CorsicanBB

Hi Guys,

I am wondering if it is time to change the suspension on my 2007 GT3. It has 103,000 km on the clock (about 64,000 miles) and has been a joy to drive both on the road and on track

Recently, I have been experiencing a lot more body roll than I think I remember experiencing even one year ago. It is still as fast as others on track but I have to fight it a bit more than I used to. On the road, it seems to saunter and bob around a lot more than before. It could be that the roads and tracks that were new when I was driving them a few years ago have now aged and are not as smooth. But I cannot help this feeling that the shock absorbers are tired after all these hard driving kilometers.

I searched this forum but could not find anyone replacing stock suspension with stock. All changes seem to have been upgrades to aftermarket items, which I am not ready to do as I want to keep the warranty going.

The Service Center tested the shock absorbers and said that they are within normal range. Apparently, there is no factory recommendation on when to change them either.

Does anyone have any info / feedback / suggestions on this?

Thanks!

philooo

are you kidding, your car really had 60k miles ! the highest 997 gt3 I have seen then

CorsicanBB

No kidding! I love this car :-)

dan212

I have about 55K on my 996/GT3 - with about 140 track days.. Its solid as a tank..

I assume you've done the usual aligning periodically. It gets knocked out in general use and especially on the track.

Your suspension is not shot.

But there are items that are consumables. Drop and Toe links do wear out. And shocks do for sure. At 60K miles this is likely the case. Very cheap to send to Bilstein to have them refreshed - something absurd like $400 if memory serves. Maybe this is an excuse to also stiffen the car with more spring, then Bilstein can revalve to match the springs you are putting on. Thats if this is a track car.

When I changed the springs on my GT3 to 700/900 at 35K miles, I sent the shocks to Bilstein to be revalved to match, but I also knew that they were due for a refresh anyway.

Depends on what kind of driving you are doing. If you are doing much track time, I'd go through all of the articulating pieces and check them out by a mechanic who knows what he is doing.

60K on a GT3? The car is solid as a rock. But some small stuff wears out - just like brake pads, rotors and stuff.

CorsicanBB

Thanks Dan for the advice. I will ask the Porsche Service Center to check all this, as they are the only ones who work on my car. The alignment is done regularly, tires / brakes / consumables replaced on or before time, etc.

FFaust

Nothing to add, but wish to echo Dan's post.

If your service centre is not experienced with track preparation, they might not be the best people to ask for advice. Work on the car, fine, but to make a determination about whether the shocks need refreshing or not, maybe not so much.

You might be able to ask Bilstein directly, and see what they think.

Good luck.

dan212

you have to send the shocks to Bilstein direct. Porsche service won't do it. They will just sell you new ones. There are just a couple of guys at Bilstein USA who can do the revalve refresh

BBMGT3

I know what you mean P. My GT3 is feeling more "battleship" than before. Either we are getting faster and using more of the car, or the shocks are going.

Its more prevalent in high speed stuff. Autodrome T2/3/4 the car rolls like anything, and under braking from 200kph+ it feels like its literally bouncing off the suspension stops at the front.

Yas T2/3 left/right transition feels awful. Even on video you can see the roll.

From chatting with one of the race engineers here (Robby, terrific guy), he explained that when the shock goes the problems manifests first at high temperature; so the service center has no way to simulate the problem unless they bake the shocks first - not really practical.

I'm planning to go aftermarket, but am a bit intimidated because I really don't understand how to adjust dampers, compression, rebound, spring rates etc.

CorsicanBB

Hey B, we are definitely going faster

But this is an interesting comment from the race engineer... I think I will pull the trigger on new shocks just before the track season starts in September. Price is not that bad, actually.

BBMGT3

We need to keep going faster!

With all the 3.8s and 991s running around, good suspension and trofeos are the only things that are going to keep us in the running.

mooty

contact Steve Weiner Rothsport.
he will set up spring pkg and provide technical support.
u can opt for single adjustsbles so there really isn't much to fiddle around.

C.J. Ichiban

you guys are dealing with really high ambient temps and dry weather over there in UAE so anything with rubber connections (motor mounts, drop links, etc) or seals (shocks) can and will wear out faster. the older 911s used to require new shocks around 50k miles, so in terms of replacement you're in a normal range.

once the rubber deforms or cracks a tiny bit, it starts to dry out and then it's gone for good/ gets progressively worse.

taffin

CorsicanBB & bmardini, there is a well sorted 996 GT2 with aftermarket suspension that could be for sale