Mike in CA

Doug, if I reach my arm into the hole I can feel the backside of at least a part of the radiator. Now that you mention the brakes, maybe the little scoops and winglets deflect hot air from the radiators away from the wheelwell and the brakes. Hmmmmm..... With the car lowered these bits wouldn't have lasted long anyway so I guess it's a moot point. Yeah, I did coilovers with JRZ single adjustable shocks, Eibach springs, and The Racers Group adjustable sway bars. The car has been lowered an additional inch from where it was with the ROW M030 so overall it's about 45mm or not quite 2 inches lower than stock. I will have to live with it a bit longer to see if that was too much and might kick it back up a quarter inch or so. TRG did the installation for me and they used a dual spring setup with a "tender" spring underneath the main springs which are 300# in front and 550# in the rear. Theoretically the tender spring takes the initial jounce for improved ride. In practice, ride quality is pretty good; on a par with the M030 on smoother roads. Over bigger bumps you get into the main springs and there is very little give. I want to do more autocross and track stuff so I'm willing to live with the stiffer ride and issues with the lowered chassis. I had my first autocross with this setup last weekend and it made a significant difference (I'd say about a second on a 45 second autocross lap) even with the initial 'middle of the road" settings. Once I adjust the bars and shocks to balance the car and get a little more grip in front it should be even better. My setup is still obviously a compromise between street car and race car but maybe a little more toward race car than it was. It just depends on how much "pain" (and money) you're willing to spend for the gain. :drive:

On each side of my 99 C2, under the bumper and just in front of each front wheel there is a cutout which I assume is an outlet for the airflow passing through the radiator on each side. Each hole has a little mini-scoop and a small fairing or winglet that hangs down off the back edge. Now that my car has been significantly lowered with the new suspension mods the winglets have been scraping the ground over certain driveway entrances (including my own) so I removed them to keep them from being trashed. Have I circumvented some crucial bit of German engineering that's going to cause a problem with cooling or some such? I guess the winglets and scoops could aid in air extaction in some way but I would think that forced airflow through the radiators would be much more important to cooling. On the other hand, they must be there for a reason. Any thoughts?

Thanks Eric, but in my case it wasn't hardware failure but simply pilot error.....I removed the passenger seat (and seat belt receptacle) then turned on the ignition. Airbag light came on and won't go out even though everything is connected up again. I thought there might be a work around just to reset the light but I guess a trip to the dealer is the only way.

My airbag light is on and it's my fault because I'm getting old and forgetfull. I just had my '99 C2 in for some suspension work (JRZ shocks, springs, TRG bars) and to allow the mechanics easier access to the rear seat area I removed my passenger side GT3 seat. Because the connection from the passenger side seat belt to the airbag module was temporarily disconnected when I started the car, the airbag light came on. Now I once knew that this was a problem which is why I made sure the ignition was never turned on while I was installing the seats in the first place, but it slipped my mind this time around. I didn't remember until I reinstalled the seat, restored the connection and the light stayed on. So, is there a DIY proceedure for resetting the light or do I have to make a trip to the dealer who is 45 miles away? BTW, I haven't visited Loren's forum, (or any Porsche forums) for quite a while. It's nice to see so many of the original members still around. Anyway thanks for the help. Mike in CA

Actually Rob, unless I'm missing something your front camber after alignment is shown as -19' and -22'. The factory spec for ROW sport is -15' +/- 15' which means you are right there. -15 minutes (1/4 degree negative) is probably a good street compromise between response and tire wear. I autocross my car on R compound Michelin Sport Cups and I need more negative front camber. My shop was able to get -55' (almost one degree negative) front camber, which was the max possible with the ROW setup. You would need to lower the car further to get more than that. The steering requires a bit more attention in a straight line, but the car turns in beautifully and is less prone to understeer. I have been very successful autoxing with this setup but I do expect more wear on my front tires. A fair trade-off for me, but one that you might be unwilling to accept on a street only car.

Mike, I bought some jack stands but never got the car up high enough to use them. I just slapped some good wheel chucks under the wheels and jacked up one side at a time. It worked great. Thanks for all the advice... :cheers: You're welcome, RJ! I agree about the jack stands. As long as you're just changing wheels and not crawling under the car you don't need them. You would have to crank the car up pretty high to get the stands in there....which has it's own risks IMHO....and you only need an inch or so clearance to get the wheels off. I spent time myself this weekend with the car on the jack changing from street to track tires and back again. Being able to easily change both tires on a side at once is a time saver! Again, congrats on the new Fikses. :clapping:

Looks great, RJ!

I sympathize Scott. You've snapped off one of the three studs that secure the front strut to the upper mounting point in the chassis. I think those threaded mounting studs are integral with the strut which may mean you will need a new strut....hope I'm wrong about that. I would be VERY careful driving the car in that condition as you will be putting more strain on the other mounting attachements with that one broken off. Be careful and good luck.

