fahren affair

i had a '00 c2 996. out-of-the-box, the US, non-m030 spec car understeers in just about all conditions. you can try to drive around the problem--play with tire pressures, aligment, etc--but you're leaving a lot of potential on the table.
an easy fix is to step up to the row m030. andial has them for under $1,200, it's factory, can be installed by anyone, and makes the car more driveable. imo, unless you really know what you're doing and willing to spend lots of time under the car, then adjustable bars, shocks, springs, etc, are not necessary. a step up from the row m030 is the x74 for about $2k from carnewal. re excessive understeer, the factory alignment spec coupled with the US spec suspension is to blame.

porch

Here's my plan FWIW:

I haven't decided between ROW M030 and X74, but the front and rear sway bars are the same (I think). Those seem to be available for about $200 plus shipping. I'm going to install the sways, see how the car acts, and then I still have the option to choose either factory suspension route.

leedav

the shocks and springs separately cost way more than the whole kit. like double. beware...

Re-animator

Save yourself another hundred bucks. Install only the rear bar first. If it is too drastic, then buy the front bar to counterbalance it by about 10% more than the stock front bar. Rear bar # 996.333.701.13

stiles_s

-- as noted earlier in the thread, I drove my car with only the rear sport bar (otherwise stock non-sport suspension) for several hundred miles and it worked great. It fit my needs well enough that I contemplated never installing the rest of the ROW M030 kit...

Sanjeevan

stiles & SRL, Thanks to the extensive rennlist archive I am aware of AWD?PSM problems associated with changing tire dimensions.
I should'nt say I am tweeking car dynamics by changing tires, as SRL explained it would certainly be futile. I know my tires need replacement, and I know my car understeers a bit, so when I purschase my next tires, and if i decide them to be Toyo RA-1's, I'll go with the 275's instead of the stock 295 which toyo does'nt make. I've already spoken to a guy who uses them on 996 C4S, and he is very happy with them.
But, now it looks like the p-zero corsa "system" is not that much more expensive than the Toyo's, and I just may go with those and stay with the stock sizes. As Jim.B said, a plan to fix understeering on acceleration should include purchasing a vette

Edit: So, my plans for fixing the understeer on acceleration for now and keeping the car stock, (thanks to Jim,B) is trying to rotate the car before hitting the apex.

JimB

Now you're talking Jeeva. Forget this slow in, fast out crap. Turn in early, trailbraking on the edge of disaster, this will get your back end moving. When you're pointed in the right direction, hard on the throttle. Your back end will settle and you're off to the races. Fast in, fast out and it works just fine with a little bit of understeer.
Jim

Disclaimer: the above should only be done by experienced drivers and only on a closed circuit race track. I accept no responsibility for the massive carnage that will result from minor miscalculations.

Re-animator

A cool link for a generalized overview of suspension tuning.

Kraus Corrections Overview

fahren affair

when i first got my 996, it really did not hold it's intended line very well--especially on fast sweepers when the suspension was loaded. the front end would bounce and send the car off line if there were any mionr undulations or bumps. it caused one to back out of the gas to avoid bigger problems . i remember thinking "this can't be right! this car handles like ****" i found the stock shocks to be under damped and the springs too soft. changing bars helps the balance but you'll still get ocillation problems at speed. i'd do everything at once, you'll end up doing it anyhow.

Sanjeevan

Rob,
My C4S comes with the "sport" turbo suspension and is lower, from what I hear it's heck of a lot better than the standard C2 in understeer, and the traction transfer to the front with AWD minimizes the acceleration understeer, so that's why I can just change the driving style a bit.
The C2 guy's may certainly need hardware changes.
Jeeva