I see mention of needing some additional parts to ensure that a 996 doesnt eat tires after being lowered. Since I dont know totally what to search for its hard for me to search. Besides a set of coilovers, what else would I need to lower my 996TT and not make it eat tires, or handle worst, or anything like that? For fun, lets say I pulled the trigger on a set of PSS10's. Besides corner balance and alignment, what else do I need to purchase?

Thanks!

 

Depends on how much you lower. I was able to lower mine and get the alignment exactly where I wanted it with only the following parts:

Coilover kit
Rear adjustable toe links
Rear toe lock out plates

The reasoning behind the toe links and lockouts is that when you lower the car... besides too much neg camber affecting tire wear, too much toe will also shorten the life of the tires. The toe links will help you get toe back into range. Once you have adjustable toe links you no longer need the stock toe adjustment so that's the reason for the lock out plates. Also, folks have reported that the stock toe adjusters can slip under stress so another reason for the plates.

I would highly recommend a new set of front shock top hats and bearings as well since most likely the originals will either be shot or on their way out and you won't know for sure until you pull it all apart.

You may not need any of the additional parts, this is just the route that I decided to go with after some research and great advice on here and it worked out well

BTW, be sure to try and get an alignment shop that knows what they are doing and preferably has worked on similar cars before. I will also add that corner balance should not be needed for a mostly/only street car.

 

I dropped mine initially 2" and found that too low, so I'm between 1.5" and 1.75". I played around a bit and have the rear a tad higher than the front to give me a small amount of rake to quicken the steering slightly. This helps in quick transitions in the canyons.

I know, I may get some flack here but I wouldn't necessarily corner balance unless you plan to track often and want to be as competitive as possible and have done a whole lot of stuff that I find would contribute more to how the car feels overall.

The reason for not CB right now, is If I would have done it initially, I would have had to do it at least 4 times as I keep changing my ride height settings to find where I like it best. I'm even thinking about changing it again as I keep trashing the front spoiler lip.

I'm using KW V1 coilovers and I made some adjustable upper rear dog bones. I didn't have any problems getting perfect settings on the rear using them. Some will use adjustable rear toe links instead. I'm also using an adj rear sway bar set stiffer than stock.

I researched this for a couple of years before making my move and I'm very happy with what I chose. I installed it myself and even did my alignment and the car handled terrific. I had it pro aligned weeks later and found I was less than a degree off on all measurements using rudimentary hand tools, tape measure, square and string.

 

Check out the Ohlins DFV too.

Add to the suggestions above:

Front and rear adjustable drop links

Front and rear adjustable sway bars (get rid of the annoying understeer)

 

How low did you go? I believe Id be happy with around GT2 stock height, maybe slightly lower. I certainly dont want to be slammed to the ground.

 

-40/50mm MAX is a really a sweet spot for the stance of the car and as noted above the stiffer sway bar ( gt3 or similar ) in the rear will help immensely.

adjustable toe links ( i use torque solutions, though any after market adjustable toe links will achieve similar minor adjustments that'll allow more toe in so that the inner tread wear on a lowered car WITHout some measure added toe in will help with the lowered car as they are notorious for eating the inner tread section at frighteningly and alarmingly disproportional rates. just wait until you find your first set of rears on a -40mm dropped car last you no longer than 4k miles! you should be able to get away with at LEAST 6-7k miles per set depending upon miles driven/conditions encountered etc.

 

I agree on skipping the corner balance but for a little different reason. I spent a good amount of time getting my ride height set just right. I put weight in the drivers seat to compensate from me then matched L-R to the MM and dialed in a rake as well. What I found while doing this was even in my relatively flat garage the height would change depending where in the garage it was meaning the weight was shifting slightly. The road is a whole lot less level than my garage so I know just driving around will shift the weight even more, so there goes all that time and money spent for a corner balance.

Disclaimer: I have never driven a car that as corner balanced and could be proven wrong by driving a car that has been. I don't feel any difference in how the car reacts turning left vs turning right and isn't that a big part of the point of corner balancing?

 

I was able to drop my car without toe links and it is still in factory spec alignment. I am monitoring the inner tire wear and, if it looks like they are wearing unevenly, will get a set of toe links. Also heard that an aftermarket thrust bushing would help as well as the car will experience less toe during launch.

 

Yes, my goal was gt2 height as well and that is pretty much where I'm at. I think it's about the perfect height for these cars.