.
Do you have to take the shocks offa the car and test them then?
I know lotsa posters have stated that their car passed the "bounce" test with flying colors, only to find the individual shocks...shot, replacing them with new ones, and the car handles far better..

There's been some threads on this lately. A number of people have said that even though their shocks passed the "stand on bumper" test, their cars handled better after they replaced the shocks. Some of those people mentioned noticing less-than-ideal handling beforehand, others didn't. It might be worth reading those anecdotes and seeing if any of the descriptions and handling behaviours fit your car. Personally, my shocks pass the "bumper" test too, but after a fair bit of thought I'm going to replace them. 89 Carerra with 147K miles.

That four corners test isn't always accurate because your partially loading the torsion bars and shocks but mostly loading your sway bar. With these cars and there sway bars you pretty much have to "bounce" the car so that the sway bar doesn't do anything, like in the middle. Although knowing which individual shock is blown is neat, you replace these things in pairs anyhow, so who cares.