There's nothing radical about the design of the 968's suspension, but it is very well thought out and resolved. At the front are MacPherson struts, lightweight lower arm and anti-roll bar. For the rear, it's a little more complex with light alloy semi trailing arms, transverse torsion bars, telescopic dampers and an anti-roll bar.
For the Club Sport and Sport models, Porsche lowered the suspension by 20mm all round and fitted stiffer springs along with adjustable Koni dampers.
Whichever 968 you choose, the suspension is hardwearing and should not cause any headaches or big bills. The aluminium lower front A-arms can crack, but replacements are about £160 per side and well within the scope of a competent DIY mechanic to fit. You should replace the ball joints at the same time. Rear suspension arms can rust, particularly on cars that have been left standing for a long time. While looking here, check the whole of the underside for rust.
You should be able to spot a car with worn or tired suspension by the way it drives. The 968 has a well-earned reputation for the balance of its handling and excellent steering feel. If the car feels at all snappy or slow to react to your inputs, new suspension, bushes and a geometry check will transform it. For track day use, upgrading to the likes of Gaz Gold dampers and solid top mounts will further improve the handing.
The hydraulically assisted power steering is very unlikely to pose any problems, so just check underneath where the car has been parked for signs of leaks. Unlike the earlier 924 with its notorious steering rack seeping, the 968 shouldn't drop any fluid. The steering is one of the stand-out features of this car, so any one you try that wanders or feels vague should be avoided.
Servo-assisted brakes come with 297mm ventilated front discs and 300mm rears. All four discs have four-piston calipers and every 968 has ABS anti-lock brakes as standard. Like the handling, the brakes are very good as standard, but uprated pads are available if you want to take it on track days.
You should inspect the brakes thoroughly as the aluminium calipers corrode and let the stainless steel plates that separate the caliper from the pads come apart. If the car you drive has binding brakes, this is the likely cause and will require new calipers or a complete rebuild. The good news is a rebuild kit is only about £30 per caliper and should take about two hours of labour, but it's another job a home mechanic can tackle easily.
All 968s were fitted with 16-inch Cup alloy wheels from the factory, with the Club Sport available with painted wheels as an option. The fronts were seven inches wide, the rears eight inches. As an option, you could upgrade to 17-inch alloys when new that took the front wheels to 7.5-inches wide and the rears to nine.
PHer's view:
"I ditched the 17-inch wheels and reverted to the standard 16-inch wheels which offer better feel on the road."
Michael Wong