When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Quick update: got the seats in an all bolted up! Had to use manual boxster sliders I found on eBay. I can’t figure out the plugs though, the heated sport seats plug doesn’t match up to my stock electric seat plug (?). I also can’t figure out where the seatbelt receiver plugs into, nor why the drivers seats doesn’t go back very far. I am sitting about 2” too close to the steering wheel. The passenger seat goes back further than the driver so I’m sure I did something wrong when installing the new seat brackets/sliders.
“For every solution there are unintended consequences”
I will likely just have my shop fix the seats while it’s in for annual service. Getting oil change, new water pump, thermostat, and RSS rear adjustable arms installed.
the seats look amazing though and hold me much better than my stock seats did. I also did a rear seat delete which was a no brainer since no one ever sits back there. I will miss the rear shelf with the seats down but I’ll survive.
OP - Did you check if the two sliders on driver side are parallel? One side may be too far aft, causing an early stop. Those seats should go back farther than a 996 chair with Extend-a-Seat does.
I have owned various Porsche models in which lacquer finishes fade, bitumen undercoating that impounded moisture, horse hair matting that no longer supports upholstery, and carpet that was nailed through the metal surfaces that nourished the tin worms; we are so fortunate to have a vehicle that uses modern coatings and construction that can survive abuse or neglect. In fact, when I was old enough to acquire my driver's license, I once turned down ownership of a red speedster with electrical issues and worn tires for a mere five hundred dollars... one of my deepest regrets. Look, despite all the glitter, F' it and have fun..
OP - Did you check if the two sliders on driver side are parallel? One side may be too far aft, causing an early stop. Those seats should go back farther than a 996 chair with Extend-a-Seat does.
This is likely the problem, i'll have to tear into it this weekend when I have time. Thanks!
The issue with the lowered car is you can't correct camber with the rear upper control arms. Stock arms are fixed length. When the car is lowered, the stock length can't push the wheel out at the top to correct the camber. So, my stock arms limited me at -2.5 degrees rear camber. Sure, you could drive with the wheels like that, but it will burn up the inside tires pretty quickly. I just put on new 4s tires and I like going on road trips, so correcting camber was pretty important for me. From Phenix: When lowering your 996, it causes the toe and camber to change in the rear, resulting in reduction of contact patch of the tires as well as a drastic change to the thrust angle. This is unwanted and can result in the rear of the car always feeling like it is dancing around and might surprise the driver with snap over-steer at any moment. This makes for a tiresome drive as requiring the driver to continually correct the car to ensure it stays out of the bushes.
RSS: The RSS Adjustable Rear Link Kit is the proper way to correct the rear suspension geometry of lowered 996 and 997 models when necessary. Greatly improves handling and feedback by removing rubber bushing deflection. Lowered vehicles with stock links may have additional negative camber in the rear which can prematurely wear out rear tires as the factory eccentric bolts do not offer enough adjustment to properly re-align the car to desired specifications. Vehicles that have not been lowered can also benefit from these components and experience better handling and control.
RSS, Demonspeed, and Phenix all make nice dog bones, but none are cheap. They are all $650-$1000 bucks. You can see the dog bones up top. Toe links at the bottom in this picture.
Toe links are different. Ideally, both are better. The stock cam design toe links suck. One of mine was actually frozen in place and had to be replaced anyway. They were designed to increase the range available over the stock cam style tie rods to aid in correcting the thrust angle on the rear of your lowered 996. Correcting the thrust angle aids in high speed stability, better tire wear and a much easier car to drive.
RSS Ride quality is great. Way better than H&R sport springs/B6s. I liked that setup, but it was hard compared to RSS. Very compliant ride. I've been very happy with them. I considered Ohlins and PSS10, but my buddy has used RSS for a while and loves them.
Been meaning to update here, but I got the RSS rear adjustable links installed. After about 100 miles and two weeks of the car sitting they’re clunking like absolute crazy. Since it removed the rubber bushings I’m going to assume this is “normal”?
Did I just make a huge mistake? It sounds like the rear end of the car is about to fall off and is not very confidence inspiring. It drove amazing and felt really sharp before the clunking started. Is there anything that can be done to reduce the noise?
Been a while since i've shown this thread some love.
Just been sorting little issues out and driving the sh*t out of the car. I had a bring "spring maintenance" this past May which consisted of:
- Oil change (and Blackstone analysis, will share results)
- Coolant flush
- New Tstat and Water Pump (both OEM)
- RSS adjustable rear arms
- New parking brake handle (my old one was disgusting and just an eye sore, see first photo in thread)
- Swap back to four-spoke 993 steering wheel since it felt dumb to drive around NYC with no airbag
- Swap original gauge cluster and dash topper with a black leather/carbon fiber one from a GT3
- CEL is sorted and has not come back. EVAP issue was solved by repairing minor cracks in my fuel filler and carbon canister (?)
