Nigel - UK 993C2

I purchased my 993 RS from an Official Porsche Centre (OPC) here in the UK about 400 miles ago. I'd always thought that the steering/handling seemed a bit odd. Relative to my previous 993 C2 the steering seemed to be a bit 'dead' in the straight ahead position and the car seemed to move around slightly on the road of its own accord when attempting to drive in a straight line. I initially put this down to the lower ride height, bigger wheels, stiffer springs etc. I also had the OPC's printout in respect of the pre-sale full geometry check that they perfomed, so I thought that the geometry couldn't be out.

Of late though I thought that there really had to be something wrong. On one occasion, admittedly on a road surface badly grooved by heavy lorries, I was so disconcerted that I had to pull over to check that a wheel wasn't loose (it wasn't). All in all the car didn't feel confidence inspiring.

Anyway, I've just picked the car up from having a full geometry check performed by an independent Porsche service agent (JZ Machtech in Kings Langley, Herts - no affiliation etc etc) and, despite having just driven it on major roads and the motorway to get it home, the improvement is huge. It is also a major relief that the car can feel this good and that the problem wasn't something more serious.

Machtech's printout shows that the 'before' measurements weren't wildly out (the worst offenders were excessive left rear toe in and excessive right rear camber) but nonetheless getting the geometry set back to within factory tolerances has made a hell of an improvement.

I hope this is of interest to anyone suffering similar symptoms.

Regards

Nigel

Fongster

Nigel

Just out of curiousity

Was this car imported into the UK or was it "local" car?

-f

Nigel - UK 993C2

Car was originally supplied to the UK.

Regards

Nigel

zubinranderia

Nigel

Well done on the RS - they are fantastic cars.

I had the alignment done on my 993RS in Oct, and just re-done last week. These things do move around. To give you an example:
Front camber - originally -1'05" left and -1'04" right in Oct (3500 miles ago), before resetting the adjustment last week it was -1'06" left and -1'24" right.
Rear camber - was originally at -1'34" left and -1'35" right, wherease it had moved to -1'12" left and -1'41" right before re-setting

I have had the camber increased a fair bit as the outer rims of the tyres were getting v. worn. Now running camber at over -2' both front and rear.

I would say that the RS tracks grooves in the road like nothing else. Inside lane on the M1 northbound is rubbish - sometimes I need to just drive in the middle lane to prevent tramlining!

Are you taking the RS on track at all? There are a few of us at Bedford this Saturday (28 Feb) with RMA and again at the end of March.

Cheers
Zubin

Roygarth

Zubin

I'll see you there. Mines Speed Yellow!

Where do you get alignment done? In central London?

What tyre pressures do you recommend for SO2's on the track?

'95 993

Roygarth,

Haven't got a 993 RS - sob, sob, sob - but had pss9's RS roll bars, new rack and full alignment to RS spec undertaken by Tognola at datchet on my 993 C2, really nice guys, Peter has a 993 RS club sport and all the right alignment cornerweighting etc kit, top quality job and at an unbelievable pice (fraction of the quote from my local OPC and local specialist) what a difference all the parts and the alignment made - can't recommend tognola highly enough, - absolutely no affiliation - as a PS i found the FPB from Gert is a must have to stop your front bumper from being chewed on speed bumps, garage forecourts and even the modest slope on my driveway!

Hope above helps

John

Nigel - UK 993C2

Hi Zubin

I'd love to be at Bedford but my road insurance only covers me for PCGB organised track days, albeit with the excess doubled from £ 500 to £ 1,000. Do you venture out uninsured or have you got yourself some extra cover from somewhere?

I'm booked onto the PCGB Track Days at Goodwood on 29 May and Castle Combe on 1 July. Will also be doing Bedford in then Autumn if the Club gets a date.

Have fun at Bedford - its my favourite circuit. I hope you get to use the full 3.6 mile GT circuit and not one of the diddy part circuits.

TTFN

Nigel

Roygarth

Thanks John!

ACEparts_com

When I purchased my TT I took it to an OPC in Kent for a full geometry set up. Upon collection the car pulled to the left and the steering wheel was 45 degrees to the right. Full service consisted of over filling with oil and not spotting RMS leak and loose turbo hose (I had to do those myself).
I'm a PARR motorsport man now.

