Discussion
So after two and a half months of GT3 ownership I've already lost my first Cup splitter. Well, when I say lost, I know exactly where it is, it's in the central reservation of the A34 bypass outside Wilmslow after it came off and I ran over it at high speed.
Thanks to Mike at Sports and Classic I have a new one ready to go on tomorrow. They do look a bit pants without one one there.
But the question is, how many of these things to people normally go through?
I use the car quite a bit around town and country lanes and I can hear it catching all the time. Seems like I'm going to be replacing mine on quite a regular basis.
Thanks to Mike at Sports and Classic I have a new one ready to go on tomorrow. They do look a bit pants without one one there.
But the question is, how many of these things to people normally go through?
I use the car quite a bit around town and country lanes and I can hear it catching all the time. Seems like I'm going to be replacing mine on quite a regular basis.
It also depends on how aggressive the geo is. A cambered/high rake/lowered front geo will catch a lot more than a standard height road geo.
My first GT3 was lowered and i had to have eyes constantly fixed at 50 yards ahead of the bonnet in order to avoid dips and bumps. The second one was standard height and felt so much easier to drive by comparison.
My first GT3 was lowered and i had to have eyes constantly fixed at 50 yards ahead of the bonnet in order to avoid dips and bumps. The second one was standard height and felt so much easier to drive by comparison.
I had 1 splitter for the duration of my ownership, and that's with a scrape going into the garage every time. It's soft black plastic so doesn't really show too badly and can be easily smoothed over with a cutting solution if you're so inclined. The cup splitters are another deal though - so much lower that they're pretty unusable for road use IMO.
Accept that it'll get scuffed and get on with enjoying the awesome car.
Picking up my new 1M next week so no scrape worries there! Can wait to get hold of the little terrier!
Accept that it'll get scuffed and get on with enjoying the awesome car.
Picking up my new 1M next week so no scrape worries there! Can wait to get hold of the little terrier!
Still on my first one - but its getting close!
Has been shaved in the corners where the plastic was hanging from scraping on my garage exit. Can't wait to get it on the Ring next week though as I'm curious as to whether it still scrapes the track under serious compression or if it's been reduced enough to not do that.
Mine sits on a lowered and geo'ed HR coilover, so I'm guessing at least 1 a year will be the norm. Although we dont have as many speedbumps here in Copenhagen and it's not daily driven.
CK
Has been shaved in the corners where the plastic was hanging from scraping on my garage exit. Can't wait to get it on the Ring next week though as I'm curious as to whether it still scrapes the track under serious compression or if it's been reduced enough to not do that.
Mine sits on a lowered and geo'ed HR coilover, so I'm guessing at least 1 a year will be the norm. Although we dont have as many speedbumps here in Copenhagen and it's not daily driven.
CK
I am on about number 8 in 4 years of ownership. I have recently lost 2 in as many months. They scrape around town and then fly off at speed once loosened by the scraping.
Has anyone come up with a better way of attaching them to the 996? I use a combination of double-sided sponge tape and the rivets that Porsche supply. They seem to fly off all too easily.
Has anyone come up with a better way of attaching them to the 996? I use a combination of double-sided sponge tape and the rivets that Porsche supply. They seem to fly off all too easily.
hendy said:
Has anyone come up with a better way of attaching them to the 996? I use a combination of double-sided sponge tape and the rivets that Porsche supply. They seem to fly off all too easily.
The addition of 15 stainless self-tappers has worked very well for me. I got 25k miles on road & track before I chose to change the splitter earlier this year. I know everyone always predicts that doing this will rip the PU off, but even a bit of off-roading in Portugal this year didn't do anything more than pull a few of the self-tappers out & they were easily rescrewed in by the side of the road with the aid of a jack.
I changed the standard 6 GT3 one when I bought my car because it was not perfect. I went for the `Cup` one as it was cheaper and looks better IMHO as it is much wider as it wraps around to meet the front wheel arch.
I remember measuring both at the time, the splitter to road clearance is no different between standard and `Cup` versions. Since fitting mine it has been grounded twice without damage, after each time I have tightened the rivets and pressed the double-sided tape back just in case.
