mkk62

anyone had luck with thicker sway bars for 997s. track the car a lot but do not want to change suspension..trying to avoid the huge slippery slope..have gt3 control arms, and r comps but someone told me that larger sways would make the car have less body roll on turns...more stable...worth it? or just one of those mods that add little...

also anyone with 200 cell cats can tell any difference... the car has with fabspeed headers, exhaust, evoms intake and giac flash. CEL light issues?

just trying to see whether these mods make a difference at the track

thanks

mk

MJones

Avoid the slope????
Your on it!!

My suggestion is learn to drive the car as it is, it is more than you are!
Are you close to it's limits or yours?

Short story
Speaking to a guy who drives Barber with a GT3 on slicks, alignment etc. was asked his time. 1:45
Cass at PSDS in a bone stock Carrera with street tires put down a 1:45

What does that tell you? It's the driver and not the car

mkk62

getting close..sebring approaching 2'30' instructor level but not racer. .....a friend broke 230 with race susp and all interior ripped out etc...his is a pure race time trial car..on slicks so near limit but probably i will never reach it because of my 2 kids at home running 8-9/10's very rarely..

i thought maybe that the sways would give a little more confidence in those fast turns...bishops bend and 17...

but you are right, i see SO many people investing more money on mods than on track time and instruction. Heck, i stayed on street tires for 7 yrs before r comps to learn a little more.....that is why my next car may be a miata for a yr with fulll cage etc to learn even more car control, then maybe gt3...

also i figure sways can be hidden from the wife

maybe not

mk

andrewdr

I have GT3 front sway with adjustible drop links for sale if you are interested. I put on JRZ and the sway sis not work well with the modified suspension. It does make a difference.

mdrums

mjones, he knows how to driver very well. 2:30 is a awesome time at Sebring in a car like mkk62's. I understand mkk62's quest to get the car more stable and fast lap time driving at 8/10's. 2:30 in his car would be the grail.

mkk62 the guy that pits next to me has a black 05 Carrera S with red 18" CCW's, gutted with race seats. stock headers, no cats or mufflers, stock air intake, race suspension, Hooisers. He is just starting out racing this year and was working on race set up and radio's last weekend. I timed him for a few laps and he was at 2:22-2:24. The silver GT3 gutted next to us was around 2:20-22 also.

mkk62

MDRUMS
was it Derik as i talked with him also..nice guy he sent me a pick of his interior ripped out and a bare shifter with nothing around it....would love to talk with him let meknow if he is there this sat..see you there...
andrewdr, thanks will research and maybe can use your sway bar..did you notice a diffference when you were running with the stock supsension...? thanks do you run with CHIN?

thanks

mk

adfsouth

I agree, mkk62 can definitely drive.....also, from what I hear, he's a very good instructor. 2:30 at Sebring in his car is very respectable....I'm not that quick yet and I have coilovers, GT3 control arms and sways.

Mkk62- I have H&R sways and they definitely tighten the car up a bit in corners. The front is fixed and the rear is adjustable. I use the front as fixed point and adjust the rear as needed. Softer rear setting makes the car understeer more and firmer gives oversteer. Other benefits of the H&R kit are that they are inexpensive and compatable with factory droplinks. I hear GMG has a very nice kit (made by Eibach), however they are more $ and require aftermarket adjustable droplinks. Or you can go with GT3 sways (again, you will need droplinks).

Per your last post, andrewdr was sitting with us in the Paddock last weekend after my tranny went. He had the car parked right next to mine. You instructed his brother Craig some events ago.

