This a lengthy post on my experience and the steps in setting up a 996 C4S since I purchased the unit in July of last year. Hopefully this might be useful info for others looking to gain knowledge and improve their driving experience in a 996.
The 996 c4s is already an amazing car in terms of its overall configuration. Because it shares some important elements with the turbo version, this means that the car is already well outfitted in some departments namely chassis/suspension, brakes & wheels (more on the latter later).
Nonetheless, once I had lived with amd driven the car for some time I identified a few areas that I thought could use improvements. I also had driven a number of different 996, C4S (996 and 997), 996TT and each gave me feedback on the areas that could be improved. The real moment of enlightment came when I drove a buddy's identical 4S and it did not feel at all identical! Sooo much tighter and precise... he had just purchased the car so I rang the previous owner, who was in fact a Porsche specialist mechanic and arranged for a visit to the shop.
-Suspension set up. Stock m030 springs seemed way too hard with severe bouncing. To the point that driving the car on anything but the smoothest highway was not a pleasurable experience. Whilst I was expecting a firm ride from the sport suspension I did not expect such a jarring jittery experience.
-Steering precision. The steering did not feel dialled in with a floaty front end. In a 15 year old car there are mechanical components in the underpinnings that need to be tightened / overhauled. This per se cannot be blamed on Porsche, but some components in particular tend to wear much quicker than others. This affects the ride feeling and performance of the car. In particular we know that front suspension camber upper mounts and tie rod / control arm links have a tendency to wear... A rattling sound coming from the front axle for example was a sign that the underpinnings needed some TLC
-Exhaust (no PSE in my car). Way too muted and missing throaty sound that I had always enjoyed in previous 911s. Almost felt also as the engine was hindered and needed freeing of the exhaust. I replaced the stock mufflers with aftermarket stainless sport units that shave weight and allow the engine to growl and seem to improve performance, although this could just be an impression, but the weight savings alone are positive as they are hanging right off the back of the car.
-Shifter. The standard shifter was not up to par with what I expected in terms of feel and precision and the throw was too long for a car of its generation. I replaced the standard shifter with a 997.2 GT3 shifter. In my view it provides just the right throw and great precision without compromising comfort and use.
-Sound system. My car came with the non bose system and the sound quality was quite poor and there was no Bluetooth connectivity. As a first step I installed a Dension gateway for BT connectivity and upgraded the front speakers, whilst maintaining the door and rear and the factory amp. I removed the trunk mounted cd changer since I don't use it and it just adds usless weight. Further upgrades to the sound could of course be made but this already improved the sound significantly.
Suspension set up
The first thing the porsche specialist (manumotorsport.com) mentioned was that he had replaced the suspension coil overs with Eibach units. This had lowered the car further by 15-20 millimetres from the m030 setup. These springs have a non linear progressive design that provide a firm but supple ride. I had experienced this while driving his former C4S and the car was extremely well planted and felt like roll and general inertias had been completely minimised.
He also explained how he had set up the cars alignment and how specific this needed to be in order to get the right feel from the steering.
Additionally he had swapped the original wheels for the turbo hollow units. This shaves around 2kg off each wheel and improves the unsprung weight making for an improvement over the standard 4S.
He also mentioned other maintenance and tweaks he had made to he car to fine tune and improve the driving experience (short shift lever, platinum spark plugs, KN filter, bypass exhaust etc...). Overall the car just felt so focussed and improved that I decided to drive my car up to his shop and go through it with him and overhaul the suspension, steering and carry out a proper alignment setup.
Here is step by step of what we did that day:
Engine start up at 5:20 am for the 400km drive up to start work as soon as Manu opened the shop
Quick stop for a refuel and a much needed coffee
Arrival at his shop and test drive together for first impressions
This guy keeps an amazingly organized and clean shop with sone very interesting projects
997 TT tiptronic engine
One of his projects a gorgeous 964 C2 wide body track prepared unit
Another 964 C2 awaiting wide body conversion
A 69 912 Targa with soft window awaiting last step of full restoration
Down to business...Removal of top mpounts, wheel and inspection of entire suspension and steering assembly
Removal of springs and camber plates
Cleaning camber plate ball bearings
Inspecting suspension units
Mounting the new camber plates and Eibach coil overs
Removal, cleaning, greasing and tightening of tie rod and control arm connectors
Removal of rear suspension by accessing through rear cabin and switching to new springs
Checking aftermarket sport exhausts
Engine/system diagnosis (no major issues detected)
Full Alignment process (incoming values are totally off which explains awful steering/handling feel)
Final alignment settings (note aggresive "caida" or camber settings)
I also purchased a set of turbo hollow wheels that he had for sale. They are currently at the shop getting repainted and will be mounted in the next few days...
Conclusion: the car now drives almost like a new car might feel, I dare to say improved.
I think the Eibachs suit the car perfectly and provide just the right amount of firmness. The lowered height also adds to a planted feel. The alignment transforms and wakes the steering feel of the car. Point and go as well as stability are now at another level.
I can only recommend that much attention is paid to suspension/steering setup as these cars are very sensitive and need specialised tweaking and maintenance to get the best out of them. Together with the exhaust and shifter the car performs as I really expexted and is super enjoyable to drive,
Sorry for such a long post but there were lots of issues and pics to share !
