Hello everyone, I have been fortunate enough to fulfill a life long dream and bought a 2017 Carrera S this past weekend. I don't take delivery until Wednesday but I wanted to get the experts opinion on speed bumps with the stock ride height.

I have read that the S model has 10mm lower suspension than the stock Carrera. This is a bit concerning because I have speed humps large and small everywhere at the complex where I work. They are also in almost every neighborhood and shopping plaza here in Charlotte. Do I need to be concerned about scraping constantly? I read one thread that said a guy cracked his oil pan from going over a speed bump. I was just curious if the guys that have the S model have a hard time with this sort of thing, especially the risk of hurting the engine?

Thanks for your input.

 

Congrats on fulfilling your dream.

Not really an issue on the front and certainly never had a issue with the back scraping.
You just need to slow down accordingly when you get to the speed bumps.
If they're REALLY bad, take them at an angle.

The only time I ever had a scrape was leaving a gas station (at the wrong angle).

The plastic lip on the front is designed to breakaway (snap off) if there is too much force exerted on the lip. If this happens you can snap it back on if it's not mangled.

 

2013 4S
Of course it’s not an suv...I slow down a bit more, never a problem.

 

In general speed bumps aren't my major gripe..

Where I have larger issues seems to be entry off of the street into parking lots or anything which has a dip in it. That is almost guaranteed to cause me to bottom. I try to be careful but with the right dip and driveway entry slope there is sometimes no way around it.

I became really careful shortly after buying and was exiting a convention center with a steep driveway and it ripped off my spoiler trim. Outch.

But i had similar issues with other sports cars.. And as someone said it ain't an SUV.

 

I have had the rear scape leaving a little more than average steep curb cut so I now when leaving that store go slow and go down the curb cut crooked and it does not scape.

 

I have to be very careful after I drive my SUV to remind myself of the lower lip . My 911 Turbo is dropped and my 991 GTS is low enough to just be aware . My route to keeping scrapes at a minimum is to drive slowly and evaluate the angle on which I approach a bump or a dip . Also when parking in spots with the cement stop I keep the distance . A regular 991 ought to be fine and if lowered it means a bit more effort . If it does get scraped you are not alone .

 

Thanks for all the responses guys! I am happy to report that my new baby passes over all the speed bumps at work with no issues. As per your advice, I just slow way down and there are no issues. I actually had my wife test it with my on Sunday when there was no traffic. My biggest concern was those flaps that hang down behind the rear wheels. Since I have an S with the sport package, it is deceiving how low it makes the car look.

The one thing I have to get used to now is how much the car slings ever tiny pebble that is on the road. I guess that is the price to pay for sticky tires and the ultimate car. Hopefully it won't tear too much up under there. I had never experienced that before so it will be something to adjust to. I read about some guys having issues with stones getting into stuff, but they seemed to have early 991's so hopefully they have corrected some of the placement with the inner fenders.

 

If you had the sport PASM, which is another 10 mm lower than the std PASM, you might start having issues. But with the std PASM you should usually be golden.

 

As it turns out, I actually do have the 20mm lower sport suspension with 4 wheel steering. Everyone I talk to seems to think it will be fine since the Germans over engineer everything. I am just going to drive like it was meant to be driven and hope for the best.

 

What he said!!

 

non issue. if you're concerned take an angle and turn the wheel to bring the front up a tad.

 

You need not worry about the black plastic behind the rear wheels, you are far more likely to scrape the little plastic air dam things in front of the front wheels. Every time I scrape anything up front, this is what takes the abuse. I have not yet fouled the paint so who cares about some little black plastic bits? I'm sure the list price from Porsche could only be $500 each when I have to replace them.

I bought the car to drive and daily it year round here in NC. I always laugh when I see guys at the dealership with 5000 miles on a 3 year-old 911 and it is plastered in DO NOT WASH signs and has bed sheets on the seats. Enjoy your car!

 

I have bought mines last Sept 2017 and as Dux said I scrape mines whenever I leave the gas station on a wrong angle. Specially if you cannot position your car since there's someone coming in the gas station.

 

Welcome to the club! As everyone here has offered, speed bumps are generally not a problem with the 911 as long as you take them at slower speeds. Here in Los Angeles it’s curb entrances and exits that are most problematic. Enjoy your new 991!