It works in person for me at least but I'd have the shark blue with the neodyne wheels any day

 

Larry:
In regard to the suspension being too firm for the Ring, I wonder if this is the result of the engineers trying to limit wheel travel in order to mitigate unwanted camber and toe changes as the strut suspension moves through its range. Or maybe running out of wheel travel due to ride height.

I’m sure someone more technically savvy will chime in on that given the supposed more road biased suspension tuning for the 4RS according to AP.

 

definitely possible and very plausible - I was definitely conscious of all the bumps that I have not been when driving a 911...

 

Very interesting to read this thread. Thanks for sharing Larry!

 

 

The suspension on these cars and their set up is worth a thesis. However, its also worth remembering there is no perfect set-up or geometry and that ultimately the suspension is trying to control the three vectors of pitch, roll and yaw. If you look at something like a cup car, set up - in standard form for the 991 had the following spring rates, front 220N/mm and rear 240N/mm (plus helper springs) - brutal relative to those found in the GT3RS/992GT3 and 982 GT4 RS, but appropriate for butter smooth race tracks and high downforce settings.

Its the same with damping which really revolves around compression and rebound in largely either high speed and or low speed settings. Again there isn't an optimal solution and Porsche develop their set-ups to be competent over a range of scenarios e.g. tracks, ring, through to poor pavements found in back roads.

As you pointed out, travel is very important in any of these discussions - just go to your local race track and look at the rumble strips - some of them are huge ~ 6 inches. Without well thought out travel you simply bottom and get skittish/thrown real quick. Likewise with poorly controlled damping over high frequency short wavelength undulations, the suspension fails to keep the tires in contact with the surface and the car once again gets skittish.

In a long round about way, I'm saying its horses for courses and its more important to understand how your car behaves in different conditions rather than to expect a suspension set up to behave perfectly in all scenarios. In a way, thats what Larry demonstrated with his runs round the ring - the 4RS was able to keep up with some top tier sheet metal although it was somewhat more uncomfortable and trickier from a driving perspective and yet, he was clearly able to adjust. In this regard, its easy to decry the "inferior" set up of the 4RS but equally its very simple to point out that it works and indeed can deliver extraordinarily good lap times in the hands of a driver that understands the nature of his vehicle.

 

This!!!, I was able to pace both the instructor's 992 GT3 (ok so he was sandbagging) and the 991.2 GT3RSMR car, I had to work "hard" to keep up with them - a combo of my relative driving skill and the car itself, probably more
me than it, but I did notice a lot more movement in the car than I have previously experienced in a number of 911 GT3 generations ... including my current 991.2 car back in '18.

clearly the multi-link and RWS on the 992 GT3 and the MR kit on the 3RS were an advantage, but the fact that I could turn a 7:38 BtoG on my last lap, when I was really "not trying" says a LOT for the 4RS.

If had was lucky enough to have one of these, *and* I drove it regularly at the 'Ring, I would invest in a MR kit (once its available) but be in no doubt this is a GREAT GT car ... I'm the weak link in all this!

to your@groundhog there is never an "one size fits all" (Perfectly) setup - I would observe that the 4RS needs to be more compliant for the 'Ring...

just as a data point, Ive never found a 911 (or other car) that was "ideal" - the 'Ring is special, its very uneven and really needs a compliant suspension (like the MR KW kit) to really soak up those bumps etc!

I'm seriously suffering from 'Ring withdrawal symptoms - I really want to be back there lapping!

 

Excellent, it looked like you had a blast and that, in my mind, is one of the great things about these cars - they are simply fun to drive and yet rewarding at different skill levels. Thats a rare double.

 

this!

 

You don't think having the suspension in softer mode would help in the bumpy areas? Or did you already try this?

 

I've *never* run a Porsche in "Sport" PASM mode (at the Ring) for as long as there has been PASM... been going to the 'Ring since 2003, so not my 1st "goat rodeo" ... "normal" is still too stiff for the bumps on the 'Ring, not sure why you thought I was running in "sport"!

 

I had no idea which setting you were in, thanks for the feedback. Interesting I was faster in sport PASM on backroads in my last GT4, it gave me better feel of the car than in the soft setting.

 

not at the Ring - its a well known "secret" that the Manthey Racing kit is a specially valved KW coilover w/custom spring rates ... makes the car more compliant over the bumps and keeps the car settled and
in contact with the track surface.

 

Sounds like MR suspension kit is the way to go.

 

the interior is pretty nice!