The 996 c4s is already an amazing car in terms of its overall configuration. Because it shares some important elements with the turbo version, this means that the car is already well outfitted in some departments namely chassis/suspension, brakes & wheels (more on the latter later).
Nonetheless, once I had lived with amd driven the car for some time I identified a few areas that I thought could use improvements. I also had driven a number of different 996, C4S (996 and 997), 996TT and each gave me feedback on the areas that could be improved. The real moment of enlightment came when I drove a buddy's identical 4S and it did not feel at all identical! Sooo much tighter and precise... he had just purchased the car so I rang the previous owner, who was in fact a Porsche specialist mechanic and arranged for a visit to the shop.
-Suspension set up. Stock m030 springs seemed way too hard with severe bouncing. To the point that driving the car on anything but the smoothest highway was not a pleasurable experience. Whilst I was expecting a firm ride from the sport suspension I did not expect such a jarring jittery experience.
-Steering precision. The steering did not feel dialled in with a floaty front end. In a 15 year old car there are mechanical components in the underpinnings that need to be tightened / overhauled. This per se cannot be blamed on Porsche, but some components in particular tend to wear much quicker than others. This affects the ride feeling and performance of the car. In particular we know that front suspension camber upper mounts and tie rod / control arm links have a tendency to wear... A rattling sound coming from the front axle for example was a sign that the underpinnings needed some TLC
-Exhaust (no PSE in my car). Way too muted and missing throaty sound that I had always enjoyed in previous 911s. Almost felt also as the engine was hindered and needed freeing of the exhaust. I replaced the stock mufflers with aftermarket stainless sport units that shave weight and allow the engine to growl and seem to improve performance, although this could just be an impression, but the weight savings alone are positive as they are hanging right off the back of the car.
-Shifter. The standard shifter was not up to par with what I expected in terms of feel and precision and the throw was too long for a car of its generation. I replaced the standard shifter with a 997.2 GT3 shifter. In my view it provides just the right throw and great precision without compromising comfort and use.
-Sound system. My car came with the non bose system and the sound quality was quite poor and there was no Bluetooth connectivity. As a first step I installed a Dension gateway for BT connectivity and upgraded the front speakers, whilst maintaining the door and rear and the factory amp. I removed the trunk mounted cd changer since I don't use it and it just adds usless weight. Further upgrades to the sound could of course be made but this already improved the sound significantly.
Suspension set up
The first thing the porsche specialist (manumotorsport.com) mentioned was that he had replaced the suspension coil overs with Eibach units. This had lowered the car further by 15-20 millimetres from the m030 setup. These springs have a non linear progressive design that provide a firm but supple ride. I had experienced this while driving his former C4S and the car was extremely well planted and felt like roll and general inertias had been completely minimised.
He also explained how he had set up the cars alignment and how specific this needed to be in order to get the right feel from the steering.
Additionally he had swapped the original wheels for the turbo hollow units. This shaves around 2kg off each wheel and improves the unsprung weight making for an improvement over the standard 4S.
He also mentioned other maintenance and tweaks he had made to he car to fine tune and improve the driving experience (short shift lever, platinum spark plugs, KN filter, bypass exhaust etc...). Overall the car just felt so focussed and improved that I decided to drive my car up to his shop and go through it with him and overhaul the suspension, steering and carry out a proper alignment setup.
Here is step by step of what we did that day:
Engine start up at 5:20 am for the 400km drive up to start work as soon as Manu opened the shop
Quick stop for a refuel and a much needed coffee
Arrival at his shop and test drive together for first impressions
This guy keeps an amazingly organized and clean shop with sone very interesting projects
997 TT tiptronic engine
One of his projects a gorgeous 964 C2 wide body track prepared unit
Another 964 C2 awaiting wide body conversion
A 69 912 Targa with soft window awaiting last step of full restoration
Down to business...Removal of top mpounts, wheel and inspection of entire suspension and steering assembly
Removal of springs and camber plates
Cleaning camber plate ball bearings
Inspecting suspension units
Mounting the new camber plates and Eibach coil overs
Removal, cleaning, greasing and tightening of tie rod and control arm connectors
Removal of rear suspension by accessing through rear cabin and switching to new springs
Checking aftermarket sport exhausts
Engine/system diagnosis (no major issues detected)
Full Alignment process (incoming values are totally off which explains awful steering/handling feel)
Final alignment settings (note aggresive "caida" or camber settings)
I also purchased a set of turbo hollow wheels that he had for sale. They are currently at the shop getting repainted and will be mounted in the next few days...
Conclusion: the car now drives almost like a new car might feel, I dare to say improved.
I think the Eibachs suit the car perfectly and provide just the right amount of firmness. The lowered height also adds to a planted feel. The alignment transforms and wakes the steering feel of the car. Point and go as well as stability are now at another level.
I can only recommend that much attention is paid to suspension/steering setup as these cars are very sensitive and need specialised tweaking and maintenance to get the best out of them. Together with the exhaust and shifter the car performs as I really expexted and is super enjoyable to drive,
Sorry for such a long post but there were lots of issues and pics to share !
