tgcrun

My 2022 C4S is ordered and my build locks in June. The only option that I haven't decided whether to add is FAL. When the car arrives in September, I'll be living in Pasadena, CA full time and also have my Macan to drive. Right now the Macan is in our garage in PA and we're using my wife's 997 (which we'll sell when the 992 arrives) to get around. In PA my wife used her car every single day in every type of weather. It was her work car, her shopping car and her running errands car. We rarely had to worry about the front end scraping. Here in the LA area, it's a different story. For stormwater management purposes (so I'm told) the streets are significantly crowned and the slope toward the curb is pretty pronounced. The driveways getting into parking lots slope upward causing the front end to scrape unless you slow almost to a stop and angle the car when both entering and exiting. My driveway is fairly steep, but I can deal with that because my street is pretty much traffic free, and I can easily slow down and approach it at an angle. What worries me is driving down a 40 mile an hour street, slowing to a couple of miles an hour to make a right into a shopping center and getting rear ended by someone who thinks I'm going to make the turn much faster. The same thing holds true with exiting.

I know FAL will help, but will it help enough that as long as I slow to a reasonable speed and still angle my approach I'll be fine? Thoughts from those who went from a non-FAL car to one with FAL? By the way, I'm more concerned with the complexity of the system and possible failure than I am with cost. My car doesn't have SPASM.

ryandarr1979

Even if you option it, you’ll still likely end up forgetting to hit the button from time to time and scrape anyway (if you’re anything like me and others whom have experienced FAL ownership. Get bumper armor instead. It’s cheaper and front lips are cheap and easily replaceable.

CodyBigdog

The FAL system now has “smart lift” that allows you to mark (GPS) locations you regularly encounter, so it will automatically perform the lift action as you approach the GPS coordinate. Haven’t tried it yet, but sounds pretty handy.

https://rennlist.com/forums/992/1197...mart-lift.html

tgcrun

Thanks for both comments. I'm with you on forgetting to push the button. It would happen to me more often than not. As for the GPS, I'm aware of that function, but I'm concerned that most of the time, the places I might need it are not regularly visited. It would be great for my driveway, one intersection on one of the roads in our neighborhood and the parking lot of the shopping center we visit most frequently. However, what about the 10 other random entrances and exits I might encounter during the day. It'll be my wife's daily and my fun car.

Boulder Mike

I live (have lived) in a lot of downtown areas with steep parking garages as well as traffic density and as a result FAL on my 991.2 was well worth it. For me, it’s not just a value discussion (i.e. cost of FAL > replacement parts) as many ppl here discuss. Rather it took the stress out of taking slow angles in busy traffic situations. Once I got used to using it, I never (or rarely) forgot to use it and it made my p-car experience more enjoyable. As you can imagine, I ordered it on my 992. A no- brainer for me. YMMV - (especially if you live in suburbs/rural areas).

Boulder Mike

I should add that I’ve only had spasm cars. Not sure how a pasm car might differ in terms of FAL.

Hormazd Dalal

This. Its no consolation for me to scrape the car and damage the the spoiler because its replaceable. Its a great feature and I use it all the time.

ryanlsmith

I use mine quite a bit (CA as well, Bay Area), and I don’t have PASM either. I stopped using it for awhile as I thought maybe it was overkill, and shortly after scraped my lip. It’s hard to forget using it, since the toggle is well within reach.

digits

I drove my 991.2 SPASM C4S around LA and used FAL a LOT whenever I was there. Some of the intersections have huge dips where you have to go extra slowly, and the driveway aprons into some shopping areas and gas stations can be pretty rough. It wasn't even being concerned about scraping as much as worrying about completely tearing off the front splitter and driving right over it. FAL is truly optional in a lot of places in the US, but in my opinion LA isn't one of them... and right about now is when the RL members who live in LA call me paranoid

siberian

It is better to have and not need than need and not have. Peace of mind has no price. I ordered FAL with mine (no SPASM), I suggest you do as well. And congrats on the new arrival!

siberian

PS And an extra inch is always good to have

CodyBigdog

Is that Shakespeare?😎

siberian

It's actually an old Jewish proverb

siberian

CodyBigdog

It’s a good proverb.

siberian

Certainly one to live by!

siberian

ritchieg

I live in San Diego and I bought the car off the lot and it did not have FAL. Living here if I ordered the car I definitely would have FAL. I scrape the front all the time and on some street entrances you can't go slow enough for it not to scrape. Living here if you get PDK then get ACC, I use it all the time in stop and go traffic and when cruising on the freeway. Another comment my car has the white face on the Chrono stop watch and it produces a visible glare on the windscreen quite often. It is very distracting to see something showing up in your peripheral vision quite often.