Discussion
Looking for advice here please.
My Mk.1 GT3 has covered only 7000 miles since manufacture in 2000. It has never been tracked.
Lately I've become aware that the car feels ever more "skittish/nervous" under normal driving conditions and the "tramlining " effect seems worse than it has ever been.|The tyres , Pirelli Assimetricos have covered around 2500 miles and appear as new.
My previous 911 was a 993 Carrera 4.I believe that 993's are notorious for wheels going out of alignment. The handling issues with my 993 were indeed cured by alignment at the OPC in Exeter.
Does anyone know if GT3's suffer the same alignment problems. If so how often do they need "setting up ?"
>> Edited by runner911 on Tuesday 25th April 09:18
My Mk.1 GT3 has covered only 7000 miles since manufacture in 2000. It has never been tracked.
Lately I've become aware that the car feels ever more "skittish/nervous" under normal driving conditions and the "tramlining " effect seems worse than it has ever been.|The tyres , Pirelli Assimetricos have covered around 2500 miles and appear as new.
My previous 911 was a 993 Carrera 4.I believe that 993's are notorious for wheels going out of alignment. The handling issues with my 993 were indeed cured by alignment at the OPC in Exeter.
Does anyone know if GT3's suffer the same alignment problems. If so how often do they need "setting up ?"
>> Edited by runner911 on Tuesday 25th April 09:18
runner911 said:
Lately I've become aware that the car feels ever more "nervous" under normal driving conditions
I'm hoping this isn't a joke
I'm told that you have to check the tyre pressures on the gt3 very regularly as a small variation can make a huge difference. when was the last time you checked?
have you been using it a lot on the roads? if so, is the road quality poor there? maybe your tracking has been knocked out of alignment. i suspect that most cars would have some 'give' in them to absorb this kind of energy, but i wouldnt mind guessing that nearly all 'crashes' and bumps go some way to affecting the geometry on a car as rigid and unforgiving as that.
runner911 said:
Looking for advice here please.
My Mk.1 GT3 has covered only 7000 miles since manufacture in 2000. It has never been tracked.
Lately I've become aware that the car feels ever more "skittish/nervous" under normal driving conditions and the "tramlining " effect seems worse than it has ever been.|The tyres , Pirelli Assimetricos have covered around 2500 miles and appear as new.
My previous 911 was a 993 Carrera 4.I believe that 993's are notorious for wheels going out of alignment. The handling issues with my 993 were indeed cured by alignment at the OPC in Exeter.
Does anyone know if GT3's suffer the same alignment problems. If so how often do they need "setting up ?"
>> Edited by runner911 on Tuesday 25th April 09:18
Only thing i can think of is geometry...
as an outside thought, if you've only covered that kind of mileage since 2000 are you still on the original tyres ??, maybe
they may have been efected by standing in the same postion for a long time ??, or even started to perish ??
Just a thought.
G.
Tony - the System Assimetricos have a tendancy to tramline more than some other tyres... but they are an excellent road tyre for the GT3 in my experience (and certainly better than the Rossos). 7k road miles can easily get your geo out of alignment if it hasn't been checked since the start.
Back to the original post......
You cars geo is set using eccentric fixings and running on UK roads with the normal potholes etc will tend to knock things around a bit. The US websites are awash with various mods to replace these with rose jointed adjustables as the eccentrics are prone to movement.
You should get the geometry set as a minimum once a year and if your roads are particularly poor, maybe more.
You are aware by the look of it that your car is very sensitive to tyre choice and pressure settings. For the road I have used Bridgestone SO2's, Dunlop SSSr's and Mich Cups - all have been fine with the correct alignment - as for pressures I am running 4psi over recommended because I am running the Parr 2 set-up so am trying to minimise inside edge wear. The pressure adjustments have had no ill effects on the road handling.
You cars geo is set using eccentric fixings and running on UK roads with the normal potholes etc will tend to knock things around a bit. The US websites are awash with various mods to replace these with rose jointed adjustables as the eccentrics are prone to movement.
You should get the geometry set as a minimum once a year and if your roads are particularly poor, maybe more.
