unstable 996 at speed

[andrewdunn]

hello,could any one help,ive not long bought my first 996 carrera 1998,and i am concerned that it is a bit unstable at highish speed,it has 18" turbo wheels fitted,it feels really light on the steering and the steering wheel seems to move on its own from side to side,is this the norm

[italiano]

I've had mine about a month now and this wass the first thing I noticed - the lightness of the steering at speed.

I find a featherlight touch does the trick....fairly sure there's nothing wrong with mine - just highly sensitive.

How long have you had yours?

[andrewdunn]

hello mate,ive only had it about 2 month,i love the car ,but i owned a audi tt before ,and that was like a go/kart really steady on the road ,i thought the porsche would be the same,still would not swap back

[DanH]

Get the geometry checked first off. Failing that could be knackered dampers etc.

A proper geo check + setup should be circa 100 quid and you should get a printed report of before and after. (unless its an old school place that does it with string etc

Also check tyre pressures.

>> Edited by DanH on Wednesday 22 June 00:42

[willr]

It's quite a common experience to think the 911 feels light at the frontend - particularly 2 wheel drive versions. If you've got the sports suspension and larger wheels then you're bound to notice some tramlining.

Another thing to check is the tyres - same type all round, and correct inflation?

[sundeep]

DanH said:

Get the geometry checked first off. Failing that could be knackered dampers etc. A proper geo check + setup should be circa 100 quid and you should get a printed report of before and after. (unless its an old school place that does it with string etc Also check tyre pressures. >> Edited by DanH on Wednesday 22 June 00:42

I would agree....

[big.bad.wolfie]

Check tyre pressures, sounds like they are too inflated, with the temperatures on the roads at the moment, they'll easily be up 4 psi on the standard.

Get the geometry checked, even if the tyre pressures sort the problem out, it's piece of mind!

Damian

[DanH]

zb4523 said:

i have had the same problem with mine its a 02 model 2wheeled drive,i think its the tyers ive got p-zero rossos on with the correct n4s.the tyers seem to move around the rim too much,they shouldnt but they do.geometry is fine and the cars only done 14k so it cant be the shocks.i had this problem before i put pilot sports on back then and it sorted it.they seem to have harder tyer walls and that gets rid of that floating feeling u get,that makes it impossible to drive at high speed without shitting yourself.my tyers are brand new so before i throw 800 guid on pilots, let me know if my opinion is wrong and it could be something else,cos i respect more the opinion of this forum than any opc thanks

Shocks can leak at 14k on a sports car! I speak from experience.

[rich 36]

Even an old 80's model, is a bit 'flighty' at anything around 100, do you run it low, on fuel /weight,
in the front out of interest ?

[DanH]

Go have a test drive of another at a dealer?

Are you used to driving sports cars with steering feel, or audi/mercs which remove most of it?

[big.bad.wolfie]

I think you'll find that those rears are too big for a standard 996 C2 geometry, get the setup looked at, the toe-in could be completely out.

[granville]

DanH said:

Go have a test drive of another at a dealer? Are you used to driving sports cars with steering feel, or audi/mercs which remove most of it?

I thought this: I've often found the most humdrum cars (and other commercial vehicles, come to think of it) have utterly rock solid steering at urban/motorway type speeds in comparison to 'real' sporty numbers.

I know it's archaic compared to your 996 but I was tootling along in my old 993 yesterday and after the Beemer it felt like a mechanised grasshopper: innate sense of instability, fidgety at the wheel and all sorts of coupling and driveshaft related shunting, grappling and general harshness.

Indeed, I find my (993) 911 to be a pretty hopeless 'cruiser' by any standard; a veritable non-GT car, it only makes any sense when driving at reasonably colossal, raw speed or when driving to the admittedly pitiful limits of my own talents in Sheepland.

Which is perfectly acceptable because I long since gave up on driving the damn thing with anything other than a blatent and fully formed belligerance towards the blanket of socialist botty constriction currently smothering the last remanants of free range Albionistadors.

Having said all that, I had been led to believe the 996 had had this trait largely dialled out (the 997 even more so?)

[aceparts_com]

This is the first or DER's posts that i've ever understood and have to agree; my 993tt does not like cruising. It is much easeier to drive fast than to cruise along. I had my suspension set up at PARR yesterday - it was way out but car still wanders around and does pretty much its own thing at lowish speeds. It's just not like a 'normal modern' car where you can drive along over any surface, any camber and not tell the difference.
My advice would be to do a track or road day with an instructor.
When I first got my dick I was convinced the suspension was at fault, turns out it was the nut behind the wheel at fault!

[simon996]

my '02 C4 is the same - especially on bad surfaces. once you get it on a track or on some decent surface abroad the problem pretty much goes away.

i've had the geometry checked and it was a bit out but nothing major - i also have new tyres (p zero corsa) - but that made no difference.

i'd be happy to hear if there is anything that can be done or if we just have to live with it. the car drives like a dream otherwise so it's a shame to have that fault - anyone ony more advice...?

[aceparts_com]

A good way of looking at it is that you're only scratching the car's performance envelope. The wider and lower profile the tyre, the more jittery the steering will be at any given speed compared to a narrower/higher profile one.

[aceparts_com]

Another thing my car does; always drifts to the left. I've put it down to following the camber of the road?

[DanH]

aceparts_com said:

Another thing my car does; always drifts to the left. I've put it down to following the camber of the road?

Almost certainly that. Even my Elise used to do that, and its tyres weren't that fat.

[DanH]

Why not go to a specialist such as JZM or Parr to discuss setup. In all honesty I don't think many staff at the OPC know much about it.

I don't see a roll bar having much impact on directional stability. Its more to stop roll into corners, and can lead to a degree of turn in understeer.

FWIW I drove a GT3 for the first time yesterday and it really felt pretty stable to me. The roads were relatively good for UK tarmac (Porsche West London area), but I didn't notice any particular nervousness.

Or ask for a test drive in another model to see if it feels different.

Do you have non standard massive allows with extra wide tyres etc? This would affect things.

[gfreeman]

There's something not quite right here cos my old 99 996 C4 with sports suspenders was the most planted well behaved car I have ever driven - from 0mph up past 160 odd.

She could soak up bad roads with SO2's or Mich pilots or Pirelli rosso's.

The 996 was designed to attract ex Jag customers wasn't it?

Suggest you take it to a decent independant and get some good advice, and maybe get someone who knows the cars to take it for a tootle....