Discussion
In anything less than a motorsport GT car i.e GT3, Porsche have to make cars like the GTS to suit a wide variety of needs. Everybody's needs are different, so there is no "right answer", hence the huge array of options.
On the suspension, I missed out of a GT4, so I have specced mine as a GT4 lite with X73. I found on my GT3 PASM was just too stiff on the road in the hardest setting and only good on a really smooth track. So maybe you'll only use it 2% of the time in the car's life. So really having PASM is a waste of time mostly.
For the ride height I ran a 997.2 GT3 for two years as a daily drive doing 30,000kms and not once did I bottom the car out going over bumps in car parks, supermarkets etc, I did occasionally scrape the bottom of the front lip, but that was by me taking it at the wrong angle or too quick. A GT3 is lower than a GTS and has the big overhang, so X73 height is not going to be a clearance issue.
I think the ride height looks too high on the PASM cars and PASM is too hard as stated above. So X73 is a good compromise of being stiffer than standard, but not bone jarringly artificially hard of PASM. So without you intend to drive it daily over cobble stones, I think PASM isn't worth it from a practical point of view and I don't believe it is "that" much softer than X73 to the point where it feels noticably more comfortable. Additionally X73 is widely regarded my the motoring press as being better for spirited driving.
I wouldn't worry about PTV without you intend to drive the car with some sporting aggression.
On the suspension, I missed out of a GT4, so I have specced mine as a GT4 lite with X73. I found on my GT3 PASM was just too stiff on the road in the hardest setting and only good on a really smooth track. So maybe you'll only use it 2% of the time in the car's life. So really having PASM is a waste of time mostly.
For the ride height I ran a 997.2 GT3 for two years as a daily drive doing 30,000kms and not once did I bottom the car out going over bumps in car parks, supermarkets etc, I did occasionally scrape the bottom of the front lip, but that was by me taking it at the wrong angle or too quick. A GT3 is lower than a GTS and has the big overhang, so X73 height is not going to be a clearance issue.
I think the ride height looks too high on the PASM cars and PASM is too hard as stated above. So X73 is a good compromise of being stiffer than standard, but not bone jarringly artificially hard of PASM. So without you intend to drive it daily over cobble stones, I think PASM isn't worth it from a practical point of view and I don't believe it is "that" much softer than X73 to the point where it feels noticably more comfortable. Additionally X73 is widely regarded my the motoring press as being better for spirited driving.
I wouldn't worry about PTV without you intend to drive the car with some sporting aggression.
NBTBRV8 said:
On the suspension, I missed out of a GT4, so I have specced mine as a GT4 lite with X73. I found on my GT3 PASM was just too stiff on the road in the hardest setting and only good on a really smooth track. So maybe you'll only use it 2% of the time in the car's life. So really having PASM is a waste of time mostly.
For the ride height I ran a 997.2 GT3 for two years as a daily drive doing 30,000kms and not once did I bottom the car out going over bumps in car parks, supermarkets etc, I did occasionally scrape the bottom of the front lip, but that was by me taking it at the wrong angle or too quick. A GT3 is lower than a GTS and has the big overhang, so X73 height is not going to be a clearance issue.
I think the ride height looks too high on the PASM cars and PASM is too hard as stated above. So X73 is a good compromise of being stiffer than standard, but not bone jarringly artificially hard of PASM. So without you intend to drive it daily over cobble stones, I think PASM isn't worth it from a practical point of view and I don't believe it is "that" much softer than X73 to the point where it feels noticably more comfortable. Additionally X73 is widely regarded my the motoring press as being better for spirited driving.
I wouldn't worry about PTV without you intend to drive the car with some sporting aggression.
PASM is not that stiff at all on a 981 in sport - I use it most of the time and it's only on really rough roads that it becomes an issue. I know what you are saying might well have been true of a 987, but it certainly not my experience (or a number of others with PASM) on a 981. It is absolutely not jarringly hard. That's on 19" and PZeros (Cayman S). It'll be a bit stiffer on 20" but I can't see it not being useable a lot of the time - and in Normal it improves the ride to almost limo proportions - definitely better than the Standard Cayster (non-GTS) let alone X73. For the ride height I ran a 997.2 GT3 for two years as a daily drive doing 30,000kms and not once did I bottom the car out going over bumps in car parks, supermarkets etc, I did occasionally scrape the bottom of the front lip, but that was by me taking it at the wrong angle or too quick. A GT3 is lower than a GTS and has the big overhang, so X73 height is not going to be a clearance issue.
