Hey there guys - I've a set of 997.2 GT3 coil overs I'm selling. I talked to my chassis guy who has done this before, but he can't recall a couple things or if he just instinctive made tweaks during install, since it's been a while and he does like 5 cars a week, usually with Ohlins and full race/track setups and things blur together :-)

Any pointers would be appreciated!

This would be installing a complete set of 997.2 GT3 PASM dampers on a 997.1 Carrera S with PASM.

Questions:
--Rears should bolt right up, including PASM wire. Correct?
--Fronts, the dampers to uprights uprights should bolt right on, no sleeves since this is 2wd, correct?
--The front PASM cable, is the GT3 cable the right length to connect right in?
--Monoball camber plates aren't required, can use the stock carrera top plates?
--The PASM module which I have should plug in w/o any programming, correct?

Thanks guys

 

Contact TPC in Md.

 

yeah, TPC will know, but i could have sworn the fronts were inverted/opposite re: GT3s vs non- models.

 

Questions:
--Rears should bolt right up, including PASM wire. Correct?
Correct. 100% direct bolt on.


--Fronts, the dampers to uprights uprights should bolt right on, no sleeves since this is 2wd, correct?
Both C2 and C4 uprights require sleeves in order to install GT3 front shocks. The sleeves aren't easy to find because they're only made by certain shock manufacturers to fit their shocks and they are likely not interested in selling sleeves to adapt other brand shocks.


--The front PASM cable, is the GT3 cable the right length to connect right in?
GT3 has cable coming out from the bottom. Whereas C2/C4/Turbo has cable coming out from the top. You'll need to either buy extensions(also aren't easy to obtain) or just extend the existing cable by soldering wires. The length of extension is approximately 1 meter.


--Monoball camber plates aren't required, can use the stock carrera top plates?
You can either use monoball top plates or custom top adapters to mate the 60mm ID GT3 springs to the existing C2 top mount. Without custom adapters they simply won't fit.


--The PASM module which I have should plug in w/o any programming, correct?
Your GT3 PASM module will cause an error in the C2 CAN system. You are better to fit the GT3 shocks and use C2 PASM module to command the shocks, which I've done the past and works pretty decent. Or use DSC module to produce supreme performance.

I have some of the required conversions parts. PM me if interested.

 

Tom you rule thank you!

 

Is this information the same for a 997.2 w/ PASM?

 

Tom helped me get the parts needed to install a set of 997.1 GT3 coil overs on my C2S with SPASM. I think I bought the coil extensions from Suncoast to avoid doing the splice but that was just a personal preference. I later bought the DSC module from Tom which I highly recommend!

 

Pleasure!

Yes same applies to 997.1, 997.2, C2, C2S.

Glad you're enjoying the DSC with the GT3 shocks. It makes a world of difference to have the extra stiffness at the corner of the car only when you need it! I think the DSC software will be released in the coming weeks so you can tune you own shocks(if you want).

 

Is this a platform to tune the behavior based on the input sensors? Sounds interesting but potentially complicated for those not experts at chassis dynamics!

 

Yes. The standard maps we provide are very much spot on. The maps operate on an algorithm built from a decade of pro racing data(not just any race data, only data from winning cars) and then further refined by hundreds of track hours to integrate the operation seamlessly. For example, a user might want to custom tune his favorite standard map if he were to add a big rear aero wing on his car. Let's say this aero wing add X amount of down force and X mph. The user can program rear shocks to be stiffer at X mph and then progressively get stiffer as speed increases. Under X mph when the aero is not producing down the force the damping is not compromised at lower vehicle speeds in favor for higher vehicle speeds. Basically when someone buys a DSC, they are getting championship winning damper tuning strategy in a box! ;-)

 

Pretty cool stuff. What dampers will the platform support? Any screen shots of the interface you can share?

 

Thanks. It is the future of automobile suspension.


1) OEM PASM(made by Bilstein) and Bilstein Damptronic B8 and B16 coilovers. The Bilstein dampers have 100 millisecond reaction time. Very good performance for mass produced dampers and for the price range.
2) Tractive DDA coilovers is the ultimate. Professional motorsport build quality, among the lowest stiction dampers available, 6 millisecond reaction time, can change damping value during mid-stroke, and the damping wide overshadows OEM/Damptronic by a large margin. Tractive DDA is an unbelievable value for its price range.
We have been offering "Plug & Play" version for PASM equipped cars and "StandAlone" version for non-PASM car to convert to electronic suspension.

