Hey,
I hope you guys are all doing well.
I thought I would introduce the car and give a mini review on these for anyone that may be thinking about going a similar route or just generally interested.
So as some of you may know I bought the car just over a month ago from a member on here, Jason. All around nice guy.
The car spec is C2S, Manual with factory short shift kit, Sports seats, Factory Sports Exhaust, Sport Chrono, Bose, Lobster claws and Sunroof full PSH. Overall condition is lovely.
I would say the factory PASM is a good suspension set up for daily road use, there is also the potential for improvement via the DSC box upgrade. (I have no experience of this , however I have heard reviews are good)
With my car on 70k and having no real knowledge of when or if the suspension had ever been refreshed I decided to to go for the Ohlins.
After calling around to get some prices for fitting and setting up I had quotes ranging from 1k to 1.5k plus vat. I guess you pay for the knowledge and experience but to me, that cash could have been better spent of mods and put towards a rainy day fund and having done a fair few suspension swaps on previous cars my destiny was calling...
The following was ordered:
Ohlins Road and Track POS MI20 (Design911)
Rear top mounts, washers, bolts (local OPC)
Front top mounts bearings (Germany)
Lower Front Control Arms (Local Motor Factor)
Front droplinks ( local Motor Factor)
15mm Spacers all four corners with Porsche OEM spec Bolts (Ebay)
Samco Hose resonator mod kit (Time Motorsport)
RSS Engine mounts and
Powerflex Gearbox inserts (Design911).
Design911 were excellent agreeing to price match and offered forum discounts too, as did my Local OPC 10% iirc.
Building up the suspension was actually fairly easy as the instructions included were excellent, along with measurements and pictures. At this point I wasn't quite sure what sort of height I would prefer. The factory recommend set up from Ohlins is 20mm drop, I wanted to keep the OEM rake as the steering feel would be retained. I opted for 26mm drop all around pre install (fully assembled ready to fit), with the intention to adjust the height should I wish to alter and fine tune.
Turns out it was pretty much spot on first time.
In terms of the install itself it was fairly straight forward once you are down there, however some bolts were, well, for the lack of a better word B***ards. However as with these kinda of things patience is key, a trip down to local Toolstation and my new friend Mr Rothenberger and his associate MAP gas lend a hand and the we cracked on.
The engine mounts and induction were super easy and straight forward to do, At this point i decided to follow Phil's advice and leave the Gearbox inserts for another time.
With the car back down on the ground, the visual impact was immediate. I am not saying it suddenly became a Snarling menacing beast of a car, it just looked exactly how it should have done from Factory, lowered, spaced and consistent rake. OEM+ then.
The car did have some Some smoked Depo rear lights fitted, I was toying with removing them during this install however, they have now grown on me and give the car a slightly more unique look. Marmite perhaps, but they are staying for now.
So with the visuals sorted it was now time to move on to the most important aspect the handling. I intend to do a fair few track days this year and so the set up needs to be dual purpose.
I decided to play around a bit on the damping spectrum after 500 miles I have settled for 8 from full stiff front and 10 from full stiff rear. With this set up the car is stiff, stiffer than OEM but by no means uncomfortable, very enjoyable and engaging actually.
The greatest benefit, if I had to sum it up in one word is confidence. Every rut, expansion joint etc is felt in a very communicative way, however the car never feels unsettled, in fact, my daily commute is country roads with lots of off camber turns with high and low speed bends with many bumps and uneven surfaces to unsettle a car, its here during these moments that you really get a sense of feel of what Ohlins is about, you hit these imperfections at speed and the car just tracks true, the steering will have the feedback of the road imperfection, you feel feel it through the seat too as the car rises and falls sharply however the expected lateral shift, that small yet perceptible shift in the cars trajectory, which can crawl into your mind and make you back off the throttle a tad. It doesn't come. Its just non existent, what expansion joint? the way the car soaks up these imperfections is simply astonishing.
Therefore what you have is immense confidence. You still drive with respect, but you relearn the cars strengths and weaknesses and drive around them. Almost any corner is flat and effortless, the traditional slow and fast out is still there but the goal post have moved on dramatically.
I opted for what I felt was a good compromise when it came to Geo,
Front:
-2 Camber
as close to zero toe with a touch toe in 0.01 both sides
Rear -2.2 camber
Slight toe in 0.12 both sides.
The plan is, is eventually for fit adjustable GT3 or RSS arms and the get the front camber to around 2.8- 3ish but for now i am very happy with this set up.
The car now feels like a tool, no, a precise driving instrument its so incredibly involving, In fact I have not put the Bose system on once. I just jump in let the car warm up and drive. The RSS engine mounts help make everything just feel super tight and solid and the induction adds to the sense of drama.
I feel its safe to say that a 997 with this set up in this day and age represents fantastic value for money.
I look forward to be being part of the forum and adding to the rich tapestry of content available.
Regards Shah.
