I know you were not asking me but your questions are so "loaded" that I can't resist jumping in. I'm sure Casey will give you his (excellent) professional opinion. Followed is my experience/opinion as an amateur and pardon me if you already know all of this.

The answer to the first part, is there a one-size-fit-all setting, is yes and no. No because each of us has different ability and uses the car differently, and yes, since because a majority of forum members are amateurs and have a narrow range of (limited) skill levels (there are always exceptions of course), a lot of the settings end up being somewhat similar. Check first page of the Bilstein link in my signature to see a typical setting.

The answer to the second part, how do you know you'll have the best set-up for you? There is no way around it: you will have to experiment and find out for yourself. Thankfully, the experimentation could be a very simple and fun process and TPC will be an excellent starting point and a source of help IMO.

I always divide suspension tuning to two components:
1. Hardware (coilover, sway bar, link, tire, etc.), and
2. Alignment settings
The alignment setting process *could* be simple because although there are numerous setting variables, for the amateurs it comes down to two essential parameters: camber settings and front/rear sway bar setting, and there ARE typical settings for these two parameters (again, click first page of Bilstein link in my signature). This part could easily done by your dealer and should not cost more than 200 each time (cost of alignment/camber change) or even cheaper (sway bar setting is a 5 minute procedure and should be done for nearly free).
The hardware is the tricky part. Here one has to remember that nothing comes free in suspension setup and it's nearly always handling (stiff suspension) versus ride (soft), corner speed (more neg. camber) versuse straiglthline speed (less camber, toe, etc.).
So.... my amateur level advice is:

1. If possible, change your suspension one step at a time. Start with coilover and sway bar, and add the solid links as your proceed. More solid links = very likely better handling, but worsening ride. By adding one piece at a time, if there is something not to your liking, you know exactly which component is the likely guilty party. "One step at a time" is an extremely educational and sometimes, eye-opening experience. To me, there is no other way.

2. Always keep in mind "nothing comes free." In general and very likely, as your car becomes stiffer and better at the track, it will become more intolerable on the streets. There is no way around this. Good luck, drive safely, and have fun.

 

Thanks cannga for your input, regarding coilover i think it may be soon and Im still undecided whether I will need the pasm or not. After our track season finishes I will decide. For now i think i will go with sway bars and solid links and go from there.

Will keep you posted throughout the track season.

 

Glad to hear that you liked the system. I ordered the same system yesterday for my street driven 997.2 turbo (EVO 650).

P.S. I'll spare you any additional comments about seat time as that's a given, and you've obviously already been on the track enough (25 days this year alone) to realize how important that is.

 

You're very welcome. When you "play around" with the sway bar, remember that in the 997.1 Turbo, *in general* (YMMV, etc.), the preferred setting is soft front, stiff rear. This is to reduce the tendency for this 4WD car to understeer (as opposed to 2WD). (BTW, it's been argued that Porsche over-compensated in the 997.1 and dialed out too much of the oversteer.)

It seems like you're doing it gradually and slowly, which is great, but also keep in mind the BIG transformation and improvement come more with the stiffer coilover and spring, not the stiffer links. When you are ready for the coilover, trust me that it will be a revelation. Stock 997.1 Turbo is tragically soft and leans too much. This is its most significant design flaw and Porsche admits that much with revision in 997.2's suspension system (which is still too soft for the track IMHO, btw).

 

Tom mentioned that another 3+ was going out. Congrats! Look forward to your full review!

Casey