fluid15

The handling of my car is not as tight as I'd like above 80mph. This is a pretty subjective statement, since what is "tight" or "loose" varies depending who you ask. It seems to wander on the highway a bit when above 80 (also after new wheels/tires). At first I attributed this to the fact it's a Cab and doesn't have the same aerodynamics as a coupe, or maybe just strong wind. But when I recall my '87 911, which was also a Cab, I remember being impressed at it feeling solid even at 120mph (top down). My M3 was a rock at any speed so I'm expecting the same from my 993. Any suggestions of area's to inspect?

Brent Spinks

My 1997 (suspension unmodified) cab sticks like peanut butter to the roof of your mouth at 80 mph and above. I suspect a problem with your car somewhere.

Jack Ennuste

I had tie-rod problem. I my case it was loose, rubber inside this steering damper was fatigued. After replacement car felt like in TT ad, asBrent Spinks just told.

fluid15

Your comments that it should stick like "peanut butter to the roof of my mouth" is what I had expected from the car. It's not bad but probably not how it should be (again, pretty subjective). Thanks for the input.

btw - what a great ad, I always liked that one.

Brent Spinks

My absolute favorite Porsche ad, however, is "Kills Bugs Fast!"

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Hi:

There is really little differences between a coupe and a cab until top speed so this is not normal.

I'd tell you that new tires always feel very "loose" and take about 500+ miles to scrub off the mold release and cure the rubber. If your tires have less than 500 miles on them, I'd get out there and drive it more until they do,....

993's are VERY sensitive to alignment and this must be spot-on, otherwise the car will wander and feel kinda disconnected. Further, these cars should never sit level, front-to-back. The 993 (and earlier) 911's should have a 1 degree nose-down rake. This minimizes front end lift that will make the car wander more at speed.

Lastly, tire pressures are important here and for street cars, I'd use 32 and 36.

fluid15

I'm always impressed with the quality of feedback on this site. My tires probably have about 500 miles on them (AVS ES100), could use alignment since a slight drift to the right is noticable (not from crown of street), and lastly, is the downward rake of the car adjustable with stock setup? Or is tuning required from custom shock/spring addition? I know there's a ton of info on Searches regarding ride height, shock/spring options, etc, but I haven't read anything about rake of the car. This one interests me, especially since it appears there's more unwanted clearance in the front wheel wells than the rear (at some point I'm considering a new setup for ROW ride height).

hn

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems:
<strong>Hi:

Further, these cars should never sit level, front-to-back. The 993 (and earlier) 911's should have a 1 degree nose-down rake. This minimizes front end lift that will make the car wander more at speed.

.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Wow, this is all new to me and makes a lot of sense. My car has the opposite as the front sit 1/4 inch higher than the rear. After the PPI, the dealer (not the one I bought the car from) told me this is common to these cars but didn't say it's not normal. This's must be the reason why my car feels loose at hwy speed even going straigh. Hopefully the soon to be installed new suspensions will take care of it.

Thanks Steve for the tip.

hn

Hi Kim,

I was not sure if my method of measuring was correct but I read the measusments reported from others and my numbers seem to confirm my method is ok. Anyway, I measured the distance from the bottom of the fenders to the ground. Mine showed the rear's has 1/4 in shorter than the front's, 26 1/4 in vs 26 1/2 in. The front also has wider gap compared to the rear.

If this is not correct, how do check the level of the door sill (is it at the bottom of the car right under the door ?), I mean, distance to the ground? and what do I compare this measurement with?

Thx

Edit: Kim, never mind. I just got it. Thx

ZCAT3

Hn - I believe that with about a 1/2 inch difference in fender well height from back to front (the 1/2 inch higher is in front) you actually have a 1% nose down rake of the body of the car - which is what you want (this is at least the case with the earlier 911s). So, what you are saying about your cars fener well height sounds about right.

The first thing I would check is your tire pressure - if it is too high it will feel very loose at speed - kind of like the feeling you get when you drive on a metal grated bridge).

hn

Fluid15, sorry if steal your post .

Bill,

From reading your reply, I realized that just having a greater ground-to-fender distance in the front does not necessary mean that I have the nose-up rake. It depends on the design of the car too, I guess.

Then I guess I blame it on the 56kmile-old shocks. I had my tires at lower pressure before and it caused terrible tramlining. After pumping them up to 34/34, the tramlining is nearly gone.

Thx Bill

fluid15

hn: no such thing as stealing posts, just more information to share. And everything I've read is interesting to my situation. I'm going to put a digital level on my door sills to see what they say. As previously mentioned, I already have an appointment for alignment next week together with pressure verification I'll see if any difference is felt. Hopefully shocks aren't needed (only 37k non-track miles), but then again maybe it's an excuse for getting the lower ride height.

Caveman

Hi Steve,

I thought that we were supposed to have 36/36 ? Why the lower pressure at the front?

Cheers,

David
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Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

A few more things on this subject,....

That one degree nose-down rake gives the best lift-over-drag figures on these cars and reduces drag while minimizing front end lift. I use either a rotary or digital protractor to measure this in the doorsills while on a level surface.

As long as you know the angle of the surface you are parked on, you can make the measurements and do the subtraction.

Caveman:
Front & rear tire pressure differentials are intended to partially reflect the weight distribution of these cars and as 62-63% of the car's total weight is on the rear, the front tires need and should carry less air pressure for balanced handling. This also keeps the narrower front tire treads flat on the ground.

fluid15

All great info. I had the alignment done yesterday and the rear wheels were pointed in too much. Drives much different now - both low & higher (&gt; 80) speeds. I'm glad that did the job. The there was also about a 1/2" of thread in the front suspension to bring it down as far as it could to the perches. Still not what I want but I'll wait until next year for a new ride height ("honey, my shocks are worn - it needs new springs/shocks").

Thanks again for the advice.