jmj996

Good topic. I have the airbag light right now as well (as well as a CEL that I need to diagnose), just ordered the Durametric.

I was in EXACTLY your position just over a year ago. Began with a stock 1986 with 132k miles, and have DE'd it heavily. You picked an AWESOME car to go DE'ing. Suspension Recommendation: Ground Control - http://www.ground-control.com/. They have the best-priced adjustable (rebound and compression) race-level, adjustable-height strut and shock packages I found. They're customized so that you can lower the front without experiencing bump steer, and have a few little extras that nobody else has, such as a special rear eccentric bolt that allows you to lower the rear even more than the stock eccentric. Give them a call and tell them what you want to do, they'll steer you the right way. They have a 944 turbo specialist, and have track-tested their gear. Also, you should regrease the bearings - straightforward job, but it is a lot of work because you have to remove the calipers and carefully adjust the play when you reinstall them. Bushings: If they've never been replaced, then on a car with your mileage, you will probably need to change most of them - control arm bushings, sway bar bushings, power steering rack, torque tube, etc. You can get away without doing this for now (I've never heard of a bushing failure causing a problem at the track), but put it on your list because it can significantly affect handling. You may want to go with rubber bushings, just so that you don't stress the other OEM components too much (plus they're much cheaper and new OEM rubber bushings will be just fine for your first years of DE). I'm not completely sold on all these highly-expensive solid spherical bushings, the standard rubber bushings absorb a lot of the stress. If you're going to race, fine, go with solid bushings, but then you're also going to need aftermarket fabricated high-strength control arms (required for NASA racing) anyway that can take the additional stress. The aluminum control arms on these cars are prone to failure around the ball joint, especially if the car is lowered. If you have gobs of money, get aftermarket control. That's my next big upgrade. For now, I'm holding off on the installation of my solid spherical a-arm bushings because they're going to put too much stress on the factory aluminum control arms. Until you do something like this, inspect your ball joints and make sure they're tight. You can replace the ball joints as a preventive measure, but it's an enormous pain. Brakes: You didn't mention brakes, but you absolutely NEED to do something here. At the very minimum, you need ATE Super Blue brake fluid and track pads - you will see a very wide variety of recommendations for pads. I went with the proven Pagid Oranges, and they were awesome. If anything, they are too good for a stock brake setup because they will generate way more heat than the stock calipers probably ever expected to see, but I've never had a problem with the calipers. Some day, I'll put bigger brakes on all around, but for now, the only other mods I've done are brake cooling ducting (which I'm not convinced really helped that much) and stainless steel brakes lines. Stainless steel brake lines are a VERY easy mod to the front, a bit more challenging in the rear. You'll also need to get your own pressurized brake bleeder. Tires & Rims - So many things you can do here. The Fuchs are very light and have a nice performance advantage, but you probably want to be more practical. Cheapest way to go by far is to get a set of used 17" 986 or 996 turbo twist wheels, they're not that heavy and they're practically throw-away wheels at the prices you can get them these days, so no worries if you ruin any of them (I've ruined two already from overly-aggressive curbing - albeit unintentional). You'll need some H&R spacers, but otherwise they will mount right up. Get the best tires you can afford. They will make the single biggest difference in your track experience. If you can, start out with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup - at least you can legally drive these to the track if need be, and they are unbelievable! Eventually, if the DE bug really gets you, you'll want to go with slicks. Autothority Chips: Dump them. Way too many bad stories, and NO support. You NEED support so that you know EXACTLY what you have and are confident that they are matched exactly for your setup. Apparently Autothority was a very good company at one time, but were sold and apparently haven't performed near to the level as before. Get a set of 951Max chips from Russell Barry (these are the same chips that Lindsey Racing resells) or Vitesse Racing (http://www.vitesseracing.com/) chips. I personally have the 951Max chips because they came with the car, and I have been very happy with the chips and with Russell's responses to clarify exactly what the chips were designed to match up with (as far as any mods), but I've also heard numerous excellent feedback about the Vittesse chips. Be sure to upgrade the driver too. :lol: Read up on proper braking technique at a minimum, learning to do threshold braking and how to enter and drive through the corners so that you can come out of the corners fast. Lots and lots of other stuff you'll want to do for the track - not sure how mechanically aware you are, but I'll mention a few. Make sure to use a synthetic oil that's appropriate for the track. I use Mobil1 15W-50, as do some others, and that seems to provide adequate protection, but it doesn't contain a lot of the protective additives that the EPA has taken out of modern oils - some guys run motorcyle or racing engine oils so that they get those protective additives, as the engines are prone to oil starvation on rod bearing #2. Change the antifreeze and buy a new radiator drain plug (cheap) BEFORE you attempt the job, or you'll be sorry. Make sure you use the antifreeze that's approved for our cars - the antifreeze you'll usually find at large stores is not correct. I know it when I see it, but I don't happen to have a container around - sorry I couldn't be of more help. Change the transaxle fluid (can find it at Paragon). Get a short-shift kit - somewhat of a pain to install, but BIG difference, and I don't think it's that much harder on the transmission. Check your transmission mount - at that car's age, if it's never been replaced, it will be no good for the track. What I mean is that the transaxle has a single mount on top, and as a result allows the transmission to swing around. That's fine for street driving, but at high G's it's going to swing a lot. If you don't have a firm (or even a new solid) transmission mount, you could break a half-shaft. I haven't done it, but have read about a LOT of folks doing it. You'll see some neat custom mods on rennlist, but by far the cheapest and most commonly praised method is to get the solid trans mount. Replace all of your vacuum lines. Paragon sells a Lindsey vacuum line replacement kit. When you can, clean out your intercooler (just use gasoline) - with your car's mileage, you will be disgusted at what you get out of it. Check the rubber boots on your half-shafts. Most of all, inspect EVERYTHING. As much as I love renntech.org for its civility and excellent source of info for my 996, rennlist.com's 944 turbo forum is the place to be for this car. Far more active and lots of great archived info. Many other sites you'll want to check out, such as Clarks Garage. So much to do, so much to learn. But totally worth it! However, if I had all of this to do all over again, I would not start with a stock car. I started with a stock car because I wanted the learning experience and I wanted to know exactly what was done to my car outside of stock parameters. Highly upgraded 944 turbos, some which are totally ready for the track, can be found for many, many thousands less than all of the money you're going to put into this one. You could resell yours and grab a highly upgraded 944 turbo and save BIG. Good luck!

