seatactony

I'm in the Seattle area and very interested for my 981. Pls keep me in the loop!

ST

nhnguy12

I have been living with the GT3 calibration steering for ~10k miles now so I thought I’d provide some updates. To be honest I’m remembering less and less how the stock steering used to feel and have’t really had a reason to look back. The steering feels very natural to me and everything I said before about the steering weight loading up in relation to the grip/load across the front axle still rings true.

This weekend I took my car to Devil’s Highway, which is a remote road that passes through the White Mountains here in Arizona. It is the perfect proving ground to really exercise the updated steering. The road takes a bit over an hour to traverse (at speed) and has countless dips/crests, on/off-camber turns, damp/dry sections and vastly varying qualities of pavement. I had previously driven the road about a year ago with the same suspension set-up (Ohlins + rear sway bar) but before making changes to the steering software.


A few characteristics stood out to me during the drive this weekend:

As the quality of the pavement changed from smooth to rough and vice-versa it was very apparent that the steering has a lot more “texture” than before. It really dances in your hands in accordance to the surface of the road you’re driving on. I had previously observed that this effect seemed more subtle when I first updated to the GT3 steering software but I now realize I just have very smooth roads in the Phoenix area.

Living in the Phoenix area also means that I haven’t really had the chance to push the car in damp conditions since making the steering changes. But this weekend I felt it was very easy to explore the available grip in mixed conditions. Definitely much more confidence-inspiring in the wet than before, which is pretty useful when you’re driving on the side of a mountain.

One other thing that I thought I’d mention is that my chest was slightly sore this morning. This has been mentioned by others as well. The steering starts off lighter immediately off-center but you definitely have to exert more force once the steering is loaded compared to stock. Generally not a problem in 99% of scenarios but when you’re pushing for over an hour straight you can definitely start to feel it.

AdrGTS

Nice feedback and I still agree with everything you are saying. The last part for sure came as a bit of a surprise and something i noticed as well. I've done a couple spirited hour long drives and definitely started noticing the extra effort that was required compared to stock and a little more fatigue.

nhnguy12

It makes sense that steering designed for the GT3 trades some comfort for more engagement. But I'd take that trade any day of the week.

BondJ

This^^^ GT3 uses entirely different suspension, bushing, camber etc…all of which is adjustable for track.
Excellent thread/feedback thx 👍

AdrGTS

Yes I agree as well.

Caleb981

I have a PIWIS 3 and the coding options I have are different from what others are sharing in this thread with their PIWIS 2. While I have access to all the 911 options, there are variations. Specifically, I have GT3 Strasse (Street) and GT3 Cup options, and I am missing the 918 option.

When I first tried the GT3 Strasse file, I immediately felt the lightness on-center, even just pulling out of my garage. The change in the on-center feel was quite evident, more than I was expecting. I could also feel the steering resistance increasing during turns. However, it wasn't as big of a change compared to the on-center feel. Personally, I favored the tighter on-center feel of the stock file over the GT3 Strasse file, so I decided not to stick with it.

However, I then experimented with the GT3 Cup file. The on-center weight of this file is much closer to the stock file, all while maintaining a lot of the benefits of the GT3 Strasse file. To me, it seemed to combine the best of both worlds, so I plan on keeping this coding.

odd_robot

Interesting. 2013 BS here, with PIWIS 3 I ONLY had the GT3 Cup option. My opinion is similar to yours. Feels similar to stock, but with feel and info dialed up and a more pronounced weight loading up in corners. I am happy with the change but was always curious what the street map felt like.

DriverDaily

I agree. I have no doubt the calibration is “different” but I’m skeptical that it’s “better”.

In a double blind test, would people really choose a steering calibration for a car with less weight over the front axle, wider tires, stiffer bushings, etc. or a calibration designed for your car?

awasb

You are assuming that the design has really been adapted and optimised for the specific model. I would question that. Preuniger admits (it‘s on video tape) that there was a lot of criticism of the new power steering technology. And he talks about the GT3 (and only the GT3), where countless tests and optimisation attempts were made. With positive results. So …

991: "Horst! - install the new steering module! It says ‚Bosch‘ on the box!"
981 Boxster & Cayman: "Horst! - this time also remember to put in the CD that's in the Bosch box!"
991 GT3: "Horst! - this thing won't go on sale until the software works like it says on the Bosch box."

AdrGTS

Steering and what feels better is almost always going to be subjective. Have you driven a lot of other cars or a lot of different Porsches? I drove a 991.1 GT3 and immediately followed it up with my CGTS and without a doubt felt disappointed in my CGTS. But what i want and like is going to be different from the next person.

That is also why my speculation is that while Porsche could have used a version of the GT3 code in all cars, they didn't want to. The cars are marketed to different people and for different uses. Not everyone wants a car that has more feel, more resistance, more weight, more wriggling in your hands, and requires more effort. Porsche has a model to sell everyone based on their preferences. It's also a way to help them sell more cars by getting people to "upgrade" to different models. I am extremely happy that I no longer feel the need to "upgrade" to another model just to have better steering feel!

In a double blind test, yes I would pick whatever car had the GT3 calibration. I expect many others would too.

DriverDaily

Its not an assumption. The first picture in this thread is a drop-down that lets you select the calibration based on the specific model.

Porsche felt the need to create different steering calibrations between the C2 991 and C4 991. Both of those are closer to the GT3 than the 981.

Sure, everything from an Elise (no power steering) to an M2 Competition (heavy, but numb). As far as Porsches I’ve driven a 996 and a 997 in addition to my 981. But, I can also say I work on the R&D side of the tire industry and have driven plenty of pre production prototypes so I am familiar with some of the things engineers are worried.

But you realize the calibration can’t change unsprung weight, offsets and scrub radius, different alignments, wider tires, stiffer bushings, weight distribution, and different geometry right? Those are all things that have a major influence on steering feel. Disable the power steering altogether and a GT3 will feel better than a 981 simply because of those differences.

This is like copying an EQ file from an expensive sound system thinking it will make your cheaper speakers sound like the more expensive ones.

I really doubt that. One of the first things I noticed was how the Cayman has more feedback and is quicker on center than my old M2, despite feeling lighter overall. Personally, I want *linear* steering feel where the weight loads up progressively as angle increases. I expect a curve designed for a car with wider tires but less weight over the front axle is probably less linear than the original.

AdrGTS

Cool, thanks for sharing your experience.

Yes I understand what the calibration cannot change. It's worth pointing out again that nobody said this makes the car as good as a GT3, but it does get it closer. In my post I basically said it gets you 80% of the way to a GT3 with the differences being suspension, alignment, and tires. So I have always acknowledged there are differences between the cars and one will always be different and better IMO (GT3).

In your EQ example, if the high end system has superior EQ tuning, then even with your crap system you likely improved it. Even if only slightly, its still better.

I think instead of trying to disprove that this is beneficial or an improvement, maybe you should try it. It is easy to turn on and off so there is no harm in trying. Do a little R&D

nhnguy12

This is the main advantage you get with the GT3 steering calibration in my opinion. The steering loads up much more progressively than stock, which has more or less the same weighting regardless how much load is going through the front axles.

I think it's good to have multiple perspectives and not everyone is going to like the same things. But right now the points you're making are mostly conjecture without trying the steering software changes yourself. I'd recommend giving it a try before arguing with people that have had real-world experience.

awasb

I will test its config next week on a 981 Cayman … and see whether it‘s Porsche‘s well known differentiation of the model range according to image aspects or a technical „necessity“.