sevoman

Has anyone ordered or driven a 997 with sports suspension/lowered 20 mm option? Any thoughts on this versus PASM? There is a brief mention of this in GT Purely Porsche mag (November issue) suggesting it makes the car significantly better on the track, but what is it like as a daily driver?

MJones

If you are in the US, you are out of luck since the -20mm is unavailable here, hence nobody has the opportunity to try it out.
There are some good write-ups about -20mm at rennteam.com

zacharie

My dealer had it for sale; it was a black Carrera S with many options: PCCB, full leather, sport seats, Chrono package, heated seats, Navigation, GSM module, cruise control, electric roof and -20 mm lowered option. Curiously, he didn't even let us test the car before opting for a type 997. When we asked him why, he feared that we would be displeased with this car, and therefore every type 997s, because the suspension of its black Carrera are "so harsh" on street roads.
I don't know if he's right, after all, he drives many of them and his opinion on street roads about the car might not be biased. Anyway, he ended up by selling his showroom car, last week.

Sobe

zacharie ... how did it look was the appearance of the car enhanced by the lower look or could you even tell it was lowered .

zacharie

Sobe, when I came to take delivery of my car [base 997], she was seated just next to the black [-20mm lowered] Carrera S. The lowered suspension feels very obvious and you can see it clearly [without measuring or someone telling you]. On the base Carrera, the "rear arch" up the tire, shows more evidently the empty space inbetween, compared to the sport Carrera S.

The overall apperance of the sport Carrera S was truly impressive and somewhat arrogant; you get the feeling the car is somekind of beast solidly stuck on the tarmac. The base Carrera, next to it, rather gave the feeling of a civilised car for courteous people.

Sobe

Thanks .. I really love that lowered look it is a shame they do not offer that option here in the states . I usually buy the parts and just change the car after I but it , but I am not sure I can go that route with the 997 .

joeacc

Shouldn't you be able to just order the european sport springs and struts from a US Porsche dealership, and have them installed?

Sobe

that is what I usually do but with the 997 it does not work that way for some reason ..

joeacc

It sounds like you have looked into doing this, what specifically does not work?

zacharie

What's the argument from Porsche for not offering -20mm option to the US market?

Sobe, there might be a way for you to get that option you seem to really like. I am not sure about it but wouldn't that induce for you to disable PASM from your Carrera S ? or maybe get a base Carrera [without PASM] and tune the car to your needs ?

Sobe

I was told it could not be done on an American S and it also could not be retrofitted .. maybe someone else could explain .

Carlos from Spain

SOBE,
In the 997, the US cars are now the same ride height as Europe (or RoW). If you notice, the 997 is 5mm taller than the euro 996, and thats because they made the euro 997 5mm higher to meet half way with the US 997 ride height. So changing springs with euro ones in the base 997 with standard suspension would not change ride height. And in the 997S you can't fit any other springs because it has the PASM and it can't be meddled with in any way due to the electronics and software setup.

Sobe

Carlos but doesn't the 997S with Sport suspension P17 -20mm w/ rear LSD that is available in europe sit lower than the US 99 S . Thanks

Rasta

I'd like to understand this as well.

Carlos from Spain

Yes, but the -20mm is a traditional spring/shock suspension not an elelctronic adaptive suspension like the PASM so the springs would not be interchangeable.
So the european PASM is the same height as the US PASM, and in Europe you also have the -20mm option but its got nothing to do with the PASM. And you can't retrofit the -20mm into a PASM car because all the software involved is tied to the computer hearts of the 997 and would lead to many malfunctions if you mess with it, also the -20mm comes with a rear differential that you could't retrofit to the PASM car either cause it would conflict with the PSM to name a few.
So far the US buyers are out of luck if they want a -20mm car, I can't figure out why Porsche does not offer it in US, I belive its very important since right know if yu buy a 997S in US you have no choice besides PASM and PASM is not upgradeble or modifiable so its not very flexible. The only way I can think of getting a -20mm in US is to try to import a euro-spec one.

Anyhow, the PASM sits -10mm lower than the standard base 997 suspension, so the -20mm P17 sits 10mm lower than the PASM.