NYC996x50

I figured now is a good time to share my modest build and hopefully my experience can benefit others in this forum.

Here she is... 2002 996 x50 stock which I bought used. Arctic silver with metropol blue interior. Looks nice in the picture, but in reality, the paint on the right side and front hood are shot to hell. The detailer did the best he can but unfortunately, the problematic areas would eventually need a respray. I wish I could show you all the defects but unfortunately, the pics were in my cellphone that was stolen recently.


Here's one of my favorite pics of the car. I believe the wheels and tires maketh the car. In this pic, IMO, the stock 18" look small. Plus that 4x4 stance doesn't help the situation.


So basically, my build is centered around this thing... DPE s20 3 piece forged aluminum wheel. front-19x8.5 (1.5" polished lip); rear-19x11.5 (4" polished lip) Bought them used from member suprtran in excellent condition!

NYC996x50

Just to give you an idea of how massive a 996tt rear wheel can be...


Here's what the wheels looked like on the previous owner's car...


The wheels look great but then to achieve that look, that's when the whole slippery slope begins! The wheels had the recommended 315/25r19 and 235/35r19 tires. So of course when it came time to order the tires, I went with those sizes.


Once I saw them in person, a few days later... this is what happened.


After giving it a lot of thought, I said to myself there's no way in a hell those tires would survive in NYC! So I ended up getting a set of michelin pilot super sport 305/30r19 and 245/35r19 which I call the "steve k ny spec"

NYC996x50

So now I have a set of 19" wheels and tires that larger than stock diameter. I am sure a lot of you are familiar with the whole "risking the front diff with bigger tires" thing. Ultimately, I decided to do a rwd conversion.

Originally, I just planned on getting H&R lowering springs but since I saw threads where the stock struts were failing, I thought I could find a set of x73 suspension. Turns out the x73 is discontinued and finding one used is super hard. So I decided on H&R street performance coilovers.

Just to give you an idea on how useless a 996tt trunk is...


Had to take the coilovers out the box...


I read a bunch of threads about the H&R street performance coilovers. Some say they're stiff. Hopefully the 305/30 and 245/35 tire setup can alleviate that.

NYC996x50

So right now, my car is at the shop for coilover installation, tire mounting and wheel alignment, rwd conversion, and ABS pump replacement... $$$ I'm having the driveshaft and axles removed. Luckily the shop owner found a set of used stub axles so he doesn't have to cut into the existing ones. I'll get pictures of this when I pick up the car.

Hopefully, all the mechanical work is done this Saturday because I have an appointment at the body shop the same day. I have decided on a complete respray in the original color. I really, really, really wanted to paint the car Mexico Blue but it would have been too challenging and expensive! I'm not going to do too much to the exterior. I think the techart front bumper is too low and gt2 front end conversion is too involving with all that duct arrangement. gt2 rear decklids are nice but $$$ and plus my hydraulic wing actuators still work so I decided to go with the Precision Porsche Strosek wing.


Since I'm doing a complete respray, I figured I would do the rear bumperette delete and rear wiper delete. I saw the build pictures of this revwerks porsche but unfortunately the links to the pics are dead. To take out the rear wiper, metal was welded to fill the hole.


Can't wait to pick up my car from the mechanic and bring straight to the body shop! I even ordered a dslr with 50mm f/1.8 lens to get a good bokeh effect!

Kevinmacd

Not sure why the Advans would not survive in NYC.

NYC996x50

The potholes in the truck lane of the Long Island Expressway are deeper than the sidewalls. I am aware that the sidewall of the advan sports is among the stiffest out there but still, I wouldn't feel comfortable running a 315/25r19. There are a few NYC 996tt than run d2 forged 19" wheels on 315/25r19 and I would like to meet up with them one day to get their feedback.

Plus in general, regardless of tire manufacturer, a 315/25r19 sidewall is too thin for a lot of people and I read one thread where all 4 tires blew when driving over train tracks at slight speed.

blockhed

19's in NYC good luck..

NYC996x50

Yep... we'll see. I'll be running larger diameter tires (close to 997tt size) which have around the same sidewall as the factory 18s. What worries me is the lip getting bent. I drive mostly in Long Island so hopefully my luck is in my favor.

Kevinmacd

Make sure you keep the correct ratio between front and rear. If you go out of the specified ratio, you could damage the front wheel drive system

NYC996x50

I think I'm at 3% but I'm going rwd

dubyaTT

How do you like the metropole blue?

I came across it many times in my search and could not make up my mind.

Of course it was always combined with silver, wood or carbon but I could never pull the trigger.

NYC996x50

In my honest opinion, there's nothing really special about metropole blue. It wasn't a deciding factor when purchasing the car. It's so dark it looks black most of the time. I'm sure I can make it look nice in the photos by adjusting the exposure but in person, it's just a really dark blue. Also, for some reason, the plastic parts like the center console in metropole look really cheap. I guess because it's an 11 year old car and the plastic just got faded. One time, I was wiping those plastic pieces and the color started to rub off.

The interior of 996tt is a weak point in general. One day, I would like to do a whole MACarbon interior... kinda pricey but I think it would transform the interior.

NYC996x50

Just got the car back from TKX Performance from Long Island. One word... awesome!

With the rwd conversion, the car is totally transformed! You can feel it in the steering and when you shift. It's hard to explain... I guess it feels more "raw" I've only had the car for one day and I have an appointment at the body shop tomorrow. I'm just itching to take the car to the track!

The car is running on H&R street performance coilovers. I've read mixed reviews about these. From what I have noticed, they definitely ride better than the 11 year oem suspension I had. The ride felt harsh on the old stock suspension with stock 18" hollow spokes.. I guess because the coilovers are new, they are more compliant in absorbing bumps. Keep in mind, I'm running 305/30r19 and 245/35r19 michelin pilot super sports so that may attibute to the ride not being harsh. I guess it may start to feel harsh at 315/25r19.

One thing about the coilovers is that the front runs low and everyone who owned this kit says the same thing. It's version 2 so it's not slammed like the first version. I have the car set up at the highest setting.


I'll have some nice pics of the whole car when it's done at the body shop

suprtran

subscribed

dubyaTT

Cant wait to see the after images.