Hey everyone,

Now that I’m getting a bit more familiar with my car after putting approx 1500 miles since I got it in late October, one of the things I would like to improve is the steering response/accuracy off-center. When the wheel is straight and you start turning, there’s a delay until the wheels move. Once they do, the car turns in fine. My previous car was a 997.2 so I would like to get as close to that as possible. I prefer the weight of the steering on the 993, but I would like to get as close as possible to the response of the 997.

Would installing RSR inner tie rods improve this situation? These are the ones I’m looking at:

https://www.rennline.com/RSR-Style-I...fo/TAR-964RSR/

All the rubber bushings on my car are in good condition, even though I’m sure that replacing them with either new ones or urethane will make everything tighter. However, it’s been a very expensive couple of months to get the car where is at right now, so I’m looking for best bang for the buck at the moment.

Thanks

 

You may want to look at “pinning” the tie rods. No experience with it myself but it is frequently discussed on the board.

 

From what you describe something is loose or your car needs an alignment.
A quick check of the front tierods can be done by having a friend turn the wheel slightly to the left and right as you look at the tierod ends and see if you see play.
You should never experience what you describe even with stock suspension components.
Andy

 

Second that.

You should have really good turn-in response with your 993. I noticed a really significant improvement in turn-in response after refreshing my suspension and steering components.

 

Adding caster, having optimal camber and approaching zero toe up front will help with turn in with a proper alignment. I can provide these, contact me gem@vividracing.com for pricing

https://www.tarett.com/items/993-964...rtr-detail.htm
https://www.tarett.com/items/993-964...008-detail.htm

We offer these and have heard great results
https://groundcontrolstore.com/produ...es-porsche-993

https://rennlist.com/forums/964-foru...ys-better.html
https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...options-2.html

 

Thanks for the replies gents. The delay I’m referring to is something very minimal. It’s probably up to 15 degrees off-center, maybe less. Car was recently aligned when the PSS10’s where installed.

Besides refreshing all the rubber bushings and such, what added benefit would the RSR inner tie rods provide?

 

Yes, + use RS bushes + use a wider 8.5" wheel(even w/ the same size tire) + add a little camber + 0 toe + max caster

I'd caution against urethane bushes, either mono-***** for the most precise result or sport rubber(ala RS)

 

You say you have 15 degrees of dead response? Maybe the clamp on the steering column spline under the dash is loose?

what size wheels are you running? I found the tall sidewall of the 16’s caused some turn in lag as the tires loaded.

 

Thank you very much Bill! This is the kind of info and detail I was looking for. Really appreciate it

I wouldn’t call it dead response. It’s just feels very marshmallow-y off-center.

I’m running 17’s.

 

The stock inner tie rod ends have a hard steel bearing contact on its ball joint towards the outside of the car and a tensioned rubber bearing surface on the inboard side of the ball joint.
The purpose seems to be to reduce suspension vibration from being transmitted up to the steering wheel through the rack & pinion. During normal operation, the tow-in specification for aligning the front end keeps constant tension on this ball joint against the hard steel bearing surface maintaining a proper alignment/geometry, Pinning the ball joint or installing the RS part I believe negates or replaces the inner rubber bearing on the joint with a solid steel contact point. I can see how this could dramatically increase road feel and the qualitative perception of greater precision in steering. However, if the stock joint is in good condition it is unclear to me if it actually quantitatively improves handling on a public road driven car. Now in racing conditions, the dynamics may be a bit different. As you know qualitative measures go a long way here on Rennlist so if it makes you happy to swap out the stock standard joint have at it!

My view is still go ahead and have your alignment redone even if done recently as even a slight out of spec. condition, even in the rear kinematic tow, can produce the symptoms you are having. In my experience, I have had to take a car back for a 2nd look where something slipped or was not properly set the first time around.

Andy

 

Maybe i'm overly sensitive but the first thing I noticed about my 993 when I bought it was how numb the steering was on center when compared to my '76 C3, both had 8" front wheels, the 911 had the 930 monoball steering but more of a street alignment than the 993 which was setup for track use, A big part of the steering feel is from the scrub radius which on a 911 w/ 8ET25 is 50.7mm, on a 993 w/ 8ET52 it is -10, the bigger the magnitude of the s/r the better the feel and initial turn in, for ABS to function s/r has to be 0 or below, Can't do much about s/r on a 993 w/o using RSR flares and high o/s wheels, but the RSR monoball inner steering arm was a big step in the right direction, the cherry on top was the switch to 8.5 front wheels, Along the way RS and then monoball bushes were added these helped but didn't solve the problem. A 993 will never steer as well as the 911 but at least it's acceptable now,

 

A few things I did that really helped and have been suggested.
Pinned tie rods, Walrod poly a arm bushings, and 8.5" wide front wheels.
It doesn't feel as direct as my old 997 did, but its much better than how stock felt

 

A few things I did that really helped and have been suggested.
Pinned tie rods, urethane front control arm bushings, and 8.5" wide front wheels.
It doesn't feel as direct as my old 997 did, but its much better than how stock felt

 

I think that you need to have RS uprights to use those.

Edited to add: Never mind, it looks like the uprights are only required for the 964

 

I would start with, engine off key on, give it steering input while someone else inspects everything after it.

I had a high mile 993 and a low mile 997.2 and one of the first things that struck me was thinking how much more responsive the 993 was on turn in.

Neither had any slop off center.

Maybe that is just my recollection of it but would think more likely there's something that could be improved on your car in relation to a wear item rather it being a 993 v 997 issue.