Better yet, we made a youtube video to show the DSC software dialog and the basic functions. The video is about 30 minutes long. If you just want the see the main dialog skip to 2:14.

PS- Sorry for going off topic. There's lot more info on this forum and others.

 

Tom, please PM Tractive pricing for 997.2 C2S to me when you get a chance. Thank you!

 

Bringing back an old thread. Thinking about picking up a 997.1 C2S. With all the aftermarket options out there, is it still worth considering installing a set of GT3 coilovers? Is this just a more economic ic way to go or are there real advantages over KW, Bilsteins, Ohlins, DSC, etc?

also, are .1 and .2 GT3 coilovers the same?

 

It is easy to install them with extension cables from Bilstein + Sleeves for the fronts (mine are Ohlins). If it is worth it depends on price of coilovers and set up price. Bilstein does not rebuild them anymore and I have been told, they do not offer rebuild parts for them either. There are some custom places that will do the work still. I had mine checked by Glenn Yee out here in the LA/SGV area. I got lucky, and after disassembly and inspection, they were deemed to not need any repair. All I needed were the above mentioned parts (extension cables and sleeves). I was also lucky in that mine came with monoball top mounts. If you use your C2S tophats, you will need an adaptor for the springs to fit. [A note on the sleeves, Ohlins does not make these anymore from what I have heard. @Tom-TPC Racing can make them if he is not too busy. I am not sure on the cost or the timeframe]. ...but basically, these seem to be in a state of planned obsolescence by everyone in the sense that when I was searching around (including emailing Bilstein) there were not available parts and people were kind of hesitant to say they could rebuild them if needed.

After installation and alignment with corner balance by PRO Motorsports out here in LA/Glendale, my observations are that with the stock PASM controller, normal mode is not optimal but is decent. The car is a lot more stiff but is still better than when sport mode is on stock socks with Eibachs (i.e. riding on rocks for suspension) but it is not as smooth as stock with Eibachs in normal mode. With sport mode on, counterintuitively the steering is heavier, and at legal road speeds, I do not feel much difference in stiffness. This means that in sport, with the GT3 suspension, it is not as harsh as OEM with sport on and lowering springs, so sport mode is more useable. I do feel like the coilovers are a bit oversprung for daily driving. I really want to get the DSC box to see if it smooths this out. If not, I will probably see if some spring combo would do the trick before going with a different setup altogether.

If the cost of the GT3 coilovers is anywhere near the Bilstein Damptronics, I would just go with new Damptronics + a DSC box. If I track my car, it will just be for a gentleman's DE. I do not see myself using this car competitively. It is just my daily driver. As a result, I am not looking at track car options, so these seem to be the more mellow and cost effective routes that work with the stock suspension. If I was going to track a lot more and if I could not just sell my car and get a GT3 to do that, I would try to replicate Tom from TPC's set up with Tractive. He seems to have things dialed in and has a dedicated thread in the 997 GT3 forum on it that goes beyond thorough. It is one of my favorite threads on this forum.

Otherwise, if I was going to delete PASM, I would go with Ohlins R+T or KW V3. I had KW Clubsports on another car and they took a lot of tuning to be streetable IMO. Once set up, they were great on the track and I only gained small increments of time after that with each change to my setup but out of the box, they were too intense for me to daily, so I kept messing with them. In the end, I had them revalved and resprung twice over the course of about 5 years, which is not really that abnormal if you include a half dozen or more track events a year + about 10k miles in daily driving on top of that. In any case, if I do a non PASM set up, I might drop down to V3s or the more buttery, more chill Ohlins R+T.

EDIT: I am pretty sure I am wrong about this last bit.

Last, I do not think 997.1 and 997.2 suspensions are compatible. I have heard that you cannot easily swap between the suspensions GT3 to GT3, so I am assuming GT3 to C2S would also require a lot of custom parts like new carriers, hubs, and possibly a bunch of other stuff making it not worth it. Someone else might come in here to update that aspect but from my understanding it is prohibitively expensive and other options are better and more cost effective.