I have to agree that struts affect ride height, which is why I was focusing on that. I also believe that shocks affect ride height. I have very little experience to back that up, but when I replaced a set of relatively new KYB's with a set of race-grade Koni's on the rear of my 86 951 last fall, the rear height went up almost 1/2"!! On this car, the ride-height effect of a rear shock is magnified because it's a torsion bar setup, not an a-arm setup, and the mounting point for the shock is between the suspension pivot point and the rear wheel, not AT the rear wheel. Fortunately I was able to install an aftermarket eccentric bolt that allowed me to drop lower than the stock eccentric allows, getting some of that undesired lift back down. I'm sold on the fact that I'm buying new rear struts and springs for the 996, but I will not be going the M030 route. One, this is a cabriolet, it's more for joyriding and fun daily driving than really getting on it, plus small kids go for a ride on occasion, and they're stomachs don't always agree with the ride stiffness as it is now! Two, I believe the M030 kit lowers the ride height if I read correctly, and I definitely can't afford to do that with my driveway. :o So, where is the best place to source OEM-spec strut and spring packages? I have used Sunset Imports on numerous occasions, these guys are great, and they make the extra effort to ship these to me with a nonstandard process (FPO military address). However, I'd like to get a set with the new springs and bump stops already mounted - I just want to pull the old struts and install the new ones in a single swap. Other than getting the caliper bolts, anything else I need to pick up? I'm very interested by perryinva's comment regarding ride height measurements - I need to find the details and examine this closely after the struts are replaced to see if there's anything else awry. I've had a squeaky rear bushing on the driver's side for quite a long time now and am wondering if it's prematurely wearing out. Thanks!

Is it really possible that one rear spring has degraded that much in ten years versus the other rear spring? Is this more common than just with the two cars being discussed here? Or is it possible that measuring the vehicle height at the top of the rear fender wells is not a valid measurement point?

I never finally replied to this thread because I never got around to truly fixing the problem until this year, I just threw the hardtop on and put off the resolution. I had to use the tool that PTEC described above, and once I manually operated it up and down once, that took care of the problem. Next I will regrease the screw as Izzy suggested, don't want this to happen again.

