How to soften ride on 996

[jonny996]

Thre will be a lot of gasps & tut tuts before I read the replys but here goes.

I have a 996 & use it every day, now if missies was to have another young one, how would you soften the ride on your 996 to reduce baby shake, she has a nice audi to take them around in most of the time but as a working couple the baby would have to be in 996 some times, I have the airbag deactivator.

Buying another car is out of the question, i Aint owning a 996 & transporting my family in a old banger. so it drive a softened 996 or dont drive a porsche at all. I think most off us would go for the softened option. I am looking for cheap solutions, IE getting new springs ect is a no no.

I have 2 ideas initially, your comments are awaited, 1) swap 18" turbo2's for 17" or even16" & 2) put a pillow betwen baby carrier & seat.

[domster]

jonny996 said:

Buying another car is out of the question, i Aint owning a 996 & transporting my family in a old banger. so it drive a softened 996 or dont drive a porsche at all. I think most off us would go for the softened option. I am looking for cheap solutions, IE getting new springs ect is a no no.

I have 2 ideas initially, your comments are awaited, 1) swap 18" turbo2's for 17" or even16" & 2) put a pillow betwen baby carrier & seat.

Don't think you'd get caliper clearance with 16s. The 17s would be a good first step, but not a cheap solution unless you do a swap/sell your old wheels. This could then effect future value.

Springs are cheap (you'll get a set for 200GBP) but whether this is the answer is another matter. Only way to sort it would be new dampers as well; then you could set them to be soft, but most dampers are harder than standard even on their softest settings.

It can be dangerous turning your car into a lardbucket if not done professionally, as handling can be seriously affected. And the tyres may only make a small difference. I'd cushion the seat more; 996s in stock form don't ride badly. Are you sure your existing dampers aren't knackered etc.?

[paracetamol]

does it have the M030 suspension? Have you tried lowering the tyre pressures by a couple of PSI. Mine rode much better after I did this. I think the Porsche quoted ones assume you hammer domn the autobahn at mad speeds...

[Pickled Piper]

Agree with paracetomol above. Drop your tyre pressures, this will increase the vertical absorption of the tyres considerably. 2psi is quite a lot, try dropping them 1/2 psi at a time.

[domster]

It won't make so much difference on low profile 18s... the sidewalls contribute to a lot of the stiffness. Doing this on 17s would be more effective.

[Mogulboy]

As mentioned above, check if your car has the M030 sports suspension already fitted. If it has, try and bag a test drive in another 996 that has the regular set up (but also pay attention to the tyres that are fitted to the test car).

It might becost effective option to switch back to the regular ie. non-sportchassis setup. I specced my Boxster with the regular setup for daily-driving comfort and I'm very happy with my choice, but ackowledge that it could be stiffer when I take it on a once-per-year track-outing...

Regarding tyres... I find that worn tyres, especially rears are very noisy which can be tiring on long journeys. After fitting brand new tyres, it can transform the feel/comfort but perhaps the largemovements / babyshake / crashing and banging that you sometimes get will me more down to the suspension travel / stiffness and less to do with the compliance in the tyres (treadblock squirm + sidewalls).

Try changing your tyres when they get to 4mm (as Porsche reccomend for anti-acquaplaning reasons primarily) instead of letting them get down to the legal limit (1.6mm)

Cheers!

Edited by Mogulboy on Thursday 17th August 11:19