So I’ve read multiple threads where various GTS and Spyder owners provide their experience on how the stock suspension is either great or not great on the road vs track depending on their personal experience.

That’s all great, but I’d like to know if anyone has extensive experience with both SPASM and the spyder/gt4 suspension and could compare the two when it comes to damping, suspension travel, and street comfort. Really I’m looking for the relative performance of the two. I just can’t make up my mind between the two and hopefully can get some insight from this group!

Thanks!

 

Any feedback you get will be subjective to that individual person. The best thing to do is do some test drives (when inventory shows up.)

 

I had a 2017 718 Boxster S with SPASM, and recently swapped it for a 718 GT4.

I believe SPASM in the Boxster S is nearly identical to the GTS 4.0, with the only difference I know of being the front sway bar stiffness.

The Boxster S was wonderful. It was firm with respect to body movements but compliant over sharp impacts, and never felt jarring or uncomfortable. Really the perfect street sports car suspension. I kept it in Normal mode on the street, almost all of the time. On Skyline Drive (Highway 35) in the Santa Cruz mountains - it was perfectly controlled and comfortable, and did a great job of absorbing the uneven pavement.

On the track, it performed well but the car at times felt soft and squishy even in Sport mode. Still tons of fun, but you can feel the compliance built-in.

The GT4 is also fantastic, and never uncomfortable in normal driving, but the ride is much firmer and tighter. It is still very smooth, surprisingly so, but you feel every bump and every change in the shape of the road. The Boxster absorbs bumps - the GT4 blunts any harsh impact, but absorbs motion much less. On Skyline, it bounces and skips around a lot. It's still fun, but it's fun in the same sense that turbulence during air travel is fun - you're getting bounced around and you're just rolling with it. Obviously, some people do not consider turbulence during air travel to be fun.

On really rough backroads or city roads that have actual broken pavement, the GT4 is pretty unpleasant. I wouldn't ever drive it in San Francisco.

I don't think I would buy a GT4 or a Spyder in the Bay Area if I were never going to take it to the track. SPASM in the GTS will be just wonderful for a street car, and you can always run it in Sport Mode on the street if you want an even firmer feel. The GT4 is a surprisingly comfortable experience of driving a track car on the street - but you're always aware that's what you're doing.

 

The pilot in me loves the turbulence analogy.

Off topic: When I first starting taking flying lessons (looong time ago) I would have to stop my lessons early because of turbulence, now when I fly I am kinda disappointed on days when the air is too smooth as I want more of a challenge and the plane flies so effortlessly.

I guess the GT4 is just right for me, lol.

Back on topic, somewhat, I don't mind if the ride is a bit tight and stout as long as the chassis composure is there and gives the driver confidence.

 

It cost me almost $2,500 to make my GT4 as good on the street as my buddy’s straight from dealer delivery GTS. That was adjustable offset rear toe links (plus install), DSC Sport module, and alignment. Also put PS4S on my factory wheels, but that’s not related.

So out the door the GTS is the better street car. Especially if you have awful roads.

That being said…

My GT4 with the adjustments above is the best car I’ve owned. Even above my 991.2 GT3. The comfort and compliance is like nothing else I’ve owned.

A little story. My brother is not a car guy and hates riding in my Porsches. Any of them. So much so that when I know he is going to be riding with me I take something else. After getting the GT4 dialed in he needed a ride home from the tire shop. I picked him up in the GT4 and took him on the rough streets back to his house. About halfway home he says something along the lines of, “Why is this car so much more comfortable than any of your other cars? Even the BMW and Audi. I like this car. This is actually fun to ride in. I want to drive this car.”

That’s when I knew I wasn’t crazy and the GT4 really is that good now.

So for me there is no wrong answer between the GTS/GT4/Spyder. But if you are talking street only or don’t want to do any mods the GTS is perfect right out of the box. Plus the GTS has more niceties (keyless ignition/entry, memory seats, ventilated seats, etc). But man oh man if you are willing to sacrifice a few conveniences and spend a small amount of money to dial in the GT4/Spyder it sure is something else.

 

What are your alignment specks? Thanks

 

TPC Toe Links? +1 on all the settings & mods to make this your favorite suspension.

 

I’m on vacation and don’t recall exactly off the top of my head. That being said, it is very close to DSC’s alignment spec for 50/50 street/track.

https://www.dscsport.com/wp-content/...ngs-update.pdf

I use my GT4 for street, autocross, and track (though I probably won’t get to the track this year). Meaning my alignment is something of a compromise because it is a do everything car. Even so, it’s still fantastic everywhere.

Also, I run my bars soft/hard because of autocross. Totally fine for me on the street. If/when I go to the track I’ll set my bars to med/med. I have run them med/med on the street and it is hilarious how utterly balanced the car feels. It’s like driving in God mode.

 

Thanks, are you recommending Med - Med as the best option for street only?

 

I would start there, yes.

I have it at soft/hard because I need more rotation for autocross.

To me, med/med on the street makes the car feel invincible (after my minor mods). I can see why people might find it a little sterile though. You will find yourself unknowingly going much, much faster than you realize because it is so composed. I find it satisfying in its own way.

Soft/hard on the street gives me a different sort of satisfaction. The steering feels lighter and the car speaks to me more and rotates better. Because it is speaking to me more I find myself going slower. It’s easier to not accidentally find yourself going way too fast.

 

I can't claim to have noticed any such dramatic transformation in my GT4 after moving to a track alignment or changing the sway bar settings.

I mean, you can feel a difference, sure, but the changes you're talking about are very, very small compared to the difference between the GTS and GT4 in the first place.

Maybe some of these cars got delivered completely out-of-whack from the factory, but mine was pretty dialed in from day 1. I added Tarrett rear toe links and front thrust arm bushings so I could run -3 degrees of camber in the front for tire longevity at the track, but the feel of the car didn't change much.

 

 

The seats that you pick can also affect the ride feel.

 

Great write-up! I have a CGTS 4.0 PDK on order and have read a lot about the advantages of the suspension improving DSC module, but I haven't quite figured out if this is only/primarily for the GT4/Spyder, or if the GTS would benefit from it as well? My car will be used as a hobby car for the street, with perhaps one or two track visits per year/every other year (i.e. not very often), hence I went with the GTS. However, I'm a bit concerned that the factory set suspension may be far from optimal even for the street — for example, I have an Audi RS6 C7 with DRC (Dynamic Ride Control) as my daily driver, and basically never enter into Dynamic mode because it is way too harsh, you literally bump up and down in your seat the whole time regardless of speed... The Normal mode is great for most of the time, but when you start going faster you wish it could be a little firmer (but never quite as firm as in Dynamic mode!).

Is the concensus in this forum that the GTS is just fine in both Normal mode (when driving casually) and Sport/Sport+ mode (when driving hard), or do many owners here think that the suspension could be a little stiffer in Normal mode and a little softer in Sport/Sport+? I'm asking because I obviously haven't received the car yet (delivery delayed until mid-July), and I don't think a short test drive will be enough to arrive at a comprehensive conclusion. So: DSC for the GTS, yay or nay?

Edit: I will have the standard -20 mm lowering PASM, not the -10 mm, and I will also have the 18-way adaptive sport seats, 5 mm H&R spacers in the front and 15 mm in the rear (with Michelin PS4S 235/35-20 front and 265/35-20 rear) — if that could be useful information.

 

Kinda off topic from the title of the thread, but if one cares about PCCB's, then that is only an option on the GT4/Spyder.

No longer avail on the GTS.