I was wondering if the understeer for a stock 99 carrera is alot or alittle... I was going around 70-80mph accelerating on an on ramp corner and I was getting understeer. Wondering if it could be the wear on my front tires, but the tires seem to have some life on it. There Continentals and i have Michelin Pilots on the rear. So do the stock Carrera's have bad understeer? Or is it the tires?

 

The 996 came from the factory with understeer. The thought that it is safer to have an understeering car. The multilink rear suspension has helped tame the oversteer tendencies of the Carrera, but you can still get your car's rear end to come around if you lift off the throttle while cornering. This is useful on the track as it helps get the nose of the car pointing in the right direction before application of the throttle. You can tune out the understeer of the car with changes to tire pressure, alignment, and tire sizes.

 

Do you know what you can do with the alinments? I can do my own alignment so that might be an option for me and the tire pressure as well... I did noticed when i let off the gas, i was back in control. I just thought that if i gave it gas, that the rear will loose traction and come around. If im going fast and i make a turn, will it understeer less if i let go of the gas and turn? Thanks

 

You really need to start going to the race track to fully experience the handling of a 996 without risking it on onramps and such. That said, I'm getting a new alignment tomorrow to tune out more of the understeer that's killing my track and autocross speeds and times. The 996 will push its tires at the limit. This only gets worse if you add gas. Thus the fastest way through a turn is to come in slower, let the front tires get grip as you initiate the turn an accelerate through the apex. It's a slow in fast out approach. You can modulate the throttle to get the rear end to come around to help you through the turn. To decrease the understeer, you can let out some tire pressure in you front tires (You'll need to experiment on tire pressures depending on how and where you drive your car.), add more negative camber to the front, add a wheel spacer to the front of the car, etc. I have a 7mm spacer up front and that did wonders on the track, but I don't like the steering feel on regular streets so they are coming out tomorrow when I get the realignment. You should consider a better suspension, i.e. ROW M030, PSS9's, etc.

It sounds like you enjoy driving your car so invest some time and go to some DE's. The race track allows you to improve your driving skills and drive your Porsche aggressively without undue risk to you, bystanders, and your car.

Hope this helps.

 

thanks for your reply, it is very helpful. I think im going to let out some air to see how that works out. But i am still considering PSS9's, just got a bunch of mods, so taking alittle break before i add anymore..ha. I totally understand the risks in doing it in the streets, therefore i rarely do it. But im also thinking of tracking my car, but gotta fine the time...