Ls2Rx7

Planning on purchasing a 996 Cab and I'm coming up a bit short on suspension options.
And the one thing holding me back from buying the car of all things is that it really doesn't handle well. Kinda surprisingly so. It doesn't feel like a sports car at all. It's 100% GT in my mind. Way way too cushy.

Obviously very familiar not only with porsche's racing history but the 996's racing pedigree, so I was honestly shocked.
I'm cross shopping and I test drove a viper and while I know most would crap on the viper, it's turn-in and overall grip was on another planet by comparison (this was a 2004). But the viper literally feels like a kit car.


So I was planning on swapping the stock suspension with GT3 takeoffs, but it doesn't seem like those takeoffs come up for sale ever. But having essentially a gt3 in a Cab sounds like a good setup.
Am I missing something though, where do people get this suspension setup, or are there other coilover options short of motrons that will give a sports car/race car feel and grip?

I drive my rx7 on NT-01s all the tiime and I plan to do the same with this car. I've heard the pss9s are soft, and spending extra to re-valve them seems a bit silly.

Anyway I need a plan of attack for the suspension before I can move forward with the car... It's just a sticking point for me right now. Any help could be awesome.

Thanks

Slakker

There is a chance that the shocks are shot on the one you are looking at if it is really that soft. But tough to say as "soft" is very subjective. But everything you look at for a 996 is going to be a trade off between road comfort and track performance. A convertible is not going to have the chassis stiffness of a coupe and will weigh more but can still be a lot of fun. And when properly setup, a 996 can out handle a viper.

FYI, I have an extra set of Moton Clubsport 2-way remotes that just got a full rebuild and update done on them that I will be selling soon.

longrowe

When I bought my '98 a couple years ago, it had the original suspension on it. It sucked, not to put too fine a point on it. It had lowered springs so I bought a new set of Bilstein B-8's and it is fabulous now. I also replaced all of the suspension arms because I figured 20 year old bushings in the 120 degree desert heat probably didn't have too much life left. I have heard great things about the PSS10's. When my current set needs to be replaced in 10 or so years, I may go to coilovers, but for daily driving on the street, I am very happy with the stiffness of the B-8s.

himself

When you say a 996 cab isn't handling well, what do you mean? Just the turn in you mentioned? That could easily be a $100 alignment issue.

I guess the question really is "what do you want overall?" If you are just looking to make the car more responsive, you can do that with a number of aftermarket suspension set ups. PSSx is pretty common. GT3 take offs don't typically swap onto a 996. IIRC, you need new front wheel carrier$ and some other parts (drop links, upper mounts). If you want a GT3 feeling convertible - well, you're fighting the inherent limitations of a cab. It is possible, though (read, it's expensive but you *could* do it if you wanted). But we (collectively all of us here on Rennlist) have seen many, many people chase this dream and spend thousands of dollars. Ultimately, they should have just bought a different car and saved some money (e.g., 997, 991, GT3, turbo cab, whatever).

As for ride harshness / trackability - 996 springs are something like 150#f/200#r. PSSx is something like 250#f / 500#r, which is pretty close to 996 GT3 spring rates 228#f / 543#r). This is typically plenty for the street, but for the track, most folks bump this up (500# / 700# or more). You'll also want bigger sway bars, especially for a convertible.

Lastly, a 996 cab shouldn't feel like a caddy. If it is, something might be wrong with the car. If you are really considering a 996 cab that handles like dung, you should have a proper PPI done to make sure you aren't buying a problem.

-td

Ls2Rx7

Thanks for the replies so far.
I've actually driven 2 Cabs
A 2006 997 S
And a 2001

So I drove both a 997 and 996 variant, and honestly I thought the 996 felt more lively. So there might have been something wrong with the 997. With PASM set to sport it just felt a bit more bumpy (still totally well within the range of acceptable) but it just didn't want to change directions quickly, and I found the same with the 996, although it was better. As for all out limits... who knows I wasn't really pushing the envelope on the street, but neither struck me as having particularly higher limits than most "sporty" passenger vehicles.

Both felt more comfortable carving sweepers, but felt awkward when I wanted them to change directions quickly.

With regards to this input specifically, the below is EXACTLY what I'm worried about.
In my mind's eye I want a car that handles like a GT3 but I'm dead set on a convertible (regardless of which car I go with)
I'm not really convinced that a convertible is a major detriment to handling outside of a competitive series where very small differences really matter, but this car may be unique. Which is why I'm making this rather awkward pre-purchase thread.

I know from just general experience with Mcpherson strut cars, that no matter what coilover setup, I'll need a way to adjust camber up front, (always need more negative camber on these cars than can be set stock) I will get sway bars, don't know why I'd need new carriers though, that could get expensive, unless the geometry of the GT3 is significantly different than the C2s
I read that it's different in the C4s and Turbos because of the AWD system, but my understanding is the C2s are the same geometry.

If the carriers need to be changed too to get the Gt3 geometry then... I can start to see where this starts to add up quickly.

Is that what I'm facing to get what I'm looking for?

993James993

I'm looking at the H&R street coilover set up. Many have posted recently about this option.

Slakker

No carriers necessary. The main difference between a GT3 wheel carrier and C2 wheel carrier is the caliper spacing/positioning. I'm running 996 Cup Car dampeners (JRZ 3-way) on my C2 and all I had to do was fab a 1" spacer for the rears. With GT3 shocks, you don't even have to do that. All you need is $250 (Tarett) on a set of sway bar mounts for the rear though.

As for camber, I was able to get -1.8 upfront with stock mounts on my C2 DD and it felt pretty good on the street. On my C2 track car I'm -4.4 front and -3.6 rear but that's for Pirelli DH slicks.

himself

Thanks for the clarification on the carriers, Slakker. After your refresher, I recalled someone did a nice write up on this years ago. I searched and found the link.

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...on-996-c2.html

-td