I think the ride height looks too high on the PASM cars and PASM is too hard as stated above. So X73 is a good compromise of being stiffer than standard, but not bone jarringly artificially hard of PASM. So without you intend to drive it daily over cobble stones, I think PASM isn't worth it from a practical point of view and I don't believe it is "that" much softer than X73 to the point where it feels noticably more comfortable. Additionally X73 is widely regarded my the motoring press as being better for spirited driving.
I wouldn't worry about PTV without you intend to drive the car with some sporting aggression.
Re ground clearance - there are very mixed messages on here. Some say they have had no problem with speed humps and the like, others bemoaning the damage done to the front apron, some having to drive diagonally over speed humps.. Personally I find PASM on an S only just OK (catches on drives occasionally), I'd personally be wary of a GTS (which is worse than an S) on X73. But it clearly depends a lot on the roads you use, the drives you negotiate and the inconvenience you can tolerate.
^ I agree - I think PASM looks spot on, the extra 10mm drop of X73 looks out of place on a non-GT car IMHO.
I also agree with the previous comments on PASM i.e. you have to compare 981 PASM to X73 and not 987 PASM (which is well known to be very stiff and not that great). The 981 version is much, much improved.
I also agree with the previous comments on PASM i.e. you have to compare 981 PASM to X73 and not 987 PASM (which is well known to be very stiff and not that great). The 981 version is much, much improved.
Twinfan said:
^ I agree - I think PASM looks spot on, the extra 10mm drop of X73 looks out of place on a non-GT car IMHO.
I also agree with the previous comments on PASM i.e. you have to compare 981 PASM to X73 and not 987 PASM (which is well known to be very stiff and not that great). The 981 version is much, much improved.
I compared 981 PASM to 997 PASM.I also agree with the previous comments on PASM i.e. you have to compare 981 PASM to X73 and not 987 PASM (which is well known to be very stiff and not that great). The 981 version is much, much improved.
Looks are subjective, there is no right nor wrong. Just spec it to suit your needs.
NBTBRV8 said:
I compared 981 PASM to 997 PASM.
Looks are subjective, there is no right nor wrong. Just spec it to suit your needs.
997 GT3 PASM which is what I think you mentioned will be very different to 997 non-GT PASM and 981 PASM. Looks are subjective, there is no right nor wrong. Just spec it to suit your needs.
PASM on my 7.1 GT3 in normal was just about useable on the road, but you never went near the sport button even on the smoothest road. On track sport was okay, but even then the car still felt a little too soft for my liking.
981 PASM in normal is dead comfy on the road, and sport is perfectly fine. On track sport improves things but is too soft as you would expect, but then so is X73 as well really although it is a slight improvement.
Moral of the story? If you want a track car, you need to to go aftermarket suspension.
Think I'm about to have a orPASM....
nnnnyeeeeuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrgh.....aaaaaaaaah 
.... 
I suspect it's because it's the "sportier" option so partly a PR thing if they were supplying more X73s. Could also be that they were trying to push the X73 options, I imagine it might be cheaper than PASM to make/install but from memory they were priced about the same, or indeed "free" on the GTS
Edited by Mario149 on Wednesday 17th February 16:30
My guess? It was something that would make the car feel different to the previous press Caymans and Cayman Ss. Something to differentiate the GTS a little bit?
I think it's a bit odd that they chose to do that when PASM is the default option. Maybe Porsche UK thought it might appeal to the UK press road testers?
I think it's a bit odd that they chose to do that when PASM is the default option. Maybe Porsche UK thought it might appeal to the UK press road testers?
Mario149 said:
I suspect it's because it's the "sportier" option so partly a PR thing if they were supplying more X73s. Could also be that they were trying to push the X73 options, I imagine it might be cheaper than PASM to make/install but from memory they were priced about the same, or indeed "free" on the GTS
Both are no cost options on the GTS.Edited by Mario149 on Wednesday 17th February 16:30
AndyCGTS said:
I belive the SPASM is the same as the X73 (default hight). However, on the GT4 its fully adjustable in terms of hight anyway.
I read that it's a 30mm drop, so 10mm more than X73?: http://www.porsche.com/uk/models/cayman/cayman-gt4...Twinfan said:
I read that it's a 30mm drop, so 10mm more than X73?: http://www.porsche.com/uk/models/cayman/cayman-gt4...
I stand corrected. I will compare it against a friends GT4 and see how they compare for height but as I said its a fully adjustable setup. Gassing Station | Boxster/Cayman | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff