Driving a 996 GT3 RS with upgrades
Discussion
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Interesting read, always wanted one but never got around to actually getting it...Am quite curious though, how much do you think the fancy damper setup contributed to your very positive driving experience? A set of very good dampers properly setup can and does do wonders for what a car is capable of and would make the 6rs possibly quite different to drive from the standard car.
The standard damping and spring rates are if anything too soft. To be honest, it doesnt need changing for the road at all. If you are tracking, you will need something stiffer with better control. All you need is a decent set up. There are lots to chose from these days. When the car was launched we worked hard at developing a number of set ups from blunt road to sharp track. During that time the GT3 was still a relatively new and the RS behaved slightly differently which compounded the problem. The GT3 had only been around for a few years and there were a lot of bad set ups by tuners that had no real experience with them so a lot of finger in the air stuff. Almost every time we were testing somewhere, drivers would ask me to drive thier cars and give some feed back on set up. I would say that the majority were pretty bad. Often I'd help find a balance with the anti roll bars because the set ups were so far off. If you need to change the roll bar settings on a GT3 to find a balance (unless its wet) something is VERY wrong with the initial set up set up as the anti roll bar realtionships were a fundamental. One very well known tuner produced a set up so bad (to remain nameless) that car would jump into oversteer before the apex and you would have to approach it sideways.
With its super high levels of feedback, a bad set up on a 6RS would translate into an unpleasant experience for a driver as the car would be effectively shouting to him or her that something was wrong with the balance. I think that the mistake Porsche made when they launched the car was not offering enough set up data for OPC's who typically worked on a if it's close, it's fine basis. Generally great for most cars but not for something race bred like a 6RS. This was basically a motorsport product offered for sale through an OPC network which - to be fair to them - were not motorsport specialists. The guys at the time who knew exactly how to set up a 6RS (and all GT3's) were the Carera Cup teams who had decent experience setting up the race car chasis. You can't set a race car up to 'within a degree of camber', a half inch of ride height or rake and the 6RS is the same - as are all 6GT3's - but the RS is more sensitive.
These days the set up data is out there and well known. It filered down from the race teams and the road based tuners started to apply decent set ups over time. Drive an 6RS on the road these days with a decent set up and stock suspension and it wil be a sublime experience. It's a shame that some drivers were put off the car during the first year or so after launch because of poorly judged set ups from OPCs or third party tuners. On saying that, the drivers that I met over the years that own them were all smitten - and up until the silly values season - most were tracked so i've probably met a large proprtion of UK owners during thaat time.
With its super high levels of feedback, a bad set up on a 6RS would translate into an unpleasant experience for a driver as the car would be effectively shouting to him or her that something was wrong with the balance. I think that the mistake Porsche made when they launched the car was not offering enough set up data for OPC's who typically worked on a if it's close, it's fine basis. Generally great for most cars but not for something race bred like a 6RS. This was basically a motorsport product offered for sale through an OPC network which - to be fair to them - were not motorsport specialists. The guys at the time who knew exactly how to set up a 6RS (and all GT3's) were the Carera Cup teams who had decent experience setting up the race car chasis. You can't set a race car up to 'within a degree of camber', a half inch of ride height or rake and the 6RS is the same - as are all 6GT3's - but the RS is more sensitive.
These days the set up data is out there and well known. It filered down from the race teams and the road based tuners started to apply decent set ups over time. Drive an 6RS on the road these days with a decent set up and stock suspension and it wil be a sublime experience. It's a shame that some drivers were put off the car during the first year or so after launch because of poorly judged set ups from OPCs or third party tuners. On saying that, the drivers that I met over the years that own them were all smitten - and up until the silly values season - most were tracked so i've probably met a large proprtion of UK owners during thaat time.
Whilst my GT3 was still in warranty I was obliged to use the OPC but it was painfully obvious they didn't have a clue what they were doing when it came to setup.
When the car came out of warranty and I had the freedom to modify, I used a race shop and never looked back. I haven't been to an OPC for 12 years.
When the car came out of warranty and I had the freedom to modify, I used a race shop and never looked back. I haven't been to an OPC for 12 years.
Nice one moose.
Always good when it draws out some extra insight from Mr Rance too.
I'm still hoping you'll get around to tweaking your 997 soon. 
I should have added - and kudos to the owner for the generosity of the drive and for doing what he effing well pleases in making this car how he likes it.
Always good when it draws out some extra insight from Mr Rance too.
I'm still hoping you'll get around to tweaking your 997 soon. I should have added - and kudos to the owner for the generosity of the drive and for doing what he effing well pleases in making this car how he likes it.
Edited by braddo on Wednesday 16th May 21:14
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