frayed

Just curious. . . will the constant scraping of the front lip that we are all about to endure cause any damage to the car other than the lip itself? Obviously the forces aren't entirely absorbed by the sacrificial front lip and would seem to get transfered into the front bumper assembly.

On the 996 GT3 I was told that no damage would be done to the front bumper assembly from as-expected scraping. However, these new car are about 1.5" lower up front than the 996. . .

enthusiast

As you stated, if the lip is pressed hard enough that force goes into the bumper cover and could flex the cover in some areas. That will stress the paint which sometimes leads to cracks.

You know the deal here, there are many abrupt ground surface transitions (driveways, parking area accesses, and cross street interfaces) that a low ground clearance sports car cannot traverse.

Is the 997 GT3 front ground clearance really 1.5 inches less that the 996 GT3?

BobbyC

Would just have to be careful...

frayed

996 GT3 = 5.5" of clearance
997S Aerokit = 5.5"

997 GT3 = 4"

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ight=clearance

Which results in this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_ccryWS4Og

Driving in any urban environment is going to prove a challenge to say the least. The 996 GT3 was a PITA around town, so that makes the 997 variant Super-PITA, when translated to Japanese and back to Engrish.

I don't mind regularly replacing the front lip, but would be bummed if it does structural damage or the like.

yellowmz3

I too have wondered this. As I previously stated in a thread, I did scrape mine day 2.
I guess being careful is important, but it is LOW, and it's going to take a pounding. Worst case: New front bumper, paint... not much else to do. Of course, you could lease the car and just use it and forget about it.

enthusiast

frayed;

Where did you get the data of 996 GT3 at 5.5 inches in front? Nobody on board, no cargo, and light on fuel?

With driver and 1/4 fuel load I measured 4.5 inches distance from front lower lip to the ground (996 GT3).

Mad Manx

I think the clearances on the 996GT3 and 997GT3 are almost identical.

The underside edge of the 997GT3 splitter does scrape easily but the polythene type material is pretty robust, with a fair amount of flexibility, and not as brittle as the 996's.

A new one is about $100.

I'd be more concerned about the debris that can be ingested into the radiator intakes - possibly damaging the rads. Anyone looked at the mesh grilles fitted to the 997 Cup cars?

roberga

with the ROW height adjustment: 107mm front I have 4.25 inches clearance

frayed

My car was 5.5" on flat ground, no driver. I removed all the sheetrock and assorted building supplies I normally carry, so no cargo either. Not sure on fuel.

4.5 seems low to me, but certainly possble since ride height is variable on these cars.

Also note that the design of the front lip on the 997 seems to push the lowest point *further* from the wheels relative to the 996 design. If so, this just makes matters worse.

EDIT: I was the second owner of my GT3, and it came from Houston. Maybe the original owner had it jacked up.

Snowboarder54

Good point. I just returned from a trip to So. Ca. and when I washed The 3 it was necessary to use a vacuum to clean out the intakes and did notice that I had some bent fins already! Ingested a large amount of tumbleweeds along I-5!!!!

BobbyC

Not really a problem. I do it on the Turbo S all the time.

mooty

i thought the RS price comes with repaving of roads for the 50 blocks around you?

at any rate, i think as long as you are "scraping" not "hitting" the lips, you should be ok. now if you smashed the chin into a speed bump, well..... the bumper may suffer.

Mad Manx

I think the fitting clips are designed to surrender if you hit it too hard.

TT Surgeon

I saw where a guy notched the front lip on a 996GT3 like a C4S lip, it was damaged anyway. He used it for street/DD then swapped out a good one when he needed it (track). Actually was barely noticable. FWIW

10 GT3

Actually, one of my local dealers scraped the front lip just pulling it into their parking garage off the truck. They already had to replace it before delivery. Fortunatley, the front lip isn't that expensive. Just buy a spare early and put it on before you sell it.