Fyi, Mikes, a bunch of us are going back up to Sebring on May 9th with SAFE Motorsports. Open track from 9-4......all solo drivers. Hope to see you guys.

mkk62

thanks andrew and sure i know the other andrew didn't recognize his signature and pic.


with my 3 month old and 2 yr old barely able to get to sebring this sat...
love to try safe one day...

hope your car is ready by sat?


mk

RonCT

My own experience wasn't that great in tweaking the stock suspension. I went with GT3 front and H&R rear sways with and then without Damptronics and it really messed up a "good thing". I'm not talking about at 8/10ths, but rather up near the limit of the car. Meaning that at a 1:04 lap at Lime Rock the modified suspension felt OK, but when pushing to 1:03 and 1:02, the car was not nearly as stable as the stock setup. I never pushed toward the 1 minute lap because of stability issues, and then decided instead of trying to make the 997 into more of a track car to just get a GT3.

Porsche really did find a good balance with the stock parts and I was not willing to spend the time to try to get the settings just right on the new parts. If I were to do it over again, I'd probably give SharkWerk's adjustable front and rear sways with proper drop links a try and then "dig in" knowing I was going to spend a bunch of time to get the settings all just right. But, I'd also go in understanding that it might also require upgrading the coil overs.
I did not have a good experience with Damptronics on the track, so if I were to try something again, it would be full-blown race shocks/springs.

I tried a bunch of other "tweaks" and the only combination I liked for street / track use of the car was X51 headers (or any aftermarket would be fine), AWE cats, stock mufflers (otherwise too loud), and Softronic. That clearly gave the car a boost, made it sound great at and above 4k (so I can hear the engine with a helmet on), yet was civil around town. I do not like oiled filters, so while I received shipment on an intake, I sent it back due to quality issues and the oiled filter (shop said it was not oiled but was and I've had MAF failures before so I won't use one).

mkk62

thanks ron
will probably leve stock and wait for the greenlight onthe gt3


mk

mdrums

No not Derik's car...Kevin's car...all black with red numbers and red wheels.

Dave07997S

I don't track my 997S..yet, can't afford it right now..I can speak on the cats though. It was the only exhaust mod that I did where I felt a difference. I did the mufflers first..no change, did the X51 headers-thought maybe I felt a topend improvement but it wasn't until I did the cats (200cpi AWE HJS) that I truly felt an improvement.

Dave

adfsouth

Ron, regarding the Damnptronics, I've read some of your previous posts regarding the bouncing, the loose feeling in rear end and noise problems you had in the beginning. I know a few people who've experienced the first 2 issues (all with aftermarket sways) and the fix was to loosen the rear sway setting to make things feel right again. This is largely due to the firmer dampening/rebound and higher rear spring rates causing more oversteer with a stiff rear sway. I personally experienced similiar characteristics to what you described....however, after letting the car settle for about 2-3 weeks and changing the rear sway setting to full soft, the car feels like it should. The addition of the Damptronics have significantly cut down my lap times at Sebring, Homestead and Moroso (already had GT3 control arms, sways, r-comps and softronic).

I know you had a bad experience with the Bilsteins but there are many of us who have had very positive results after teweeking the setup. IMHO, the Damptronics are a definite improvment over stock.....I'm talking a lot. They're not Motons or JRZs but they're a good midpoint between stock and a hardcore track setup.

I really think your issues were with the sway settings....didn't you start off with GT3 sways? Per andrewdr above, he recently took off his front adjustable GT3 sway and custom droplinks in favor of an H&R one with OEM links and said the car felt noticeably better with his JRZ suspension. Sometimes its just the combination of parts your using (even if a rebutable shop recommends such).

Anyway, you should be happy with the SPASM on your new 09 C2S as I hear its great.

RonCT

The only sways available at the time that fit the 997.1 were stock and H&R and neither was adjustable at the rear. Perhaps that's why the new 3-way Sharky sells would be the way I'd go today.

996toomey

I think one of the biggest advantages with the Damptronics over stock is to be able to get the ride height lower. The stock suspension is excellent but IMO too high for track use. For my taste the stock ride height had too much body roll under cornering and too much nose dive under hard braking.

I have the Damptronics with GMG adjustable sway bars and GMG rear toe links and the car is very stable. I found the stock suspension on the firm setting to be too bouncy and I prefer the softer setting on the Damptronics as well.