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I have exactly the same issue on my 1999 996 cab and perhaps we can both benefit from the same expert replies and discuss each of our solutions as they are implemented. First, some basics on the car: 52k miles. Standard suspension - standard everything (though I have already added the GT3 front bumper cover for more front downforce, GT3 side skirts, and a Strosek Level 1 rear wing). This car has been tracked three times, and one time I unfortunately caught a sharp inner curb at around 65 mph on a left-hander that jacked the driver's side wheels so hard it ruined them - the outer lip of the rims (OEM BBS lightweight 3-piece 18" wheels) were bent nearly 90 degrees on both the front and back where they impacted the front of the curb. This occurred back in the Spring of 2008 and I did not notice any other damage to the car - I put my street 17" wheels on and everything seemed fine. Also mentioned it to the dealer and had him check it out, and they didn't identify any problems (though they felt overly confident in the strength of the suspension and bearings to survive such an incident). I tracked the car again one more time after that and did not notice any obvious problems then either. This week, the car started to drag in my driveway. I have a pretty steep driveway, backing down into a basement-level garage. Been using this driveway since June with no issues. Nothing has recently happened to the car, but now it drags - seems very bizarre and sudden, though it could have just been a gradual change that caused this. There is nothing hanging down underneath. I measured the fender heights in the front & back. Fronts are equal, but the rear left is a full 1/2 inch lower than the rear right. Rear tire pressures are equal and 34psi each (though I think they should be 36 psi each - anyway, not a huge deal), so something is very wrong. With a bounce test, the rear suspension seems fine - it settles immediately. Before I spend a load of cash on new shocks & struts all around, plus any dealer help I'll need for the alignment, I want to confirm: 1) Is there is any way to adjust the ride height at each wheel on a standard, stock suspension - or any other remedy you suggest? 2) If so, would it be appropriate to do this? If it means I could postpone any parts replacement and alignment a little bit, I'd like to do it because I won't have the cash to really do this right until early next year. 3) What are the possible causes of this one-sided sagging, and what could I do to confirm these? As I mentioned in item 2, I need to wait to replace any major parts if possible. This will be a very expensive endeavor, not just because of the parts, but because any dealer assistance I require for a new alignment & such will be incredibly expensive. I have taken this car with me to Italy (my wife is in the Navy) and I would have to pay any dealer labor in Euros, which is 1.5 times the dollar right now. The problem is that this car is a daily driver for us, and we need to keep it on the road until I can afford to replace a load of major suspension parts. Thanks in advance for your help! John

Hello all, My 996 has been flawless for the past year, but now I have a problem with the convertible top. It is currently stuck in the down position because the passenger side flap does not go down. Anyone ever experience this, and what should I be looking for? Thanks in advance!! John Jones

Hello, Can someone tell me where I can find the compatibility listing for these part numbers? They are for struts and shocks. 951.343.031.11 and 951.343.032.11 for the front struts 951.333.032.08 for the rear shocks I am looking for a set for my 86 951 and ran across these, but the description for the struts says that they are for "late offset" applications. I am a new 951 owner and not sure what this distinction is. Thanks! John

Interesting response, I've never seen this. I always put my gas cap up on the windshield wiper upside down. Could you possibly share a photo of this strap configuration?

25-26 lbs front (18.7.5), 30 lbs rear (18x10). It's not especially precise, I just weighed myself, then weighed myself again holding each of the wheels (which do NOT currently have tires mounted on them). I don't happen to have a pic of my own wheels handy but I've attached a pic I pulled off of eBay of the exact same wheels. With tires, these feel MUCH heavier than my original 17" twists.

We went from a 99 Boxster to a 99 996 Cab, but we had both cars simultaneously for about a year and a half. I love the extra power of the 996 and the slightly nicer interior, and also that the power top is completely automatic from start to finish, but I really miss some things on the Boxster, such as: 1) the perfectly balanced feeling of the 986 - I felt more comfortable in high-speed corners with the 986 than my rear-heavy 996, and when driving the Boxster, you really feel a lot lighter and more nimble on the road. 2) the high-pitched F1-type howl of the PSE on the small displacement 986 - LOVED IT, but will never have that with a 3.4L (deeper/lower-frequency sound) 3) the stopping power of the 986 (with Pagid pads) - another benefit of the light weight 4) IMHO, the Boxster actually looks better (less hardtop), especially the rear perspective If the status thing is a factor for you, I won't be able to convince you not to make the switch, because people really do respect the 911 a lot more than they did the Boxster. If driving satisfaction is more of a factor and you're not too much of a pure power junkie, stick with the Boxster. Some day, when I don't need the back seats anymore, I will switch back.

I put on a Strosek rear spoiler with the GT3 aerokit front bumper cover and side skirts. I chose the Strosek spoiler (level one only) because it has the same basic lines of the whale tails of old, but blends nicely with the 996 and has cool-looking air inlets. I just didn't like the other wings that stuck way up in the air. No matter what you choose, this should not be difficult. Some spoilers require the complete replacement of the trunk lid - those are probably actually the easiest but more costly. Others like the Strosek replacement I performed required only the removal of the automatic wing from the trunk lid and the bolt-in of the replacement wing (original fan stays in place). Either way, it is a DIY. I paid about $1000 for the fiberglass wing, another $600 to get it prepped & painted, and I installed it myself. I'm very happy with the results.

