The 997 Appreciation Thread
Discussion
Question for those who have changed their suspension either to address ride height and/or improve the quality of the damping. My car has PASM and has done 70k miles, one of the first things I picked up with it is that with the suspension in soft the body control is not great and with it set to hard the car will bounce down your typical bumpy road. Neither setting is great.
The DSC Sport 4-way PASM controller seems really clever and gets good reviews but it's £1300 (I would need the tilt/G sensor too) for an ECU that would still leave me with 15 year old suspension. I'm not that fussed about being able to have a soft and hard settings, I'd rather just one good passive setting so have been reading on Biltstein/KW/Ohlins but it's a serious investment so thought I'd canvas opinions here.
Part of it is sorting the ride and part of it is addressing the height as even PASM is pretty high. I need to be realistic though as I deal with a lot of speed bumps in London and don't want to scrape every time I encounter a mole hill.
Lots of rave reviews for KW V3 as a decent road focussed setup, realistically though I'm not going to be messing with damper settings regularly so could be overkill versus a well matched fixed setup. Any experience from people that have been through similar.
For ride height, I think this is pretty spot on.
The DSC Sport 4-way PASM controller seems really clever and gets good reviews but it's £1300 (I would need the tilt/G sensor too) for an ECU that would still leave me with 15 year old suspension. I'm not that fussed about being able to have a soft and hard settings, I'd rather just one good passive setting so have been reading on Biltstein/KW/Ohlins but it's a serious investment so thought I'd canvas opinions here.
Part of it is sorting the ride and part of it is addressing the height as even PASM is pretty high. I need to be realistic though as I deal with a lot of speed bumps in London and don't want to scrape every time I encounter a mole hill.
Lots of rave reviews for KW V3 as a decent road focussed setup, realistically though I'm not going to be messing with damper settings regularly so could be overkill versus a well matched fixed setup. Any experience from people that have been through similar.
For ride height, I think this is pretty spot on.
olv said:
Question for those who have changed their suspension either to address ride height and/or improve the quality of the damping. My car has PASM and has done 70k miles, one of the first things I picked up with it is that with the suspension in soft the body control is not great and with it set to hard the car will bounce down your typical bumpy road. Neither setting is great.
The DSC Sport 4-way PASM controller seems really clever and gets good reviews but it's £1300 (I would need the tilt/G sensor too) for an ECU that would still leave me with 15 year old suspension. I'm not that fussed about being able to have a soft and hard settings, I'd rather just one good passive setting so have been reading on Biltstein/KW/Ohlins but it's a serious investment so thought I'd canvas opinions here.
Part of it is sorting the ride and part of it is addressing the height as even PASM is pretty high. I need to be realistic though as I deal with a lot of speed bumps in London and don't want to scrape every time I encounter a mole hill.
Lots of rave reviews for KW V3 as a decent road focussed setup, realistically though I'm not going to be messing with damper settings regularly so could be overkill versus a well matched fixed setup. Any experience from people that have been through similar.
My C4S is also on ~70k miles, I did all 4x with Bilstein B4 Damptronics last year. I too had wondered about the various options but ultimately decided in favour of the factory setup, somewhat reluctantly as I am not that keen on PASM (the sport setting is just rubbish and too bouncy for me 99% of the time). My decision was driven partly by cost but also by the fact that all the other setups seemed to require more time and effort input than I care for - I'm happy just to get in and drive, I do no track work.The DSC Sport 4-way PASM controller seems really clever and gets good reviews but it's £1300 (I would need the tilt/G sensor too) for an ECU that would still leave me with 15 year old suspension. I'm not that fussed about being able to have a soft and hard settings, I'd rather just one good passive setting so have been reading on Biltstein/KW/Ohlins but it's a serious investment so thought I'd canvas opinions here.
Part of it is sorting the ride and part of it is addressing the height as even PASM is pretty high. I need to be realistic though as I deal with a lot of speed bumps in London and don't want to scrape every time I encounter a mole hill.
Lots of rave reviews for KW V3 as a decent road focussed setup, realistically though I'm not going to be messing with damper settings regularly so could be overkill versus a well matched fixed setup. Any experience from people that have been through similar.
My favourite option would have been a full passive setup, but I was reluctant to delete factory functionality / spec in case I ever sell the car.
The next step ££ will be arms and bushings, only after that's done and I know the chassis is pretty much like new would I consider the DSC setup.
Btw, changing the 4x shocks I notived relatively small improvement, car is marginally tighter and smoother, but not by as much as I had thought. Same with doing the engine mounts a couple of months ago. Lesson for me is, don't get carried away thinking everything is necessarily "past its best by date".
RiccardoG said:
My C4S is also on ~70k miles, I did all 4x with Bilstein B4 Damptronics last year. I too had wondered about the various options but ultimately decided in favour of the factory setup, somewhat reluctantly as I am not that keen on PASM (the sport setting is just rubbish and too bouncy for me 99% of the time). My decision was driven partly by cost but also by the fact that all the other setups seemed to require more time and effort input than I care for - I'm happy just to get in and drive, I do no track work.
