996 Vs 986 Suspension Components

[mrmickeymouse]

Do the front struts on a 996 fit on a 986, I have heard Yes and No; they look the same [but valving is the question?]. The 996’s are a little heavier, but I heard the 996 and the 986 are the same from the cockpit forward.

Any help would be most appreciative.

TIA

[Tool Pants]

Physically, I cannot see why they would not fit. But I think you are right that the valving is different. The struts for a Boxster have 986 part numbers and the 996 struts have 996 part numbers. If the specs were the same there would not be different sets of part numbers. Jeff

[mrmickeymouse]

I wonder good different or bad different, I have set but I do not want to dis assemble mine, and find out bad different.

:eek:

[Stryke]

The way I see it is all else being equal, the two cars weigh differently and as a result the struts may have different tolerances. I would recommend changing suspension parts with ones that are spec'd out for your application. :)

[mrmickeymouse]

I don't mean to be a pain, but what would be the downside of doing it, it seems pretty straight forward and easy - to top it off.

If they have the same sprung weight [almost], The only bias I can see would be the rear not flowing with the front, but I am not a Porsche engineer, so I defer to the audience.

weight

1998-1999 911 Carrera

1320 kg

wheelbase

All models

2350 mm

Track (front / rear)

all models

1455 / 1500 mm

Length, Width

All models

length: 4430 mm

width: 1765 mm

_________________________________

Porsche Boxster

Overall length 171.0 in. (4340 mm)

Overall width 70.1 in. (1780 mm

Curb weight (manual) 2822 lbs. (1280 kg)

TIA

Scott

[umn]

I don't mean to be a pain, but what would be the downside of doing it, it seems pretty straight forward and easy - to top it off.

...

Well, both cars have quite different handling characteristics due to, amongst other things, their different polar moment of inertia (PMI). That is obviously reflected in the suspension, which is why the Boxster has, at least according to the parts catalogue, different springs and different shock absorbers.

There is no point to drive a low PMI car (boxster) with the same suspension as a high PMI car (996), and there is even less point to use 996 shock absorbers with 986 springs, simply because damping characteristics of the 996 shock absorbers will not match the spring rate of the 986 springs.

It is generally safe to assume that Porsche has put some thought into matching the springs and shock absorbers to the car, which is also why aftermarket springs without matching shock absorbers (and possibly anti-roll bars) is not such a good idea.

Cheers,

Uwe