Hi Guys,

What is the recommended track aligment for track events for a 997S?

What mods can make an important handling improvement?

I'm wondering how much difference some mods would make for a beginer-intermediate skilled driver?

Thanks for your comments

 

If you are going to do your first track day, I would leave your car stock. Learn to drive your car, make some mods when you find what you need/want to improve.

 

It is not my first DE. This is my second year going to the track...

 

I beleive that Porsche has a track alignment, I have a ROW track alignment on my car.

If you want to upgrade your suspension, a lot of people on this board have the Bilstein Damptronics. Check out my sig for my mods, I do a fair amount of track days.

 

Some of the guys on the TT forum found that the Bilsteins work well with a Gt3 alignment . It may wear the tires a bit faster over a stock Turbo alignment but they felt it handled better .

I have only had mine on for a month . My car has not been to the track . It's hard for me to know if it's the improved suspension coupled with the alignment --but my car does feel greatly improved . Originally it was stock . Then Techart springs with stock Turbo alignment.

 

Thenice thing about my alignment, is the tires wear evenly in the front and the rear.

 

What about just replacing the rear toe control arms ? Do that help to improve the handling on the track?

 

What wheels and tires are you running at the track?

Since you are 2 years into DE's then you are probably seeing a lot of outside front tires wear. You can replace the lower control arms in front so that you will be able to dial in at least -2 of camber. This would be the first thing I would do.

The next would be Bilstein Damptronics so that you can lower the car the corect way and corner balance.

Also check out the Sharkwerks line of suspension mods for the 997 cars.

 

I haven't installed any of these, you may want these if you are putting a very aggressive alignment. I am not sure how much it will help with a stock suspension, you should contact a local alignment shop that you will be working with and see if they can work with the parameters/confinements of the stock setup.

 

"What wheels and tires are you running at the track?"
I have the lobster 997 S factory style with toyo R888.


"Since you are 2 years into DE's then you are probably seeing a lot of outside front tires wear".
You are absolutely right. The outside of the tire (front and rear) is almost gone and the rest of the tire is in good shape.

 

KWv3's all the way. http://www.kw-suspension.com/en/30_P...nt_3/index.php
Plus your warranty will not get voided for track abuse if there is ever a problem with them. Bilstein does not warranty their suspension for track use.. which is kind of IMO since that is the crowd they are marketing PSS to.. http://www.bilstein.com/warranty.php...9b7b60afae3387

KW's about same price as PSS10's. If you have an S you'll lose the push button suspension with KW, and if that matters to you then get the Bilstein damptronics. -Although with KW's you really don't need a push button since they give an excellent street ride. Need softer? Loosen the rebound 1-2 clicks.

Either one you go with (PSS or KW) will give a marked handling improvement- I just prefer the KWs since it is more bang for the same buck and gives truer tuning options for the discerning driver.

 

I enquired about that and was told that this has never been a problem, for DE's and track usage for street cars. They don't want to warranty the product for full on Race Cars, these will become consumables and get replaced often.

 

Interesting- was this straight from Bilstein? I had inquired with same questions back when I was first comparing / investigating suspensions. I had my choices narrowed down to PSS (I've used them before and know the product) or KW (I kept hearing good things about them from knowledgeable friends).

In researching the warranty issue and product information, the response I got from Bilstien was "maybe" and "it depends" and "no we do not race our team cars on these"- So basically it would appear to be solely at their discretion, and they don't race on what they sell to you and me. I didn't have a good feeling about it. I spoke with KW's North America office and got "absolutely", "no problem", "we hope you do get into racing with our suspension", "we race competitively on the same suspension" etc.- Basically a lot of love and knowledge from KW regarding the V3's.

To me it was a no-brainer considering cost beteen PSS and KW was about same and comparing features / manufacturer support. Plus I liked the fact that KW uses progressive-rate springs and a third pre-set high-speed bump stop (separate from the adjustable bump). If you've ever hit a track curb or LA street pothole, you'll seriously appeciate that added bump feature. After driving on the KW's, the PSS just cannot compare IMHO.

Keep in mind this is all just based on my experience with both products, and I am no expert by any means. A lot of folks swear by PSS, because frankly there are not a lot of good choices for a Porsche suspension that performs well on both track and street and PSS are easy to buy. From what I've found it's pretty much Bilstein or KW for good choices, and if you've never tried KW's they are seriously worth considering- Particularly for the intermediate / advanced driver.

 

I was told that over the phone by a rep, of course it isn't in writing (which sometimes still doesn't mean anything). The other thing to consider is that they will have to prove that it was caused by the track to be able to deny a claim. If I get a bad CO, they will spend a fortune on trying to deny the claim, and loss a client in the process. Personally I think that they bank on the fact that people will sell the car long before a failure occurs and therefore there warranty is void do to the original owner clause (easier to prove). I would bet that less then 1 in 100 buyers will own the car long enough to get a failure, and then how many of those will really get a failure... 50%? If that is the case they will be insuring/warranting .5% of the total product sold, not an expensive cost in the big picture.

 

Just as I thought...I track a 997S too. From my experiance and if you are looking for the best bang for the buck, you should have a set of GT3 lower control arms installed. This will allow you much more negitive camber up front and will greatly help with tire wear at the track. I believe this mod installed with a new alignment is somewhere around $1200-1500.

You rear suspension is able to acheive proper camber and toe for a track style alignment.