Moderato

I'm wondering what the front bumper ground clearance is for the 997. If you could mention if you have a S or PASM, etc? Thanks

For reference my 06 STI has 9" clearance from the ground to the lowest part of the bottom of the bumper and my 06 M3 has 7".

abe

I have a 997 Targa 07 C4 with Turbo 19" wheels. The front bumper is 7 1/2'' clearance....but just under the front bumper about 5" back there is a black guard and the clearance for that is about 5 3/4".
abe

erv

not alot of clearance. the penalty for low center of gravity and large overhangs.

abe

Moderato

Thanks for the replies. I'm just wondering if I get a 997 for a DD how different the experience will be vs. my M3 since that is already low. Even with snow tires a 997 must be limited with 5" clearance. Driveways, steep roads, ice & slush. Obviously I'm sold on the 997's performance and looks, at this point I'm just trying to decide how sold I am on using as a DD, even in the winter regarding ground clearance not drivetrain configuration. Does the highest setting for PASM give you 5" front bumper clearance or is that the sport setting?

Coochas

Hi Moderato,
The ground clearance does not change with PASM; however, some people do engage the sport setting when approaching driveways and other similar obstacles to reduce the 'dipping' of the front end...I'm not 100% convinced that it works but I do it too.
There are definitely driveways/ramps that I encounter on a daily basis that I need to go very slowly on to avoid scraping the front. As mentioned above, there is a small strip underneath the front end which is usually what you hear scraping - it is pliable and meant to scrape.
As far as the winter goes, the cars do very well with the proper shoes (especially the 4 series obviously). As you pointed out, the clearance IS an issue. Even now, after last week's storm my undercarriage is still brushing against a drift in front of my building when I enter....as far as I can tell, there has been no damage!!!! Big ice boulders must be avoided. I am on my third winter with my 4S without any problems. I will always live in New England and like being able to drive my car year round. That being said, if I owned a house with a 4 car garage, there would be two Cayennes and my 4S.
I wish I had a video of coming home Thursday night late from work....it was snowing again (not like the Thursday before) and I had a nice straight snow covered road and stomped on it in second....I couldn't believe the grip right up to 60 mph - I actually started laughing and then remembered that I would need to brake!
Hope this helps.

EDIT:
I also found all of these numbers in prior posts....thanks to MJones and Snarf:

C4 (PASM)
Approach angle 11.1 degrees
Departure angle 14.9 degrees
Ramp angle 12.6 degrees
Ground clearance 4.21 in

C2S (PASM)
Approach angle 11.5 degrees
Departure angle 13.5 degrees
Ramp angle 12.5 degrees
Ground clearance 4.25 in


GT3
Approach Angle 5.6°
Departure Angle 11.1°
Ramp Breakover Angle 10.3°
Ground Clearance 3.66"

TURBO
Approach Angle 7.9°
Departure Angle 12.8°
Ramp Breakover Angle 12.7°
Ground Clearance 4.3"