I believe the UK OPC have watered down the service along with their cars.
Alan

Rocket

Nigel................from my own experience I would say the rear toe in was the cause of your problems.

You might have noticed also that your steering wheel wasn’t dead centre when driving straight (excessive rear toe in can cause this).

I had the toe adjustment “slip” on a very wet trackday on the N/S rear so it was toeing in a degree or more. I couldn’t drive the car home when I reached the M25 and pulled up at Clacket Lane services and got the car recovered home. It was very hard work even travelling at 40 mph in the inside lane in the wet, and was concerned that I was going to swerve into a Lorries etc overtaking me. Nightmare.

Incidentally I had just had the alignment done by AFN prior to the trackday. I now adjust toe and camber myself with the Dunlop gauges, and every now and again have it done by the dealer. My RS is due its annual service plus alignment and I am trying Machtech next month for the first time. Fingers crossed.

Rocket

993RS

P.S Roygarth……..don’t worry too much about tyre pressures if its wet on Saturday, as it won’t make enough difference for you to notice if you run around 32/34 front/rear on the road. If its dry (which the current forecast reckons in between snow showers!) then drop them to maintain low 30s hot. Looks like there will be a few RSs on Sat then. See you there (guards red RHD).

ACEparts_com

Rocket, maybe you can answer a question for me?

I have a TT which, i believe like most Porsches has stated pressures of 36/44. This does seem very hard so I tried running them on the road at 32/38 and have discovered that the inside & outside edges are wearing more than the middle. I have now reverted to 36/40. I would also like some advice as what to do on a track day with them as they hit around 45/50 HOT.

Any advice would be welcomed

Thanks
Alan

Roygarth

Alan

The PO of my car, Andrew Frankel the journalist, tracked a lot and said run 30 hot all round - at all times not just on track - maybe a bit extreme? But he reckoned Porsche recomended figures are a 'joke'.

Another RS racer told me:

"I would try the tyres at 33 front & 31 rear to start with. Rears should come up higher than fronts with heat in them this time of year. Different circuits will induce different tyre pressures along with your driving style.
Ideally when hot you should be looking for around 34 to 36 all-round. The feel of the car will tell you if the pressure is correct. If you get a lot of understeer try dropping 2 pound on the fronts, will give the tyres a bit more grip. If wet generally run the at Porsche recommendations for road as this will enable the tread pattern to clear the water efficiently! They say for the lighter cars around 34 front and 36 rear. Standard cars run as much as 10 pound more all round. SO2 tyres will get squidgy when over heated and feel horrible. Allow to cool off, and try to not overheat, as this will accelerate the hardening of the rubber and then less grip"

Hope this helps....completely confused me!

ACEparts_com

Dear Piers,

Thanks for the advice. It seems that tyre pressures are somewhere between a mystery and magic! I guess I will for now stick to 36/40 while pottering around on UK's roads and aim for lower HOT temperatures when at a track.

I don't know if anyone is interested but Rockingham are doing some fantastic deals at the moment. Last week was open pit lane £100 all day. 28th March is £120-140.
If anyone's interested, drop me a line and i'll dig out the details.

Oh, one last thing, would anyone recommend a different tyre choice to the SO2's. You're definitely right, once they get hot they go very 'off'.

Thanks again

Alan

Rocket

Alan……..what Piers says about tyres is probably spot on. From my own point of view the RS handles so well I don’t find it that sensitive to tyre pressures, but then again I’m not racing or timing myself against the clock to know what real difference pressures can make. I would just rely on advice given by the majority in the know, and run your tyres in the low 30s hot on track. Then just concentrate on enjoying the car and finding the outer limits as is, rather than worrying about the minutiae.

As to tyre wear, I can't say as I tend to get through tyres quite quickly, but running low 30's has never caused the wear you have experienced.

Bookatrack are running a few days in March at Rockingham. I may well be interested, as nothing in the calendar for March just yet.

Rocket

Roygarth

Just seen the weather report for Saturday. What's best tyre pressure for snow chains?!