I work on the following theory... If you take a big scrape whilst travelling forwards the splitter deforms and does its job, but this pulls the tape and rivets away from the PU creating a tiny gap. Then when you travel at speed the air is forced into (and through) this tiny gap, until it eventually parts company with the PU enough to fold under the car and it gets ripped off.
Nick, your solution using self tappers has been debated many times and it clearly works for you. For me the solution is to be mindful of the purpose of the spitter and take reasonable steps to be selective about my route and driving style. I know that you use your fine machine in the spirit that this was intended and a splitter becomes just another consumable item.
In closing, to the OP... Just stock pile spare splitters, buy them as when you can in both Cup and standard form. I picked up another standard new and unused one in the classified on here for £75 delivered last week which is roughly half price.
Just enjoy your car, your `consumable` rear tyres will eclipse the cost of splitters all too quickly, so stock pile those too when you see good deals.
I remember measuring both at the time, the splitter to road clearance is no different between standard and `Cup` versions. Since fitting mine it has been grounded twice without damage, after each time I have tightened the rivets and pressed the double-sided tape back just in case.
I work on the following theory... If you take a big scrape whilst travelling forwards the splitter deforms and does its job, but this pulls the tape and rivets away from the PU creating a tiny gap. Then when you travel at speed the air is forced into (and through) this tiny gap, until it eventually parts company with the PU enough to fold under the car and it gets ripped off.
Nick, your solution using self tappers has been debated many times and it clearly works for you. For me the solution is to be mindful of the purpose of the spitter and take reasonable steps to be selective about my route and driving style. I know that you use your fine machine in the spirit that this was intended and a splitter becomes just another consumable item.
In closing, to the OP... Just stock pile spare splitters, buy them as when you can in both Cup and standard form. I picked up another standard new and unused one in the classified on here for £75 delivered last week which is roughly half price.
Just enjoy your car, your `consumable` rear tyres will eclipse the cost of splitters all too quickly, so stock pile those too when you see good deals.
On my 997.1 RS about two a year...all from driving into underground parking where I cannot get a sufficient angle to avoid scraping. On my 997.2 RS, zero...I have the life and its a Godsend. The dealer told me that they cannot understand people having these things painted body colour which affectively triples the price for a wearable part.
David Hype said:
Nick, your solution using self tappers has been debated many times and it clearly works for you. For me the solution is to be mindful of the purpose of the spitter and take reasonable steps to be selective about my route and driving style. I know that you use your fine machine in the spirit that this was intended and a splitter becomes just another consumable item.
True, they are a consumable, but when you've lost / run over them on a monthly basis & bought 8 Cup splitters in the first 2 years of ownership, the gag starts wearing a bit thin 
The one on my last car (996 GT3) was the one it came with in 2004 until I parted company with that car last year. It had seen the ground a _lot_ of times, but it never parted company. The one on my 997 already looks in worse shape than that one did, but a geo on Wednesday revealed that the previous owner had for some reason lowered it 8mm without corner weighting it or correcting several other pieces of setup, which explained much. At least a little perplexed that Reading would sell a car so far out of spec, but it still drove better than a stock 996 even set like that. Now that has been rectified - however - it is much, much better... 
Nick - she now turns. Oh yes. I just nope that it is dry enough for my marginal cups on Saturday though
Nick - she now turns. Oh yes. I just nope that it is dry enough for my marginal cups on Saturday though
Edited by DiscoColin on Thursday 5th July 22:34
David Hype said:
Nick, big respect to you for your endurance with this little bit of plastic!
But you are probably the only PH member that could give us a real take on the true worth of said splitter...
It looks nice (Cup version) but at what speed does this splitter make any differernce at all to us?
I don't think there is much of a difference between the "road" & Cup splitters. I use the Cup one because its half the price, no other reason. Seat of the pants feel is that it might give you a bit more positive turn-in / less under-steer in medium and fast corners but it's hard to be sure. What I have found is that without a splitter the car starts to feel a bit floaty at the front end over about 110MPH, even in a straight line. Over 150 you really notice it when its there and at 170+ the car seems nailed to the road. Having an RS rear wing probably accentuates the imbalance when you lose the front splitter.But you are probably the only PH member that could give us a real take on the true worth of said splitter...
It looks nice (Cup version) but at what speed does this splitter make any differernce at all to us?
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