Scott, I agree with Craig. If my local Porsche dealer knew that your friend was available to do "field alignments" by sight on 996's they probably could have saved the $100K plus they spent on their German made laser alignment rig. :D Seriously, these cars are very sensitive to proper alignment, and tiny changes in camber, toe, caster, etc can make a noticeable difference in handling. I'd be extremely skeptical about someone being able to just horse the suspension mounting bolts around by feel and achieve good results. :eek: Just my $.02.

It probably varies with how your car was broken in and how you drive it. Seat of the pants impressions are obviously subjective but I noticed that my engine felt more free revving and stronger after about 10,000 miles. I've seen long term road tests of cars where the 0-60 times at 35,000 miles were actually quicker than when the same car was first tested, so there is some objective evidence that a few miles may actually improve performance. :cheers:

There is a post, about 6 inches long, which is the hinge for the seats in the center. It sits in a metal "cradle" and is held in place by a set screw. The black plastic piece you are referring to fits on top of this assembly, with two molded-in semicircular bits that snap down securely on top of the post. I got mine off by prying the plastic piece up with a screwdriver. I thought I was going to break it but it came off ok with only some minor stretching of the semicircular bits. It does take some force to get it off. Worst case scenario if you broke the piece would be to by a new one. Even with Porsche prices, it couldn't be more than a few bucks. I bought a kit from Schatz Motorsports with pieces to plug all the leftover holes form the seat removal. It includes a short little post which goes back in that cradle so that the plastic molding has something to snap to, but doesn't stick out on either side. The kit was originally designed to be used with the Tequipment roll bar and sold for about $50. Good luck!.

I like the clean look you get with the console delete. Plus you save 2 or 3 pounds. My own subjective opinion is that the center console piece looks out of place in the 996......guess I'm used to the older 911's which had no front center console. Besides, there was a "buzz" in my console that I couldn't find. But I solved that problem! :rolleyes:

"the hardest part of the install is removing the acorn washers from the stock bolts" Why did you have to do that?

Is this what you're looking for? Tequipment bar

Personally, I wouldn't go much beyond the 5mm spacers that Porsche uses. 15mm offset on the rear is a lot. If you did do this, you will need bolts that are at least 15mm longer than stock.

Obviously this wouldn't be a normal starter motor sound. But does it sound like the kind of noise you would get if you DID forget to let go of the key while starting? It could be the starter drive gear grinding briefly on the flywheel, maybe because of a faulty solonoid. Just a thought. If it's not the starter, and it's really that loud of a mechanical noise (sounds way to loud to be the normal startup valve clatter), it's kind of scary to contemplate what it might actually be. :eek:

Does it happen as the engine is actually turning over? Could be that the starter motor isn't engaging properly.

My car is 2 wheel drive so point one is moot, however point two is very interesting. I spoke with TRG this morning and I will check back with them on this as I do autocross. I probably won't be going that stiff on the front bar but still that's very good info to have. Thanks. :thumbup: Out of curiousity, are you using TRG or stock links at the rear? What is the rest of your suspension setup?

Loren, The preview page is cool! I like it!! :clapping: :clapping:

Loren, I wrote to Gert and he said he had stock links that would then have to be modified. He said it was something any mechanic could do, but I'd rather go a different route and get pre-fabricated links to avoid that hassel.

Part of what's confusing is that I've spoken with different vendors and everyone agrees that new front links are required, but have gotten conflicting information on whether different rear links are required. I've also heard that the links need to be adjustable, and conversely, that it doesn't matter if they are adjustable. I'm trying to get it all sorted out, particularly because I want to install the bars myself. BTW, thanks for the setup advice. :cheers:

I've decided to get a pair of GT3 stabilizer bars. My question is regarding the drop links. My understanding is that the stock links will not work at all in the front and will reach only two of the four adjustment holes on the rear bar. Is this correct? I checked with Gert and he can provide a spare set of stock links that he says need to be shortened, but I don't know by how much. Also, if the links are shortened to a fixed length, will they be able to reach all of the adjustment holes in each bar? Do the links need to be adjustable too? While I'm on the subject, does anyone know how the GT3 bars compare to the ROW M030 bars for stiffness? I know the dimensions of the bars, but as a starting point I'd like to know how the settings on the GT3 bars compare to the M030 bars. For example, is the "softest" setting on the GT3 bar less, more, or equal to the fixed stiffness of the M030 bar. Knowing this could simplify setup. Anyone have any experience with this?

Karl (or Loren), for the sake of comparison, what is the rating on the standard and M030 996 springs?

Loren, Very cool! I think that may be exactly what I'm looking for! Now, why do I think I'd better find that big roll of hundred dollar bills........ :P :P :P

Karl, Great post and advice. I think I may try the incremental approach and start with the swaybars. Going from street tires to the Sport Cups made me very competitive at our local PCA autocross events, so for now at least a major upgrade isn't essential, but then everyone is always looking for an edge. :rolleyes: From there I can decide whether to take the next step. Thanks!