The use of "higher" octane fuel in performance environments have been persistantly discussed by my clients as well as peers....with the ultimate, undeniable/PRACTICAL conclusion THAT.......use the "pump" premium, it's more than capable of propelling you to track euphoria! I guess that would be a practical recommendation and one I can go along with, but to answer the question... Yes, higher octane fuel WILL increase the HP in your car, but I've never personally tried higher than 100 octane. The only 110 octane I've seen at the tracks was LEADED fuel, definitely do NOT use this. Will you notice a difference with 100 octane versus 93? Yes, you will feel a slight difference if you really know your car. I don't have dyno results for you, but in my experience on both the street and in a few track events with 100 octane in a 99 3.4L, it will run smoother and pull a little bit better. The computer will adjust to the more highly refined fuel. For best results, empty your tank as much as possible before using the 100 octane, and disconnect the battery cable long enough to reset the computer (I've heard approximately ten minutes). I have seen one show on Speed Channel that performed a test on a 996, comparing 87 octane versus 93. There was a 5hp difference to the rear wheels on the dyno. I guess you'd really have to push your car hard on a regular basis to notice this slight difference, but if the computer can tell a difference, then there must be something to it.

Tire design and selection are all about compromise, and you definitely have a difficult set of opposing constraints. If you don't mind a soft shoulder, try the Goodyear F1 GS-D3's. I originally selected these because we lived in a very wet climate and I wanted the best wet-weather traction I could get. I haven't used anything else since, except for a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires that I have on my track wheels. I've run the F1 tires on both our Boxster and now our 996, and love everything about them except the soft shoulder. I've only taken them through one DE event, and they were very good, but not great (I rode along with a few others that seemed to have a little more grip, though their tires were not rated well for wet weather). They are an 'ultra-performance' summer tire and have an excellent 'feel' with gradually more give when pushing their limits, but their strongest suit is wet-weather traction and anti-hydroplaning. All of my F1's have been extremely quiet - I also went from Pirelli's to the F1's on our Boxster and from Ventus (on the car when I bought it) to F1's on the 996, and the F1's were much quieter, but noticeably not as sharp with the steering wheel. These tires are incredibly 'mushy' until you get about 250 miles in them (or several good heat cycles), then they're great.

Thanks Izzy. That helps clarify things a lot. The gators won't be a problem at Laguna-Seca, they're not rumble strips, they're a series of little ramps (all relatively new). At my first DE event in March, we were warned that these were new and to watch out for them. It was not a problem, people actually began USING them at times to get more traction on the outer tires. I admit I am doing the reverse of what most people do with street vs. track wheels/tires - I have 17" street tires on plain twist wheels, and 18" track tires on nicer 2-pc wheels, but that's only because the Pilot Sport Cup tires came with the 18" wheels when I bought them, so it's just temporary until I use up the Pilot Sport Cup tires, then those wheels will wear a set of street tires and become my daily drivers. I am still planning to stay in the novice group this year and probably part of next year. Anybody use simulators as well? I have GTR-2 with the Logitech G25 wheel & pedals, and it's really amazing.

How did it turn out? I have a 99 with the CDR-220, which contains auxiliary input connections, line-out connections and has the ability to switch between the nonlinear factory setting and linear output. I have an iPod connected to my auxiliary input and use the line out for my subwoofer. Whenever I get around to it, I'm going to hook up a high-end amp to the line out connections to drive my aftermarket MB Quart speakers. For the CDR-210/220 units, a cleansweep provides no advantage, I confirmed this with JL Audio tech support. The only thing the Cleansweep really does is convert a nonlinear factory stereo output to a linear output, and provide the ability to take input from a secondary device (like your iPod). Unfortunately with a cleansweep, you can only use two channels so you no longer have front to rear fade capability. I'm not sure what type of head unit you have, so I can't say if you had the same options as the older Becker CDR series did.

I noticed there haven't been any responses yet. I would also like to know this. Have a DE event coming up on 9/7. I recently picked up a set of 18" Sport Classic II BBS's with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires on them. I have no idea whether I should be running higher or lower pressures than street. Generally, I've heard that higher pressures are better since we're only out there for about 20 minutes at a time and don't generally build up a lot more pressure during the run.

