It was primarily a rotor issue, and secondarily believed to be a cooling issue. Even then, you'd only have issues with gen 1 on the track. I would run GenI's on the street w/o concern.

 

Yea well the car will be seeing some good track use, so i don't know what i will decide to do! Im going to change out the lines and fluids, new pads anyway as well, might as well slap them on, i doubt i'll have any issues!

 

Just curious what you purpose for sports chrono would be ?
I have my car now for over a year and it's probably the most useless option there is.
It does nothing for performance,just makes the throttle a bit more responsive ( bad when driving in traffic and bad on the track )
So unless you like the retro-alarm clock look on the dash , I would not be concerned about buying a car without it.

 

My understanding is that the sharper throttle response is useful on the track, and that activating sport chrono also snugs the suspension down into a harder setting with the car sitting lower, avoiding the need for going to the old ROW 030 suspension for track use. Do I misunderstand what the option includes?

I have read the debates back and forth about the sport chrono and the advice from the people that I have been talking to about finding a car for me (Weissach in Vancouver BC) has been that this is a "must have" car for someone who does the kind of driving that I do. (pretty serious about the track, but want a street car for daily driving)

Thanks for any advice you can give ... !!

Lorne

 

The following is, of course, IMHO.

Sport Chrono does three things: adds a lap timer, extends PSM limits, and screws up throttle mapping. It does set PASM into sport mode, but PASM sport is independent of sport chrono, that is, there's a separate button for PASM sport. So let's take the 3 added functions:

1. lap timer. takes two pulls of the stalk to start/stop timing. It is not really much more user friendly than a timex watch and adds the ugly wart to the dashboard. If you are a serious track rat, then you'd add a hot lap timing system that requires no input from the driver and is accurate. This falls into the gimmick category for me.

2. Extended PSM. This is nice, as you can get the car pretty loose w/o PSM kicking in. But, again, hard core enthusiasts will build the skills to be able to drive w/o it on anyway.

3. Throttle mapping. This is where I hate sport chrono. Sharper throttle response is a PITA. It amplifies the throttle mapping, but does nothing for power, and makes fine thottle adjustments under hard driving more challenging b/c the gas is so damn twitchy. The amplified inital throttle movement is a gimmick, to trick the uninitiated into thinking the car has more juice when you press the Sport button. It makes the gas pedal more non-linear in its responses. In this respect, note that Porsche saw fit NOT to add this gimmick to the more focused GT3. If it were a better setup, it would be on the GT3 IMO.

So, Sport Chrono adds no suspension functionality. Let me try to clarify suspension issues that you bring up. PASM Sport does *not* lower the car. PASM is a -10 mm setup over non-PASM. Ride height is fixed from the factory.

There is no ROW sport suspension option in the US. I wrote PCNA on the issue with no response. The big advantage with the ROW -20 option, beyond stiffer springs, dampers and roll bars, is the addition of the LSD, which you cannot get in the US. A real shame!

Also note that PASM sport only firms up damping, it doesn't firm up spring rates. So, the car is only stiffer in transition and PASM doesn't effect total amount of body roll under steady state cornering. And, it's far too stiff on the street, and on many tracks, PASM in regular modes is *faster* than sport.

Cheers.

 

Frayed pretty much nailed it with Sport Chrono. However since both my wife and I use the Porsche and we are very different heights the Sport Chrono also adds the much needed memory seats and other memory functions for us.

 

I too agree with frayed. My 06 997s had both sport chrono and PASM; my next build will have neither and I will instead place coil overs.

 

As I gather, the other differences between '05, '06, '07 is the TPMS (not on '05, optional on '06, standard on '07), and there was a problem with some '05 rear suspension bushings not installed correctly at the factory and Porsche did NOT do a recall/bulletin, so you are on your own to remedy this....

 

I was about to chime in on the sports chrono, but Jeff hit it on the nose.

 

Frank .... Can you actually get a 997 S without PASM? I thought it was standard

Lorne

 

For my '05 997S, it is bundled with Sport Chrono Package Plus, and was not standard equipment...

 

The only performance advantage you get from SC in the Sport setting is that it allows great slip angles in cornering due to less rigidly enforced PSM. There is no other performance benefit.

 

But you have an option NOT to have PASM if you live outside the US. In the rest of the world you can get a 997/997S with a sports suspension package that is stiffer, 20mm lower, and comes with a LSD.