- I finally have cold AC
The adjustable rear arms took some additional adjustments after installation. A shop I trusted did the install and alignment and all felt great for about 100 miles and then the rear end started clunking and rattling like crazy over the smallest road imperfections. They were not available to see the car again until almost July, so I went elsewhere to a non-euro specific shop in NYC who also does great work. They inspected and found the installation of the arms was just.. wrong. They readjusted, threaded the arms to allow for equal distance on both sides, then tightened everything under load and aligned it. The car has been SOLID ever since. The new suspension adjustments take a little getting used to. Being as the RSS arms dont have rubber bushings you feel a lot more as you go down the road and the rear end is tame, but very talkative. I just completed a 9-hour round trip to Watkins Glen and the expansion joints on the route we took started to rattle my brain a bit.
Speaking of the trip to Watkins Glen, we bombed up there from NYC on the hottest day of the year and the car performed beautifully. The temp gauge stayed at the zero in the 180* mark in major NYC traffic and would go down to the 8 as more air was flowing under/over the car. This is all with the AC cranked to its lowest setting. I couldn't be happier and looking forward to an enjoyable summer of driving. Now some pics:
Been a while since i've shown this thread some love.
Just been sorting little issues out and driving the sh*t out of the car. I had a bring "spring maintenance" this past May which consisted of:
- Oil change (and Blackstone analysis, will share results)
- Coolant flush
- New Tstat and Water Pump (both OEM)
- RSS adjustable rear arms
- New parking brake handle (my old one was disgusting and just an eye sore, see first photo in thread)
- Swap back to four-spoke 993 steering wheel since it felt dumb to drive around NYC with no airbag
- Swap original gauge cluster and dash topper with a black leather/carbon fiber one from a GT3
- CEL is sorted and has not come back. EVAP issue was solved by repairing minor cracks in my fuel filler and carbon canister (?)
- I finally have cold AC
The adjustable rear arms took some additional adjustments after installation. A shop I trusted did the install and alignment and all felt great for about 100 miles and then the rear end started clunking and rattling like crazy over the smallest road imperfections. They were not available to see the car again until almost July, so I went elsewhere to a non-euro specific shop in NYC who also does great work. They inspected and found the installation of the arms was just.. wrong. They readjusted, threaded the arms to allow for equal distance on both sides, then tightened everything under load and aligned it. The car has been SOLID ever since. The new suspension adjustments take a little getting used to. Being as the RSS arms dont have rubber bushings you feel a lot more as you go down the road and the rear end is tame, but very talkative. I just completed a 9-hour round trip to Watkins Glen and the expansion joints on the route we took started to rattle my brain a bit.
Speaking of the trip to Watkins Glen, we bombed up there from NYC on the hottest day of the year and the car performed beautifully. The temp gauge stayed at the zero in the 180* mark in major NYC traffic and would go down to the 8 as more air was flowing under/over the car. This is all with the AC cranked to its lowest setting. I couldn't be happier and looking forward to an enjoyable summer of driving. Now some pics:
Sorry I missed your previous post regarding the arms. I'm not on here as much as I used to be.
Glad you had them sorted. I actually just rebuilt mine. I had to get new heim joints for my adjustable toe links. So my friend re-built all my adjustable arms, including a few new heim joints, re greased, and added new rubber boots. Because of that, I had the car re aligned to GT3 spec last week. 30178 Dust Boot for Rod End Bearings - RSS / Road Sport Supply
Weird the first shop butchered the job so badly initially. It's one of the more basic jobs there is. Strange.
The car definitely feels more responsive with the arms. Probably because they are solid, as you mentioned. But I also did solid LCA bushings at the same time, new trans bushing, and other things I'm probably forgetting, so my entire car feels very dialed in compared to before. My tires are also lasting far better than they used to, due to being able to correct for rear camber. I'm happy it worked out. I will also probably be going to the Glen soon for the Ferrari Challenge races.
Yey! updates
Did you manage to source som side skirts yet?
Haha not yet! I need some aero... at speeds over 90mph the car seems to get blown around a bit. It gets light/floaty feeling and a large gust can me the car feel less "planted". On track of course....
Or maybe its my alignment? Or just in my head? I love fixing issues that don't really exist.
Sorry I missed your previous post regarding the arms. I'm not on here as much as I used to be.
Glad you had them sorted. I actually just rebuilt mine. I had to get new heim joints for my adjustable toe links. So my friend re-built all my adjustable arms, including a few new heim joints, re greased, and added new rubber boots. Because of that, I had the car re aligned to GT3 spec last week. 30178 Dust Boot for Rod End Bearings - RSS / Road Sport Supply
Weird the first shop butchered the job so badly initially. It's one of the more basic jobs there is. Strange.
The car definitely feels more responsive with the arms. Probably because they are solid, as you mentioned. But I also did solid LCA bushings at the same time, new trans bushing, and other things I'm probably forgetting, so my entire car feels very dialed in compared to before. My tires are also lasting far better than they used to, due to being able to correct for rear camber. I'm happy it worked out. I will also probably be going to the Glen soon for the Ferrari Challenge races.
This looks incredible... If there was ever a photo to look at to draw inspiration! Thanks for sharing the technical details in this thread, has been super helpful.
Haha not yet! I need some aero... at speeds over 90mph the car seems to get blown around a bit. It gets light/floaty feeling and a large gust can me the car feel less "planted". On track of course....
Or maybe its my alignment? Or just in my head? I love fixing issues that don't really exist.
Well an aerokit is named a aerokit for a reason.
So it should help with aero - placebo science at its finest
04-21-2024, 03:04 PM