I hope you guys are all doing well.
I thought I would introduce the car and give a mini review on these for anyone that may be thinking about going a similar route or just generally interested.
So as some of you may know I bought the car just over a month ago from a member on here, Jason. All around nice guy.
The car spec is C2S, Manual with factory short shift kit, Sports seats, Factory Sports Exhaust, Sport Chrono, Bose, Lobster claws and Sunroof full PSH. Overall condition is lovely.
I would say the factory PASM is a good suspension set up for daily road use, there is also the potential for improvement via the DSC box upgrade. (I have no experience of this , however I have heard reviews are good)
With my car on 70k and having no real knowledge of when or if the suspension had ever been refreshed I decided to to go for the Ohlins.
After calling around to get some prices for fitting and setting up I had quotes ranging from 1k to 1.5k plus vat. I guess you pay for the knowledge and experience but to me, that cash could have been better spent of mods and put towards a rainy day fund and having done a fair few suspension swaps on previous cars my destiny was calling...
The following was ordered:
Ohlins Road and Track POS MI20 (Design911)
Rear top mounts, washers, bolts (local OPC)
Front top mounts bearings (Germany)
Lower Front Control Arms (Local Motor Factor)
Front droplinks ( local Motor Factor)
15mm Spacers all four corners with Porsche OEM spec Bolts (Ebay)
Samco Hose resonator mod kit (Time Motorsport)
RSS Engine mounts and
Powerflex Gearbox inserts (Design911).
Design911 were excellent agreeing to price match and offered forum discounts too, as did my Local OPC 10% iirc.
Building up the suspension was actually fairly easy as the instructions included were excellent, along with measurements and pictures. At this point I wasn't quite sure what sort of height I would prefer. The factory recommend set up from Ohlins is 20mm drop, I wanted to keep the OEM rake as the steering feel would be retained. I opted for 26mm drop all around pre install (fully assembled ready to fit), with the intention to adjust the height should I wish to alter and fine tune.
Turns out it was pretty much spot on first time.
In terms of the install itself it was fairly straight forward once you are down there, however some bolts were, well, for the lack of a better word B***ards. However as with these kinda of things patience is key, a trip down to local Toolstation and my new friend Mr Rothenberger and his associate MAP gas lend a hand and the we cracked on.
The engine mounts and induction were super easy and straight forward to do, At this point i decided to follow Phil's advice and leave the Gearbox inserts for another time.
With the car back down on the ground, the visual impact was immediate. I am not saying it suddenly became a Snarling menacing beast of a car, it just looked exactly how it should have done from Factory, lowered, spaced and consistent rake. OEM+ then.
The car did have some Some smoked Depo rear lights fitted, I was toying with removing them during this install however, they have now grown on me and give the car a slightly more unique look. Marmite perhaps, but they are staying for now.
So with the visuals sorted it was now time to move on to the most important aspect the handling. I intend to do a fair few track days this year and so the set up needs to be dual purpose.
I decided to play around a bit on the damping spectrum after 500 miles I have settled for 8 from full stiff front and 10 from full stiff rear. With this set up the car is stiff, stiffer than OEM but by no means uncomfortable, very enjoyable and engaging actually.
The greatest benefit, if I had to sum it up in one word is confidence. Every rut, expansion joint etc is felt in a very communicative way, however the car never feels unsettled, in fact, my daily commute is country roads with lots of off camber turns with high and low speed bends with many bumps and uneven surfaces to unsettle a car, its here during these moments that you really get a sense of feel of what Ohlins is about, you hit these imperfections at speed and the car just tracks true, the steering will have the feedback of the road imperfection, you feel feel it through the seat too as the car rises and falls sharply however the expected lateral shift, that small yet perceptible shift in the cars trajectory, which can crawl into your mind and make you back off the throttle a tad. It doesn't come. Its just non existent, what expansion joint? the way the car soaks up these imperfections is simply astonishing.
Therefore what you have is immense confidence. You still drive with respect, but you relearn the cars strengths and weaknesses and drive around them. Almost any corner is flat and effortless, the traditional slow and fast out is still there but the goal post have moved on dramatically.
I opted for what I felt was a good compromise when it came to Geo,
Front:
-2 Camber
as close to zero toe with a touch toe in 0.01 both sides
Rear -2.2 camber
Slight toe in 0.12 both sides.
The plan is, is eventually for fit adjustable GT3 or RSS arms and the get the front camber to around 2.8- 3ish but for now i am very happy with this set up.
The car now feels like a tool, no, a precise driving instrument its so incredibly involving, In fact I have not put the Bose system on once. I just jump in let the car warm up and drive. The RSS engine mounts help make everything just feel super tight and solid and the induction adds to the sense of drama.
I feel its safe to say that a 997 with this set up in this day and age represents fantastic value for money.
I look forward to be being part of the forum and adding to the rich tapestry of content available.
Regards Shah.
