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It's been a few months now that a strange creek has developed from the front of the car, and progressively becoming worse (after spirited driving or any prolonged drive on a hot day). Going consensus is that it is the front Control Arm.
I figured, if I'm replacing that, I might as well replace some other suspension parts.
Currently my suspension setup:
1) RSS Sway bars (front and rear)
2) RSS Rear drop links
3) RSS Solid engine mounts (best bang for the buck upgrade money can buy IMO)
Bilstein B16 Damptronic (had serious problems with these and wouldn't go this route again - but that's another story).
Just those little changes (above) have dramatically increased driver feedback and dynamics over stock.
As for new components...
These are going in on Monday:
1) GiroDisk rotors (mine are pretty much toast, so thought I might just do them at the same time - and they are lighter than OEM, and have received substantially better reviews over OEM)
2) RSS Lower Control Arms (Front and Rear)
3) RSS Adjustable Rear link kit (Dog Bones)
4) RSS Rear Adjustable Toe Steer Kit
5) Rear toe locking plates
6) RSS Front Adjustable sway bar droplinks (to get rid of those laughable bilstein B16 toothpicks )
7) RSS Dustboots, not included in pic, but great little add on to preserve the life of the joints for a daily driver.
8) Tarett front and rear camber plates.
9) Numeric Racing Performance shifter
10) Numeric Racing cup cables
11) Numeric Racing solid transmission mounts (road)
And...
12) Front windscreen - Not included in pic, but the thing took a rock big chip a few months ago.
I'd like to thank a few guys that helped me with the order:
-Dan at Numeric Racing, thanks for details on transmission mounts, setup, and other info.
-Mike at RSS, who was incredibly helpful in helping me understand exactly what components are absolutely a must, and the perfect performance handling setup.
...and Finally Ilker at SportsCarBoutique (RSS, GiroDisc) who sourced 90% of the components and shipped them to me. It took a while to get everything in, however the service and prices just couldn't be beat anywhere else (I'm in Canada).
Thanks All - and I'll keep you updated once everything is fitted.
Last edited by pureporsche; Aug 9, 2014 at 06:11 PM.
Definitely more road than track, with the long occasional driving holiday (mountain/canyon roads). It's a daily driver, with 2x track per year, oh and the odd camping trip... seriously!
But that said, I'm the kind of guy that every time I get into the car I want to go to war :P The more analogue the better, I feel. Not worried about the noise (I think it should be fine), specifically with my TechArt exhaust and cats. More interested in direct feedback which I'm hoping to accomplish with this set-up.
Last edited by pureporsche; Aug 9, 2014 at 06:43 PM.
All these bits and pieces are nice/great....but they are intended to increase your ability to align and set-up your car beyond what OEM bits will allow. Did I miss something? What are you doing for shocks? The shocks are going to be the major game changer in this equation.
Are you sticking with or ditching your Bilstein B16 Damptronics?
Sticking with Bilstein B16's for now, they're doing the job, as long as they don't fail on me again. If they do I might rip the whole thing out and go with B6's or KW.
I needed to replace the front LCA's (started to fail on me) so it made sense just to revisit the whole suspension setup.
And yes of course, the goal will be to play with a slightly more aggressive alignment.
Last edited by pureporsche; Aug 9, 2014 at 10:59 PM.
Weissach Ltd... probably the best performance shop in Vancouver. (for those that aren't familiar, they own Bugatti, Lotus, Lamborghini of Vancouver and are the largest independent Porsche store in Canada).
All these bits and pieces are nice/great....but they are intended to increase your ability to align and set-up your car beyond what OEM bits will allow. Did I miss something? What are you doing for shocks? The shocks are going to be the major game changer in this equation.
Are you sticking with or ditching your Bilstein B16 Damptronics?
Thanks for this. Too many people think because they read something they need to change it too. The dont take a lot into what they are doing. Ie setup, if you do what they are doing you need to realize that track suspensions need to be adjusted for every type of road and track. They forget about camber, loading, ride height. What is the intent? and what else on the car is contributing to handling, would more downforce take the need to rip out a suspension?