Thanks. I didn't WANT to put Boxster side skirts on a 996, I'm just hoping to find the right sideskirts - I was told that these sideskirts are from the 996 aerokit, then found the possible part number discrepancy that I wanted to research here. I think you have confirmed that these are not what the seller claims they are. Unfortunately, I bought them and had them painted based on the seller's description without checking the part numbers or fitment first (actually, I did put them right up next to the car, but they are only about an inch too long, so I didn't notice). It was only after I got them back from the paint shop and began to position them that I realized something didn't seem right. I got a very nice price on them and there was no shipping involved because I happened to be driving to SFO anyway and I just picked them up, but, I have paid to have them painted and now I cannot use them, so I probably will end up losing some $ on this. Since I need to sell them, I was hoping you could help me provide an accurate description of these parts. If not, I'll have to simply provide the part numbers and let potential buyers figure it out.

Thanks Loren - I checked the TSB, but all of the part numbers start with 996. The side skirts I'm looking at have part numbers starting with 986 - is it still possible they are for a 996?

I have come across a set of urethane side skirts. The seller swears they're from a 996 aerokit, but the part numbers don't corroborate that. I've done an Internet search on this part number trying decimals, dashes, spaces, and compressed, and came up with nothing. I've checked the part numbers on the side skirts twice, they are 986.559.980.00 and 986.559.981.00. Can someone please help me identify the original application for these parts and help me determine if they would actually fit a 1999 996? There is also a matrix on the side of the skirts with numerous years listed as rows, and letters as column headings, and some of the letters are checked for 97, 98 and 99. Thanks, John

It may be too late to make this comment, or maybe this is already accounted for, but if the fault codes are related to something that needs to be replaced or repaired, do you have any recourse for getting them to pay for it? It just doesn't seem normal to have a CEL for something that doesn't need to be fixed.

I think there are quite a few of us holding out for the right exhaust sound. You could do us all a big favor if you can point us to a YouTube.com link of a video/audio track for this exhaust, or if you could take your own video file and upload it to YouTube. Does anyone know of a somewhat central location on the web that lists the various aftermarket exhaust systems available and has a link to the sounds/videos for those exhausts? Loren, if there isn't one, would you consider some way of adding it to this site? I'll offer to start searching the web to place available links to products and audio/video clips - just let me know and I'll put this together on the side and send it in. As much as aftermarket exhausts and modded OEM exhausts keep coming up in these forums, it seems like this is one of the biggest mod categories for a lot of folks. I saw that there is a PSE exhaust DIY, with numerous aftermarket references, but I see a need for more than that.

I don't believe you can use a glass window that is similar in size to the newer 996 convertible top with glass window, but there are replacement tops with smaller glass windows for the early 996's. You can use any clear or tinted plastic, but the shop may need to reuse part of the original window to sew it in securely. If you really need it, I can take pictures of the inside of my top where my tinted plastic replacement was sewn in.

On this topic, I have another question that's been in the back of my mind after reading all of the RMS posts. Aside from actually changing the RMS design, I read that another one of the Porsche remedies to the RMS problem was to make a change to the RMS installation tool in order to ensure that the RMS is set deep enough. I also read that some owners have had to have the RMS replaced numerous times. If I ever need to have this done (seems like an inevitability), and I have it done at the dealer, can I safely assume that the dealer would ONLY have the new version of the tool, or is it possible that the shop is unaware or cheap and hasn't replaced their original RMS installation tool? Was the entire tool replaced, or just a component of it? Is there anything I could ask to confirm that they are using the newer version of this tool? Based on the picture above, it looks like I could inspect the tool they're going to use and confirm it has part number 9699 and not one of the older part numbers.

I don't know if there is a more suitable alternative than the Porsche Junior seat, though I'm interested in the black child seat that I saw in the back of the cabriolet in an earlier post. I can't give you a really good answer because I have a cabriolet, and I think the rear seats are a little less spacious in the cabriolet than in a coupe. In our cab, it's not even possible to put the driver or passenger seat all the way back with the junior seat in the back unless the driver's seat-back is sitting straight up. The furthest you can practically go straight back (with a minimum amount of reclining) is at most about 80% back, but no guarantees that your child won't feel a little claustrophobic. I am 6' tall and I move my seat up about 10% from my normal position to accomodate my 3-yr-old when seated behind me. You can 'delete' the lower center console to give your legs a little more room if you have to move up. I've added a few pics here (sorry for the trash on the floor and low quality, this was a quick job), which show the drivers seat moved all the way back and the seat-back positioned straight up to allow it to go back without hitting the child seat, just so you can see that it's not really practical. If you'd like more pics, let me know, but I think it would be more helpful to see pics of this seating position in coupes.