You are aware by the look of it that your car is very sensitive to tyre choice and pressure settings. For the road I have used Bridgestone SO2's, Dunlop SSSr's and Mich Cups - all have been fine with the correct alignment - as for pressures I am running 4psi over recommended because I am running the Parr 2 set-up so am trying to minimise inside edge wear. The pressure adjustments have had no ill effects on the road handling.
I think you will find this may be a problem of UK roads. I have a similar problem when the tyres are cold and I am driving normally, i.e. not aggressive. But every time I drive in Europe (which is a lot) I get no problems at all. Something to do with the poor quality of uk's roads maybe?. Of course you may have a set-up problem, but it might be worth trying it out on a good road and see if there is any difference in the feel.
>> Edited by riverproaudio on Tuesday 25th April 16:42
>> Edited by riverproaudio on Tuesday 25th April 16:42
but I would prefer to use a specialist with tried and tested road settings specifically for the GT3. Natch I am referring to the usual suspects Parr and JZM.Apologies for the long post in advance !
Runner911/Nervous, I picked my car up 10 days ago and drove back from S. London to N. Wales. By the time I got back I was exhausted. Anyone following me up the M40 would have thought I was p
d ! The car was horribly nervous and fidgety, it also tramlined and was nearly impossible to keep in a straight line.
I ended up steering it with three fingertips cos it was so sensitive to steering inputs.
When I picked the car up it had brand new Pirrelli Rossos on the back that hadn't turned a single revolution.
I found the car a real handful and thought I'd made a massive mistake in purchasing it
I checked the pressures when they were cold the morning after collecting the car and found the N/S/R was running at 41psi and the other side was spot on at 37 psi (Runner911 I'm not sure where you get your TP figures from ? my handbook says 32 front cold and 37 rear cold )I'd suggest you set your rear pressures to these figures and see what the results are ?
Whilst checking the front tyres I noticed they were Pirellis but not N Rated
Correcting the rear pressures and getting some miles on the back tyres has improved the car noticeably.
Last Friday I had the front tyres replaced with the correct N rated versions. The tyre fitter originally put what he thought was 35 psi in them.
The car was vastly improved and a lot less fidgety.
I rechecked the tyre pressures the following day and found them to actually be 33psi.
I've decreased the pressure 1psi and the front of the car feels nicely planted now.
As has been previously mentioned, the car does seem to very critical to running the correct tyre pressures.
I went out for some "spirited" driving on what IMHO are some of the best driving roads in the UK, with a crowd off the Rennlist Forum at the weekend (thanks for a most entertaining afternoon gents) having spent a total of 9 hours in the seat over two days, I think I'm starting to "understand" the car a bit better now. I can only say I think I made the right choice when choosing between the GT3 and the GT2. Now I've started to bond with the GT3 I think it is a superb piece of kit !
My car is booked in for a geometry set up at JZM next week. Steve McHale says the car should be hands off at 90mph and should track straight without fidgeting or wandering at that speed when set up correctly.
I look forward to driving it once the geometry has been adjusted.
Whilst mines not a GT3, I've had a similar experience.
Picked the car up and found myself struggling to keep it within the white lines. Next day I checked the tyre pressures, one of the fronts was 2psi over.
Was then a different car, 'hands off' at, ahem, speeds I wouldn't go into on here.
Picked the car up and found myself struggling to keep it within the white lines. Next day I checked the tyre pressures, one of the fronts was 2psi over.
Was then a different car, 'hands off' at, ahem, speeds I wouldn't go into on here.
Hi Guys, new to this forum and I really should be in bed but regularly read what you guys are discussing!
Having owned a GT3 Mk1 for 16 months now I thought it about time I joined in on this thread as I have just finally got my car set up how I wanted it from the start . Bought it from an OPC (Swindon) and have only done 4k miles in that time as it's a very low mileage and I'm a bit anal about using it and keeping it clean etc. Sacrilege I know but it's my pride and joy. Guards Red, Comfort Black Leather buckets, 14,000 miles and totally pampered. For most of last year it just pulled to the left to the point that a lack of concentration meant you'd be running towards hedges etc. After 4 trips to Porsche Solihull (who I do actually rate, as their cust service is pretty good and they do try to listen to me)...and they're my nearest...they still couldn't get it right. It improved tracking wise but more alarmingly throughout the year it started to handle more like a speedboat with hideous understeer and nervous brakes on uneven surfaces. Several times I questioned the ride height. Having spent £2k on brand new original wheels and tyres (Rosso N4) from Porsche Sutton who did me a deal as I thought I may have some problems with bent alloys etc., I started to get fed up and refused to take the car back until it was right.
