LAH

Thanks for taking a look here guys. I recently acquired a White 996 GT3 that I purchased for the purpose of resale. After driving it, I instantly fell head of heels and have actually sold my GT4 in favor of updating this car with some choice modifications. Along with several internal changes (LWFW, diff rebuild, Cup bumper/exhaust, etc) I am wanting to conquer the suspension. I realize this car is NOT a GT4 and is 12 years old, but it's missing something for me in the suspension department, mostly with the front end. I have had it corner balanced and aligned several times and have not found a set of settings I like with the OEM setup. I have spent hours reading old threads about the RS suspension kit, it's benefits and just how different it was from the standard GT3...so I am very tempted to go that route. Most of those threads are going on 8-10 years old so I wanted to revisit this and see if there are any modern day combo's that really help the front end on this car bite more. To describe what I'm feeling is like when I turn the wheel to 9 o'clock, I'm only get the car to go to 11. I have had every inch of the suspension looked at by multiple mechanics and they have said everything is operating properly...other then the diff, it's shot. Before I spend $10k, I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on the ultimate suspension overhaul for these cars in 2016. Thanks again!

Kaizu

For track use, you could (should?) do uniball suspension and better shocks and springs to your liking.

RS suspension difference mostly relates to new uprights for better geometry both front and rear, they are quite costly, and hard to get unbiased reviews of them. Obviously the ones who buy them tell how great they are Sure they are an improvement, don't know how much. Think the 997 GT models have that setup already from the factory.

For your problem, they are not the solution. All in all, I am quite surprised you changed GT4 to a 996 GT3. That car is great. With the 996 the front grip is the problem. Or in my case, actually the car has no grip neither front or rear...So the handling is **** but according to lap times it is still quite fast...

LAH

I had kind of been there done that with the GT4 and found it a bit too refined. The 996 is so raw and so challenging in comparison. And the engine in the GT4 is pretty underwhelming from a power delivery perspective. The GT1 engine is just so damn special...

Is there any way out there to achieve better front end grip with these cars?

Kaizu

Lots of things to do, and you can improve it a lot. One thing to begin is to put aggressive alignment, toe out for the front. That's the way I drive.

This from my lap yesterday, so it's not always understeer I'm struggling....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52O5...=youtu.be&t=2m

spiller

Mine is all monoballed, cup LCAs and toe links at the rear, stiffer springs and dampers, sway bar 1 setting from soft at the rear, 1 from hard at the front. 3.5 degrees neg camber front, 2.5 neg rear, 0.5mm toe out on each side at the front. Turn in is perfect, can put the front of the car wherever it needs to be and control the rest with the rear end. The car loves to be driven on the limit and actually it's always fastest at the track when driven in this manner. Such an old school 911 momentum car with the finesse of the aircooled cars and power of the watercooled cars. It's a perfect balance and irreplaceable IMO.

You don't need the RS uprights. If interested I can get my exact wheel alignment figures for you, I'm just going off the top of my head.

993GT

best thing to do is get the rear LCA monoball'ed and solid thrust-bushed and a good alignment

LAH

Interesting...

What do the thrust bushings offer??

993GT

They lock-in the fore-aft axle movement (alignment stability)
I run front and rear adjustable solids, but rear is most important

powdrhound

Aggressive alignment, dual or triple adjustable remote canister shocks, 1200-1500 lb springs, PMNA RSR control arms / toe arms, 18x10x13 wheels, 275/335 tires. Problem solved.... Heavy trail braking and driving technique takes care of any understeer.

AudiOn19s

The newer Porsche cars have a big advantage in mechanical grip at the front due to added track width, wheel / tire width, etc.

Setup and the right components can help the front of the 996 but honestly you really need to learn to trail brake to set the front of these cars.

There's still not much that can get away from me at the track but you really have to work for it in a 996 to keep up.

Geometry of the RS / RSR whatever parts is better from a bump steer perspective but it really doesn't do much to add mechanical grip. Get the right setup under the car, get a good amount of spring in there with a good damper, then go perfect driving it.

Happy to hear you've stuck to this platform over GT4. It's a fun and rewarding experience when you get it right.

cgfen

what is your primary goal?
(I know more front end grip)
street / track / DE?

much of what is discussed above is GREAT for track, but will compromise NVH for street use.
Just an FYI

mmuller

Except another 996.

Agree with what others recommend. Improve the entire system and the car drives better. Each step adds to the confidence and precision. I prefer a lighter spring setup than most, maybe because of driving style.

I actually upgraded mine in stages so as to understand how each change affected the car. The last change was new coilovers (ohlins 3 way) which was mostly driven by the front left oem coilover leaking and wearing out 5 set of wheel liners in 1 year. As lap times in the car decreased, the stock GT3 coilover's gave up.

LAH

Goal is to be 65% road car/canyon car and 35% track car. I do not mind a rigid harsh ride, I want the car to feel solid. I want it to feel raw and unforgiving, haha. That is one thing the GT4 did not have. It was too easy to drive fast right from the get go...it didn't require any fear or skill really. This car feels very very edgy...

Right now, the car feels almost perfectly set up in the rear...I really have to TRY to get it to come loose...even with the diff being basically destroyed.

It's sounding like monoballed LCA's, possibly 2 or 3 way adjustable coils and a really aggressive alignment is what I'm after. If I'm doing coils, would it help to get a set of adjustable rear links?

LAH

I like the idea of upgrading in stages as to really feel the effects of what is doing what for the car. Adding a bunch of different layers at one time is possibly overkill and/or not needed.

AudiOn19s

ha...so true. There's always someone faster which is why you can never stop learning and pushing to be better!