ttAmerica RoadsterAWD

Just drove my friends 996 and must say his steering wheel is very responsive, ie, it's sensitive and quick in stock form, unlike mine which is dull by comparison. Yes, I do have upgraded components like 18inch wheels, JIC/CROSS all four corners. When traveling at, say, 45-50mph, any slight deviation at the wheel is translated immediately, sort of like a go-cart...much faster than my 964.

Anybody with any good info on this??

Caveman

Is his car 2WD or 4WD? I notice the difference in my C4 over my old 3.2. When did you last have suspension alignment as your steering should be pretty sharp?

robmug

With your JIC?Cross you should be able to set the car up any way you like; 964s are almost infinitely adjustable (even standard) so a competent Porsche specialist should be able to get whatever feeling you like.

Parr (UK) did mine; I told them I spend 10% of my time on track and like sharp turn-in, but didn't want to lose straight line stability on motorways. Mine feels brilliant!

911addict

Robmug and all,
Straight line stability is my problem. The car has been set up by JZM here to Porsche settings but it still follows the ruts in motorways too much, and is not confidence inspiring. What is the adjustment that gives more straight stability, is it Castor or camber?

Steven C.

It's toe in that make the car go straight primarily although the others will have an some affect also. I own both of the cars discussed and my 964 is much more crisp at turn in than my 996. My 964 feels like a go cart compared to my stock 996. My 964 will follow ruts in the road though more easily than the 996 and I reason the front end of the 964 is lighter although I have not looked this up.

As said earlier it is all in how the car is set up. Just need to get it to an alignment and suspension guy.

Jim Howley

Rob,

Is that Parr in Crawley? I am due to take my car for a full alignment and my mechanic has recommended that they do the work. Do you have a standard suspension setup and if so what settings did they use? Also can you give me an idea of the cost so I am not hit with any nasty surprises?

robmug

Hi Jim - yes, Parr in Crawley. They charged about £350 for the full alignment which included corner-weighting (I think!).

They had the car for 2 days to do it and it was essential following fitment of new dampers. Car is brilliant!

I'm running lowered springs (H&R) with Bilstein B6 dampers. Ride height and other settings are close to RS, but are actually parr's own settings for a fast road/track set up.

Worth mentioning given other posts that tyres make a HUGE difference to how these cars drive. My personal choice is ContiSport Contact N2s.

Patrick L

Our cars are at least 13 years old now, so many joints or bushes may already worn out. Try replace them and you should get the totally different feel (but that's expensive....)
My car had straight line stability problem before, but aftere replace the front lower arm bushes, it improved a lot. I think to replace the steering rack ball joints might as well improve the steering response.

David K.

No Way!...

Jim Howley

Funny you should say that. My car is in for a service and my mechanic has just called me to say that front wishbone bushes are shot and need replacing, top suspension mount on one side as well. At this rate I'm not going to have the car back in time for the SE Meet on Sunday

robmug

Eh?

911addict

"No way!"
I think he means there is no way the 996 is better steering than a 964?

David K.

You can not make a 964 turn-in like a 996!

ttAmerica RoadsterAWD

Oh, yeah, My car has the AWD from a 993tt so probably has something to do with it.

Well, What I meant is the steering input is immediate. Like, if I were eating chocolate/candy and my sticky hand was at 12 o'clock on the steering wheel and I said to my wife..."hey, look at that" and brushed my hand off the wheel, the car would respond by just this action. Wheras my 964 is a little slow to this.

My old mustang (1968) has a screw on the steering box that you can tighten and it tightens up the slack of left and right play on the steering response. Is there something like this on our cars??

SimonExtreme

Yes you can, if you don't set it up properly

I cannot really comment on a standard 964 but I can assure you that the turn in on a 964RS is far sharper and more precise than on a 996 or even a 996 GT3/GT3 RS. And that is not just my view. Recent back to back tests in various magazines have made the same comment. And my RS has power steering!