b911s

Just purchased my first Porsche, 2006 997S, love the car so far and have about 1200 miles on it but I am getting quite a bit of vibration through the steering wheel and through the car itself. It is very noticable at between 70-80mph and seems to drop off slightly after this. The other thing I noticed is that the passanger seat is shaking quite a bit at the same time. This was evident right from the start and called the dealer the day after I picked it up and they said possibly the tires were a little flat spotted, have the Perelli's, and told me to overinflate the tires a little and do a few hard brake stops to the point that the ABS is just kicking on to possibly scrub off the high spots. Well needless to say I didnt do that and figured instead of going through all that I would just wait a little and see what happens after I put some miles on it. Currently at 1200 miles and really no noticable difference. I took it in and the service manager drove the car and said that he did notice the seat vibrating starting at as low as 20 or 30 MPH and felt a little vibration at around 70 mph as I stated. He said that they would be happy to rebalance the tires but also said that I my feel a slight difference but most of it he thought was just normal road vibration. I have owned my high performance cars and have never had this much vibration. I have it scheduled to go in for the rebalance and I am not going to get to excited about this unless it continues afterwards. Just curious from you longer term owners on what to expect from the car if it is balanced up correctly. Do you feel any vibration normally around 70-80mph or do you notice your passanger seat vibrating, besides from hitting bumps in the road? I really hope that after the balance it clears this up because after a 20 mile drive to work each way I am starting to get a headache from the vibration. I cant believe Porsche would produce a car in todays market that is made for high performance driving as well as Grand Touring and leave it at this level of refinement. Looking for anybody's 2 cents, I certainly dont what to have to sell her this quickly and look elsewhere.

Thanks

Tedder Bear

First congrates on your new p-car. As for road vibration I haven't experienced any in mine. I have over 4K miles on it. Based on past road vibration experiences with other cars I thend to agree the issues is probably out of balance tires. I'd be surprised if the re-balancing didn't solve most if not all of it.

Good luck and let us know if you get it resolved.

Porky

You dealer is full of it, take it to another dealer - have driven at least 10 997's for some serious mileage and have never experienced anything strange vibrations from the steering wheel. The passenger seats on all of them vibrate - including my own car. But not noticeable to the passenger when I am driving.

andre5

Your tires may be out of round. It happens. Also, in my experience, Pirellis do tend to flat spot when sitting for extended periods of time (without being driven). This usually clears up within a few miles of driving as the tires heat up and regain their shape.

If the tires are not out of round, then maybe they just need a good balance job. Ask your dealer what type of tire balancing machine they have. One of the best tire balancing machines out there is the Hunter GSP9700 Road Force. Here's link to a review of this machine:

http://www.flashoffroad.com/features/Tires/hunter.html

Good luck.

CJC

Yes
Your dealer is off a bit. There should be no viabration at all at any speed.
You have 2 options #1 take it to the dealer you purchased it from
and tell him to balance all 4 tires while you wait!

#2 Take to an alternative dealer (be prepared to wait) and have him balance all 4 tires
I don't know if there would be a charge for this if so you may want to stick with the original
dealer.
Either way don't fret it really sounds like your only a spin balance away from having a perfect ride.

P.S. Congrats on the new ride.
CJC

MichaelL

There have also been reports on discussion boards of loose sway bar hardware causing vibration.

If you have had this vibration problem since delivery, why was it not noted and corrected during pre-delivery preparation?

Edgy01

There may be two things working against you. First off, we don't know where you live,--if you live in New York, the roadways may be a little rough. Are you where the roads are perfectly smooth and this is happening?

Second, being your first Porsche, I can assure you that the ride in Porsche of today is more severe,--if you're coming from a BMW things are completely different. Porsche prioritizes things with handling up near the very top, and ride comfort further down. With the latest tire offerings (30 series, no less) you have to expect that things are going to be rough. You might have been happier with a 997,--instead of an S as the 997 comes with 18" wheels and tires,--and are a lot more forgiving.

The pax seat should not be doing anything but sit there quietly.

b911s

I live in PA and yes some of the roads are horrible but I am reffering to smooth roads. I am not compairing this to a luxury car or a BMW, I am comparing this to other performance cars that I have owned, Z06, CLK55, XKR etc. Plus all of these cars had upgraded suspension and 19 or 20" wheels, with none of these vibrations. I was just courious becuase of the front end lightness of the 997 if a little vibration would be felt. I agree and hope that a good balance job will do the trick, I will find out next week. The dealer I deal with does use the Hunter Road Force Balancing Machine, so hopefully this will cure the problem.

As to why it wasnt taken care of before delivery, beats me, I wasnt aware that the did a pre delivery inspection drive. If you are reffering to me doing the drive, as with almost every car I have bought I often never drive them before I buy it. I figure that the car is on my list of wants and for this kind of money it cant be totally bad if it is, well just sell it and move on down the list.

Thanks for your input. I will follow up when it's done.

golfman

I didn't read this whole post but the tires could be out of balance or they could be wearing out of round. Basically a tire defect. I would have that looked at by the dealer. Some tires are blems from the factory. They are supposeed to be marked and sold on an export price list for off the road use. Sometimes they do make it on to a car. Good luck

mdrums

My 06 c2s is vib free all the way up to 150...have not gone any faster YET! Either the wheels are out of balance or the tires flat spotted but I doubt it's the tires. Your dealer will do a free alignment and balance up till 2000 miles. I had to get my car re-aligned to cure a slight pull to the right.

John NY-Naples

I have an '07 997, and have no vibrations at any speed. This is not normal, and if the dealer states otherwise, I would go to a different one.

erv

I have an '06 C4S with 4k miles on it and have never felt any vibrations at any speed. I had a very similar experience with my Audi S4. If wheel rebalancing doesnt fix the problem, it is also possible that your suspension is out alignment. Another possibility, which was my problem, is that one or more of your wheels may be out of round.

Paul523

Good advice from other posts above...first thing make sure to have the dealer do a full road force balance.

Soon after delivery I had similar problem w/my 19" P-Zero fronts ...front shake between 65 - 75mph, disappeared at 80+. At only 1K miles I had not hit any bad potholes yet..... the dealer was able to cure the vibration with a full road force balance (no cost, dealer said bec of low miles; they did it in an hour while i waited ). They fixed the shimmy by deflating and re-positioning both front tires on the wheels as the Hunter machine dictates. Good technical discussion here--- http://www.rennteam.com/showflat.php...rue#Post227558

If that doesn't solve it, could be bent wheel or defective tire. About a year ago I recall a couple of threads about front sway bar links needing to be retightened.

Edgy01

Definitely a wheel and tire issue. I've been up and down between zero and about 180 mph and had nothing but a smooth ride. Many of these tires do flatspot quite easily (thankfully, not my Bridgestones) so they could be out of round or the suspension could be wacked out. I have understood that sometimes the suspensions get screwed up while shipped,--with the way they chain them down. Everyone is entitled to a free suspension adjustment after receipt of the car if it doesn't feel right.

fast1

but also said that I my feel a slight difference but most of it he thought was just normal road vibration.

If your steering wheel and seat vibrate on smooth roads, this is not normal despite what the Dealer may say. Almost all vibrations are caused by improperly balanced wheels, bent wheel(s), or improperly inflated tires. If I were you I'd start by checking the air pressure on each tire to ensure that they are inflated to factory recommendations. If the tires are properly inflated, l would let the Dealer check out the balancing and condition of the wheels. Under no circumstances should you accept a vibration as normal, especially in such an expensive car.