I have owned many, many cars but only 3 have had serious understeer, the first was my Porsche 914, the second was my Detomaso Pantera, and now my 996 tt. At speeds over 100 MPH or so, lane changes give me the same scary feeling as my 914 did (at much lower speeds) that the front end is loosing traction. How serious is this? Is this light in the front end feeling normal for the 911? Is the car still in control and it is strictly feel or is something possibly wrong with my car. It is my forst 911 so I am not used to the handling feel, nor am I used to driving over 100MPH. Up to that speed it drives straight and true and handles great.

 

I would say that there is something not right. Alignment, tires, suspension...something is wrong....A 996 Turbo properly aligned, and with proper tires, at the right inflation levels, should be rock solid all the way up to 190mph....At any speeds mine is hunkered down to the road and feels very confidence inspiring. I have the Turbo aerokit, and Bilstieins, but even without those, the car should be stable.

 

+1

 

JP's right. The turbo is pretty stable even at rediculous velocities. Can't see your front lip from the small avatar so if you're missing that then that's a clue as to why.

 

Are you on the OEM suspension?

 

I think the trick may be in your setup... there should be some "rake"... front a bit lower than rear... You avatar makes the car look like the front end is too high. I would also look into the amount of toe-in in your alignment.

 

+1 fot JP's...

There are two seperate understeering behaviours, the inherent understeer dialed in by the factory (which can be overcome) and "pathological" understeer which is not normal and should be sorted, for this check the tire pressure but I'm 99% its the alignment, this cars is very sensitive to wheel alignment and anything below 6' total toe in will make the car feel EXACTLY like that, too light and unsafe.

 

The car tracks perfectly straight with no wander or shimmy at all speeds. I have tracked it NH International with good success, but I am inexperienced on the track. The rear tires are wearing on the inside edges faster then the rest of the rear tire, but that is all I can see. The car does have 50K miles. What does a "factory alignment job" cost??

 

You can have the toe completly out and the car will track straight as long as both wheels are out in the same amount.

I don't know the cost over there in the US but whatever it costs you need it! At least an alignment check andonce its up there ask them to check all bushings and steering rose joint for wear.

 

This should be stable with no drama...

 

So you guys have had the cars running well over 110MPH with rock stable lane changes and no light change in feeling in the steering wheel?

 

Yes,
always.

 

I have and recently... mine has a full set of new tires (a month ago) and an alignment that was done two months ago (before I got the car)... If I remember correctly, from the service records of the previous owner, the alignment at a Porsche shop was around US$240.00. I will check and post the exact amount when I get home.

But as far as stability... I have the stock suspension, 51K miles, and at those speeds the car feels great

 

Priceless... got to get me a photo just like that... without the 1 bar since I don't have modified software.

 

I have a foto doing 334km/h (207mph) on the dash (bumping in the 7000rev limiter) which I took myself last weekend on my way to Ascari so you can see how stable the car was.