Finally on my insistence they phone PCGB for ride heights and found mine was 15mm too low at the back, they reckon it had just 'relaxed' over time. Returned fully complete (total bills added up to £560 after negotiation!) and it's transformed. Understeer completely gone, can take hands off wheel at any speed and it just holds true. All the fidgety front end problems cured and the brakes bite longer now before the ABS fires. It all seemed to be in the weight transfer due to ride height. I'm so pleased with the transformation, I've actually used the car daily for the past couple of weeks just to go to work and back I'm enjoying it again.
Anyway, hope that helps and whilst I'm on, anyone had any problems with their air temp sensor on the airbox? Car seems to be hesitant (always has been a little bit) with it plugged in but runs pefectly smooth when unplugged! Dealer says it's due to battery being flat over winter months (several times) and will settle down after a 30 minute run while ECU samples data and decides nominal values? That was a couple of hundred miles ago, so guess that theory's out the window. I did try fitting the Cup Filter over the winter but it was faintly ridiculous it was so harsh and actually forgot to replace sensor plug for 20 miles or so after putting standard airbox back on! Had same problem then on mild days. Got dealer to reset ECU since then though but problem is back. It's not so bad it spoils the experience but coming on and off full throttle there's a hesitancy at 3/4 throttle so you can't feed the power on or off smoothly.
Right, off to bed. I guess averyone's first post is an epic (I hope). Forgive me if it's boring, I guess I'll get used to it over time, but thanks for listening.
Having owned a GT3 Mk1 for 16 months now I thought it about time I joined in on this thread as I have just finally got my car set up how I wanted it from the start . Bought it from an OPC (Swindon) and have only done 4k miles in that time as it's a very low mileage and I'm a bit anal about using it and keeping it clean etc. Sacrilege I know but it's my pride and joy. Guards Red, Comfort Black Leather buckets, 14,000 miles and totally pampered. For most of last year it just pulled to the left to the point that a lack of concentration meant you'd be running towards hedges etc. After 4 trips to Porsche Solihull (who I do actually rate, as their cust service is pretty good and they do try to listen to me)...and they're my nearest...they still couldn't get it right. It improved tracking wise but more alarmingly throughout the year it started to handle more like a speedboat with hideous understeer and nervous brakes on uneven surfaces. Several times I questioned the ride height. Having spent £2k on brand new original wheels and tyres (Rosso N4) from Porsche Sutton who did me a deal as I thought I may have some problems with bent alloys etc., I started to get fed up and refused to take the car back until it was right.
Finally on my insistence they phone PCGB for ride heights and found mine was 15mm too low at the back, they reckon it had just 'relaxed' over time. Returned fully complete (total bills added up to £560 after negotiation!) and it's transformed. Understeer completely gone, can take hands off wheel at any speed and it just holds true. All the fidgety front end problems cured and the brakes bite longer now before the ABS fires. It all seemed to be in the weight transfer due to ride height. I'm so pleased with the transformation, I've actually used the car daily for the past couple of weeks just to go to work and back I'm enjoying it again.
Anyway, hope that helps and whilst I'm on, anyone had any problems with their air temp sensor on the airbox? Car seems to be hesitant (always has been a little bit) with it plugged in but runs pefectly smooth when unplugged! Dealer says it's due to battery being flat over winter months (several times) and will settle down after a 30 minute run while ECU samples data and decides nominal values? That was a couple of hundred miles ago, so guess that theory's out the window. I did try fitting the Cup Filter over the winter but it was faintly ridiculous it was so harsh and actually forgot to replace sensor plug for 20 miles or so after putting standard airbox back on! Had same problem then on mild days. Got dealer to reset ECU since then though but problem is back. It's not so bad it spoils the experience but coming on and off full throttle there's a hesitancy at 3/4 throttle so you can't feed the power on or off smoothly.
Right, off to bed. I guess averyone's first post is an epic (I hope). Forgive me if it's boring, I guess I'll get used to it over time, but thanks for listening.
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