I have a '02 GT@ with 29,000 miles on it. I leased it used last year. The dealer has never mentioned any previous damage to the vehicle.

I tracked it last week and it felt unsafe to drive at track speeds. It has been to the dealer for various suspension issues...loose front swaybar and two alignments, the last right before the track event.

The steering feels twitchy, and the car bobs and dances over bumps. At speed, the rear end feels loose.

This was the first time that I have tracked this car, it felt very different than my 996 TT. I always thought that the GT2 and GT3 were cousins in regards to track performance.

I consider myself a novice to low intermediate driver, so I let my buddy , an advanced GT3 driver, try it. When I rode in his car at speed, I knew something was wrong. He felt unsafe also. Any comments or knowledge of places in the Bay Area that can diagnose the problem?

Thanks

 

Hi! (I'm in Moraga!) I would take it to Rob King at S-Car-Go in
San Raphael. He's at

http://www.scargoracing.com/

533 Irwin Street, San Rafael, CA 94901
415-485-6026

What sort of shocks are you running, and
what are your alignment settings?

Joe Weinstein

http://www.sfrscca.com/solo2/Results..._lists.html#oa
http://www.pca-ggr.org/acresults/082706.html

 

The eccentrics used in the rear links for camber and more crucially toe adjustment are prone to wear after 3 or 4 alignments. After they wear, they can rotate out of adjustment and cause pretty significant toe adjustments, even soon after setting alignment. W/ 29K miles I wouldn't be suprised if that is what is happening in your case.

One option is to purchase new eccentric hardware, but to cure the problem I would suggest buying the tarret toe links which remove the eccentrics from the equation. Cup car links are also available but cost 2x as much but do the same thing.

Also, the chassis is sensitive to roll bar settings. If you were on a bumpy track and your rear bar is set to full stiff you will experience a very unsettled rear end.

Other things to consider- rear ride height- too low? Tire pressures?

 

Definitely something is wrong since I have driven a GT2 at a good pace on track (about 8/10ths since it was my student's car) and it was definitely a car that communicated very well and I found it easy to control and drive because of that. In fact, stepping out of it and into my (then) 996 cab on stock suspension made me feel so disconnected!

There is something wrong with the car's setup if it felt unstable. Of course, it could've been setup for a different type of track.

 

Thanks for the help...the car is set-up to factory specs...the alignment was done at the Stead Porsche.

I'm not sure what suspension work, if any ,was done prior to my ownership.
Can there be issues with the shocks? Do they wear out?

Thanks

 

It could be something so simple as that, or another thing you would never even think of. Suspension is the sole of a car and very crucial, there were time with me adding suspension components, dialing in and so on where it had tremendous bump steer and wallowing at the back end. I took it in for full diagnostics, thank god it was just a dialing in process and great alignment, night and day difference. Goodluck man! BTW, a guy I know picked up a GT2 a whil back and my shop said they felt the safe thing, so unstable. Well to their amazement, the previous owner put lowering springs on a damm GT2, yes as crazy as it sounds!

 

Honestly it is probably the eccentric bolts on your toe links.

Toe can easily go out of adjustment on new low mileage cars in as little as a couple hundred miles of road driving.

To be sure, go back to the place that did your alignment and see where it is set at now, I'd be willing to bet your toe is way out of whack. Tarret toe links are an easy, inexpensive fix.


Good luck

 

nothing a good alignment and corner balance should take care of.

 

had similar symptoms on my M3, ended up being the rear trailing arm bushings and front bushings.

 

Well Gt2's are nervous ( require allot of attention and finesse and connot be man handled ) cars on the track and they surely do not offer the confidence of a 996tt - They arent for everyone and they demand a great deal of respect.

I would have the alignment checked to ensure its correct. The bobbing you are experiancing is common on GT2 because of the shock and spring combinations that these cars were delivered with - the 02-03 had the early suspensions /later updated on 04 cars and improved allot.. Add a sticky tire to the stock suspension and you quickly start to load the suspension up and all the car wants to walk around and then take a set coming out of a corner with power on.

Been there done that on our own GT2 ...Our car now rides on Motons- with inner a arm mono *****- solid thrust arm bushings- adjustable rear upper links with indy car rod ends and monoball toe steer kit- Still very streetable and feel is improved considerably.

If you need a set of rear toe links you might as well just upgrade them to the rod end /cup style.

 

I agree these cars are very unforgiven. I had the my car aligned and corner balance 3 times before it was dialed in correctly. The first two times was by done the dealer.
I adivsed that you take it a Race shop like GMG that knows these cars well.

 

I remember when the GT2 first came out, all of the magazines were commenting on how twitchy and how it didn't inspire confidence on the track. It turned out that the media car(s) weren't set up correctly even by the factory! They're very sensitive to changes, but Excellence did an article about the GT2 vs. GT3 on the track and they had it gone over and with the adjustments, they basically took back every negative thing they ever said about the GT2. Sounds to me that something isn't right with your car. Take it to a very reputable shop that has a lot of experience with the GT2's. I'd say stay away from the dealership, because they don't race, so it might be aligned perfectly but not set to optimal conditions for use on a track. Where are you located, I'm sure there's some people on here that can give really good suggestions of experienced shops in your area.

 

Do you know specifically what was changed on the '04 cars?