This is not directed at the OP but the poor souls that dump $$ into their car only to make it suck, and run through tires. Quite frankly one would be better served to spend the suspension money and go to a driving school< ie PORSCHE, that uses the stock cars and stock suspension.
Thanks for this. Too many people think because they read something they need to change it too. The dont take a lot into what they are doing. Ie setup, if you do what they are doing you need to realize that track suspensions need to be adjusted for every type of road and track. They forget about camber, loading, ride height. What is the intent? and what else on the car is contributing to handling, would more downforce take the need to rip out a suspension?
This is not directed at the OP but the poor souls that dump $$ into their car only to make it suck, and run through tires. Quite frankly one would be better served to spend the suspension money and go to a driving school< ie PORSCHE, that uses the stock cars and stock suspension.
Couldn't agree with you more, quite a bit of research needs to go into such a decision.
I've been attending track events for over 10 years. This is my second Porsche, and although I don’t do it as often any more as I used to – I know exactly what I like and what will make me smile
Just as you – I would urge all to do the research before embarking on any mods. And with all research, speak to a professional (take everything you read on forums with a grain of salt).
Quick update: got the car back yesterday, and holly crap does it feel better. Substantially more planted, just feels more- for a better word "solid". I have 100,000 km on it now and had a few squeaks developing, all of those are gone!
We made a few adjustments to the above mentioned alignment, but core was still -2.5 and -2. With those setting there won't be more perceived tire ware (I had -2 / -1.5 previously) - so I wouldn't put any weight behind those that say otherwise.
The biggest difference is in the Numeric shifter, cables and T-mounts.
Shifting felt so precise and, well perfect, I had a bit of a giggle.
My recommendation - if you like rowing through manual gears, enjoy a proper heel and toe, GET THIS MOD! Seriously it blew my mind how much better shifting feels and how it changes the driving experience for the better.
Will post pics soon.
Last edited by pureporsche; Aug 16, 2014 at 09:26 AM.
Any updates? I have a C4S with the same mods with the exception of the transmission mount and rear shock top monoballs. Did you find there was enough thread depth on the top of the rear Damptronics to use the Tarett monoballs? I track mine about 15 days per year and love it.
Any updates? I have a C4S with the same mods with the exception of the transmission mount and rear shock top monoballs. Did you find there was enough thread depth on the top of the rear Damptronics to use the Tarett monoballs? I track mine about 15 days per year and love it.
So an update on this one...
My crap-steins (Bilsteins) are failing again. No errors but there is a cluncking noise coming out of the drivers side, after 30 min or more of hard use. This is the third fail, and I may just replace all four. The decision is a tough one as I have been hearing fantastic things about the TPC module - but that requires PASM compatible shocks. Everything else worth even a consideration does away with PASM.
Regarding the other components...
Honestly it's perfect. The difference between stock and my setup is night and day. Turn in is super crisp! Even thrashing it through a tight slalom feels very comfortable and responsive. The big difference are the solid mounts (engine and transmission). Every imput is respected immediately - its amazing the diference in controll and feedback.
The cons:
There is some transmission noise in the cabin, it takes some time getting use to. Keep in mind I have solid transmission mounts and cup cables (no rubber). These feed some resonance back into the cabin. In 5th and 6th gear, when you get off the throttle one can hear a slight gear whine feed back into the cabin. Mid corner or just post, shifts (although rare, when required) are scalple sharp and they feel sharper and allow you to pull them off much faster/easier with substantially lower probability of missing a shift.
Overall I would highly recommend these updates.
Contrary to other statements, other than the transmission noise (from the cup cables and solid mounts), there is no cluncking or other noise coming from such a set up.
...other than the Bilsteins that are crapping out on me again.
The only other issue I have is a vbration at over 240kph.
This is probably just a ballancing issue I need to take care of
The only other update to this setup was adding 15mm spacers in the front, extending the front track by 30 mm.
Last edited by pureporsche; May 23, 2015 at 10:55 PM.
Make sure its not the lower ball joints wearing out. Remember you have significantly stiffened up your suspension and quite often these joints are meant to be replaced every season of track usage. If your dampeners wear out usually you will see leaking of the seals first before noise
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