Andy Greene

I recently bought a 2006 Carrera S with 62,000 miles. I've always loved the look of the 911 and have heard such good things about how they perform, but I'm currently struggling with a bit of a disappointment in the car. Not having really, any, experience with 997s I'm trying to understand if the way my car handles is normal for a 997, or if there is something that needs to be addressed. The steering is incredibly vague. I realize this is a rear engine car, but on the highway I can quickly shift the wheel left and right 20 degrees or so with very little response from the car. It's like I'm driving a van. At first I suspected the shocks were bad, but this car also has PASM and with PASM in sport, the car is noticeably stiffer, but the steering still feels unreasonably vague. My wife has a 2010 Cayman S and the steering is so crisp and responsive. I realize the Cayman is mid-engined, but I can't get past the idea that a car that once cost $95,000 should feel like this. I want to love this car, but I also don't want to spend thousands of dollars on suspension if it won't make a difference. What do you think?

bhvrdr

Im not saying everything is ok with your car but there is a very different steering feel in a rear engine 911.

Now you may want to check alignment as well but here are some normal observations I found going from F engine cars to a R engine.

It does feel more "disconnected" from the road up front. It feels lighter up front. The reaction to steering inputs is good and turn-in is adequate but there is a feeling of less connection to the road. Over a few months you get used to it as just a different feel.

All this said, it couldnt hurt to have alignment checked as well as all bushings up front.

Mike

911Gr8tness

HI,

There may be something wrong in the suspension bushings. I too recently purchased a '06 C2S with 62k miles and the car handles and responds very crisp. It is much more responsive to steering input than my '14 M5 Competition car.

Andy Greene

An alignment is actually one of the first things I did when I got the car. The camber was noticeably off, especially on the rear. The change in handling wasn't really noticeable, although I had only had the car a couple days at that point.

DesmoSD

Did you get a PPI done? Is the front suspension, steering rack, bushings all ideal w/out any cracks?

I have an 06 C2S with 17K miles and the steering is responsive with quick clockwise and counter clockwise slalom snaps of the steering wheel.

michaelo

A few pointed questions:
Did you test drive the 911 before you bought it? If yes, why did you buy it if it handled so terribly during the test drive? If no, then why did you buy it without testing it first?
If you can turn the steering wheel 20 degrees (which is a lot) with very little response from the car then you really need to have the front end suspension looked at by a competent mechanic. Something is not right. It did not leave the factory like that.
As for not wanting to spend thousands of dollars on suspension - then you should have test drove it before you bought it.
As for the van comparison - every van I drove responds very well when I turn the steering wheel 20 degrees.
Get your wallet ready.

voiceprint1

Van-like is the last adjective I would use to describe a 911. Perhaps your tires are old on top of some worn suspension parts. While it's true the "feel" is different between both cars your comparing, they are not night and day (that is to say they share similarities).

Andy Greene

I did test drive the car and I also had a PPI done by a Porsche indy with good reviews. michaelo, those are fair questions: I will say that it was difficult to get a sense of the cars performance on the test drive, and regrettably, in retrospect, I clearly didn't do a great job evaluating the car. Because of my lack of experience with these cars I ended up leaning too heavily on the results of the PPI. Also, in retrospect, I'm not sure how thorough the PPI was, even though they claimed to have driven it, I have no way of knowing. I was told the car was a great deal. I started to have doubts in the shop when I took the car back to them for an alignment and I told them the starter was turning over slowly and the response was: "Hmm, I wouldn't have noticed it if you hadn't pointed it out." That's not what I want to hear from a guy who did my PPI...

ATSR

Andy Greene

I have brand new HANKOOK VENTUS V12 EVO2 (235/35ZR19 91Y XL, 305/30ZR19 100Y XL)

sober_owl

i have an 05 c2.. and i didnt know how responsive my steering was until i drove a zero mile lexus rc-f.. 10 years apart and my car still felt better..

Hi-Arc

GT3_ISH

I have those same tires in that same size setup.

While the tires aren't my favorite or even close, they still shouldnt be giving you what you're describing. I'd look elsewhere.

himself

I'd get it checked out. It's not so different from the Cayman/Boxster platform. My 997 feels equally nimble as my Boxster and GT3 - a little different, but still very responsive.

-td

BIG smoke

----
What tire pressure are you running?
What are the date stamp on each tire? Are they 1oo months old?

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret....jsp?techid=11