SEAFORE

It seems to be common knowledge and practice to add a stiffer rear sway bar to our 996TT by way of GT3 sway or H&R. (I have neither completed this mod, nor do I have experience with before or after-so I have no pre-conceived notions .....yet.). I believe the 'obvious' expectation of this mod is to reduce understeer. It also seems clear that coilovers/lowering and the associated linkages and alignment are typically part of the 'right' base package.

Now to my point: Some feel that adding a sway bar will only reduce rear end grip, transferring more the to front, and presto..less understeer. But we don't want to lessen the rear grip! This line of thought directs us to other options to increase front grip, rather than adding a rear sway (pressures, tire size,..).

I honestly feel from the number of rear sway recommendations that this is a mod proven through experience to improve the handling of the 996TT.

For the experts..
-Does the rear sway create a better 'balance' of traction which provides less understeer?
-Other options to increase front grip are not sufficient to control understeer?
-A different reason for adding rear sways?

Comments or corrections welcome-just trying to understand..

Carlo_Carrera

I upgraded both front and rear sway bars with H&Rs. Both are fully adjustable. You can tune the handling to likening that way. Porsche builds in a ton of understeer into the 996TT. The adjustable bars just bring the car back to a more neutral and natural balance.

I also added more negative camber to the front wheels to gain more front grip.

Lastly I found a set of aftermarket Turbo Twist look a like that are high quality and light weight. The front widths are a half inch wider than stock while the rears are the same. The extra front wheel width lets me run a slight wider front tire than stock also improving front grip.

DSCOFF

I'm considering the adjustable H&Rs as well, how do they compare two the OEM GT3 sways?

Carlo_Carrera

I believe with the OEM GT3 bars only the rear is adjustable so that limits your set up possibilities.

The only draw back to the H&Rs is that they are very beefy and thus a little heavier.

There is another company out there that makes a fully adjustable front and rear set that is hollow and lighter than the H&Rs but they are far more expensive. If you do a little searching you can find them.

oMenRC51

+1 for GT3 sway bars and rear bump steer kit.

I after installing all of my suspension components and having an alignment and corner balance, I was very pleased on the track. This is the way the car should of been set up from the beginning. I also feel that way about the GT2 clutch slave conversion and dual mass FW.

Just do it, it's only money.

powdrhound

The H&R rear sway is 3 way adjustable and very heavy compared to the 4 way adjustable OEM GT3 sway. 9lb14oz compared to 3lb08oz. The H&R sway is solid, the GT3 is hollow. The H&R bar is very very beefy and I would not recommend running it with the stock TT front bar. It is much stiffer than the GT3 or stock TT bar and will give you a lot of oversteer even when set on the softest setting. My experience running the H&R rear sway is that it takes away from rear end grip. If you're just going to change out the rear bar and run the stock front, then the GT3 rear bar is the way to go in my opinion.

With that said, I am now running both the front and rear OEM GT3 bars and really like the set up. The front is 5 way adjustable and the rear is 4 way. The front GT3 bar is also hollow and HUGE compared to the stock TT bar. The stock TT bar is a noodle compared to the GT3 bar. The caveat though is the fact that the front GT3 bar only works if you have the FWD system removed otherwise you have clearance issues with the front axles. I run the front bar in the middle and the rear bar one hole from full soft. Combined with my spring and shock set up, this sets my car up towards understeer and allows me to carry more speed and trail brake aggressively deep into turns without the rear end feeling too loose.

powdrhound

The front OEM GT3 bar is 5 way adjustable, rear is 4 way. Porsche got it right with these bars. They're pricey but worth it...

Carlo_Carrera

Thanks for clearing that up and reminding me of the clearance issue with the front GT3 bar on an AWD TT thus you are stuck with non-adjustable stock front TT bar.

I am very happy with H&R adjustable bars front and rear on my AWD TT.

TurboTodd

I run GMG front and rear. Both are adjustable with no clearance issues.
I can not compare to others but huge improvement over stock.

http://www.gmgracing.com/store/index...l-bar-set.html

Carlo_Carrera

The GMGs are very good bars. They are hollow and thus lighter than the H&Rs but also not quite as stiff but still very very good bars.

SEAFORE

Thanks for the comments gentlemen, this helps me flush out my next plans. I will be installing H&R RSS coil overs, try that change and then move to sways next.

I thought I was good just adding the rear H&R sway+toe links, but from the comments above that may give to much oversteer even at the loose setting? I may try the rear sway after testing the coil over changes first since I already purchased.

Still looking for someone who have installed H&R RSS for any suggestions of install or best settings...

powdrhound

I ran the regular H&R coilovers. Great for the street but soft for the track. The RSS kit should be better. The spring split is pretty large though, about 600 lb difference front to rear if I recall correctly. This will give you a good bit of oversteer in itself. I would not do the H&R rear bar with the stock front bar. I run 700/800 rates and like a much smaller front to rear split. You can't go wrong with the rear GT3 4 way bar if you are going to keep the TT front bar.

Nikon FM

My next adjustment was going towards GT3 sway bars....thanks SEAFORE for asking the question.

Anyone play with simple coilover damping differences between front and rear to minimize understeer?

puma

Anyone knows what kind of swaybar support you need to use the rear GT3 bar? I just wanted to install mine and the GT3 is smaller than the stock one, should i buy GT3 bushings?

Carlo_Carrera

Yes you will need matching GT3 bushings for the GT3 bar. I am not sure how Porsche does it but the after market bar makers supply the correct bushings with their bars.

You should also consider swapping both front and rear with GMGs or H&Rs. Having adjustability both front and rear is very handy.