fuenfer

I'm already on the list for a 997 GT3 mk II ... but I'm guesstimating that it's at least a year away, so these few tweaks will keep me occupied for that time.

mglobe

One of the things that makes the Cross setup such a "good deal", is that they come with camber plates up front and solid mounts in the rear. If you price out any of the other possible solutions, and include the cost of those top mounts, the Cross setup wins hands down wrt price.

RonCT

If I were to do it again, I might just have tried the JIC and maybe experimented with spring and dampening rates...

You only do the front control arms and that whole process (parts, labor, alignment) cost me $1300 at Farnbacher a couple of years ago (meaning, not a hack shop, one of the best in the nation). You can get what you need for camber out of the rear no problem and for up to about -2.5 you use 3mm shims beyond that 7mm (your shop will know). If you maxed out OEM control arms, then you probably only got 0.8 degrees, which still doesn't explain cording tires so quickly...

As to the cost differential between upgrading the 997S vs. buying a GT3 -- there's a huge jump in price you'd have to overcome. To me, the 997S with maybe $2-5k of tweaking get's it almost to GT3 performance (I say this having owned a 997S for 1.5 years and my GT3 for .5 years) and that's only a fraction of what switching cars will cost. Yes, the GT3 has more potential, but it takes a lot of skill and effort to wring it out. The OEM 997S suspension really is an amazing thing now that I've had 3 Porsches with various suspensions (JIC on my 964, stock and Damptronics on 997S, stock on GT3).

mkk62

Ron
just got back from sebring and with the gt3 control arms, a good alignment(mine was also way off) r888's, nice cool weather, and more neg camber up front shaved 4 seconds at sebring..2:32 first session before hot lap timer died...the camber and tires feel so much more planted..tire wear is perfect ...i think i am done for mods until i move to a gt3 or spec miata....thanks for your help

RonCT

Hey, that sounds great. Once I got my S to where you have yours now, I was shocked at how fast it was. I was at 1:02 at Lime Rock and 2:15 at Watkins Glen first time out with the control arms, alignment, and RA1s. That's silly fast in a car I was unfamiliar with.

Bull

I have had excellent experience with the JIC/Cross suspensions for 911s. The quality is as good or better than more expensive systems, the adjustibility is very good and the price/value is outstanding. I was very happy with the performance on track as well as the ride on the street even with 600/800 lb springs (several people were surprised at the street ride). My shop, Precision Motorsports in Califon, has installed many of these systems over the past few years. In fact Will became a distributor after seeing the quality, performance and price of the first system I had him install on my old 993.

I do know of one 968 owner who had a shock mount fail on an early system, but JIC/Cross has since changed that design due to his issue.

Ron Cohn

I have a 997S and was not pleased with the lack of negative front camber. I went to:

* GT-3 front control arms

* GT-3 front and rear adjustable sway bars

* GT-3 rear links

* RS Motor mounts

* Pagid Yellow (F) / Black (R), Castrol SRF

I kept the original shocks and springs and find that the setup works best on the normal (soft) setting. I have run the car mostly at LRP, the Glen and Monticello Motor Club. I run it with Michelin Sport Cups on stock rims.

The only thing that I think that I am giving up to a GT-3, is the high end performance of the GT-3 engine and the LSD, as the 997S can become slightly unstable under hard braking into various corners, and I get a little extra wheel slip out of tight corners.

dan212

I put the GT3 control arms on my old 997. It was a reasonable investment that transformed the car. I dialed in the alignment I wanted and was a very happy camper. This change just widens the range of alignment. It shouldn't hurt the resale value of the car - at least it didn't with mine. I still had PASM enabled suspension etc which you might lose depending on the type of aggressive suspension changes you might make.



I wouldn't make dramatic changes to the car - especially if you are contemplating resale. In any case, it is a good idea to make changes one at a time (where practical) so you can understand the effects of each change.