My favourite option would have been a full passive setup, but I was reluctant to delete factory functionality / spec in case I ever sell the car.
The next step ££ will be arms and bushings, only after that's done and I know the chassis is pretty much like new would I consider the DSC setup.
Btw, changing the 4x shocks I notived relatively small improvement, car is marginally tighter and smoother, but not by as much as I had thought. Same with doing the engine mounts a couple of months ago. Lesson for me is, don't get carried away thinking everything is necessarily "past its best by date".
Thanks for sharing, you echo a lot of my own trains of thought! I don't do a lot of miles <5k year so sinking £3k+ on KWs + all the setup is a big chunk of change. I do like the odd track day but haven't been in the 997 yet.My favourite option would have been a full passive setup, but I was reluctant to delete factory functionality / spec in case I ever sell the car.
The next step ££ will be arms and bushings, only after that's done and I know the chassis is pretty much like new would I consider the DSC setup.
Btw, changing the 4x shocks I notived relatively small improvement, car is marginally tighter and smoother, but not by as much as I had thought. Same with doing the engine mounts a couple of months ago. Lesson for me is, don't get carried away thinking everything is necessarily "past its best by date".
I've just replaced discs, pads all round and fluid along with an oil service and it's feeling in fine fettle and fun to stretch its legs properly. Just can't help but feel there's so much potential to be unlocked by sorting out the damping.
Very tempted to do mint green. To stay black with GT2 aero is £30k all in. To go mint green £50k.
Then you can even have carbon or steel roof, carbon rear quarter panels. carbon bonnet, carbon front wings, rear seat delete. £30k
Lastly when needed throw a set of rods and headstuds, pin coolant lines, 9ff awd delete circa £25k
You can buy a 997 GT3 for similar money is the issue but man maths says I don't go to the track enough to buy a GT3
Then you can even have carbon or steel roof, carbon rear quarter panels. carbon bonnet, carbon front wings, rear seat delete. £30k
Lastly when needed throw a set of rods and headstuds, pin coolant lines, 9ff awd delete circa £25k
You can buy a 997 GT3 for similar money is the issue but man maths says I don't go to the track enough to buy a GT3
olv said:
Thanks for sharing, you echo a lot of my own trains of thought! I don't do a lot of miles <5k year so sinking £3k+ on KWs + all the setup is a big chunk of change. I do like the odd track day but haven't been in the 997 yet.
I've just replaced discs, pads all round and fluid along with an oil service and it's feeling in fine fettle and fun to stretch its legs properly. Just can't help but feel there's so much potential to be unlocked by sorting out the damping.
Can I suggest that you talk to Centre Gravity about the car and set up and get their advice. I took my car to them recently and they have transformed the whole feel of the car with just a geo. We discussed how I wanted the car to feel and handle and they have got it spot on. Before it was vague, understeered and felt very GT car like and in perfect factory specs for alignment. Now it is tight, rides differently, has no understeer and feels like a sharp sports car. I've just replaced discs, pads all round and fluid along with an oil service and it's feeling in fine fettle and fun to stretch its legs properly. Just can't help but feel there's so much potential to be unlocked by sorting out the damping.
Might be worth a call to them as they can do shocks and set up as well so if the current ones are past their best they can offer that solution as well.
I found them really friendly and helpful from enquiry and discussion to doing the work so I’m sure they’d give an honest appraisal from their experience of 911’s.
Shiverman said:
Can I suggest that you talk to Centre Gravity about the car and set up and get their advice. I took my car to them recently and they have transformed the whole feel of the car with just a geo. We discussed how I wanted the car to feel and handle and they have got it spot on. Before it was vague, understeered and felt very GT car like and in perfect factory specs for alignment. Now it is tight, rides differently, has no understeer and feels like a sharp sports car.
Might be worth a call to them as they can do shocks and set up as well so if the current ones are past their best they can offer that solution as well.
I found them really friendly and helpful from enquiry and discussion to doing the work so I’m sure they’d give an honest appraisal from their experience of 911’s.
+1 ^Might be worth a call to them as they can do shocks and set up as well so if the current ones are past their best they can offer that solution as well.
I found them really friendly and helpful from enquiry and discussion to doing the work so I’m sure they’d give an honest appraisal from their experience of 911’s.
Chris or Pete at Center Gravity are THE Porsche handling guys to speak to 01827 718800.
Based in Atherstone CV9 2GA
Full Geo will be around £300.
They will ask what you want the car to do, what type of roads you normally drive. Followed by a test drive & report.
Had my 997.2 Cab done last November. They replaced rear coffin arms and full Geo.
Car now corners like its on rails.
Reputation means people travel from all over the UK and there is usually a 6 week wait.
But they keep good stock of Porsche spares so if your car needs parts they can usually fit you in.
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