Loose steering at high speeds

[skipp]

I haven't had any experience with the row suspension, but can say the X74 is probably much stiffer. It's factory, which is what I was looking for and it performs very well in my opinion...bought from Carnewal online.

Good luck

[WeekendWonder]

Went with ROW M030 with H+R lowering springs. Definitely worth the money - thanks for all the advice guys :D

Now I finally understand what people emean by it settles when you pick up speed!

[PeterC4]

Went with ROW M030 with H+R lowering springs. Definitely worth the money - thanks for all the advice guys :D

Now I finally understand what people emean by it settles when you pick up speed!

Good to know that did it for you. I think the cars sit too high to begin with, but given North American roadways, its not too difficult to understand.

[Dus10R]

I live in Nevada, and there are plenty of roads here where you can drive 150+ and never see another soul for hours. I recently sold a Mitsubshi Evo VIII MR and bought a 2003 Turbo X50. I was quite suprised at the Porsche's high speed handling; I'd read articles in the past that talked about how effortless it was to drive a Porsche at Autobahn speeds and how stable they felt. But coming from my Japanese grocery cart, comparitively the Porsche doesn't have the stability at speed that it did. Granted, the Evo has tons of obnoxious boy racer kit: wings, lips, belly venturi panel and vortex generators (stock), but they were all functional, not just for looks. Mitsubishi claims that at 100mph the rear wing with the optional gurney flap creates 75lbs of downforce at the rear alone; I think the Turbo makes 16lbs. I can tell you that the Evo at 162mph was rock solid and very confidence inspiring. Like most of you I don't get that same feeling with the Porsche. It gets light and very sensitive at those speeds. It needs more downforce. I can't believe that Porsche didn't sort all of that out in testing. Now after doing some recent research (especially now that all the car mags are comparing it to the GT-R) I read the opposite of what I used to, that Porsche's don't have the high speed stability that a lot of the newer cars have. My guess is that at 100 to 130 they are great, and that's probably where 95% of Porsche owners tread in their "opening her up" outings, so Porsche probably hasn't had that many complaints about it in the past. Like Corvette Z06 owners, cars that are capable of going almost 200 but 98% of their owners drive them 60mph in the fast lane and may if they're feeling spry get them up to 120 or so. I doubt Chevy ever hears anything about their high speed stability from their owner's.

So... I've been on the hunt for some less obvious aero fixes and they are hard to find. The problem could be remedied for little money but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot out there except full body kits which are mainly for looks. A carbon fiber front lip for the stock bumper with small canards that have a higher angle of attack to them would do nicely for the front. Even a different front belly cover with some venturi design. On the back, a small gurney flap on the lower stock wing (4mm or so) would increase downforce and decrease drag and would close the small gap that exists between the top spoiler and the bottom when closed.

Can't find any of this stuff... the only thing that comes close is the gurney flap for the GT3; it may work. As for the front... haven't seen anything viable as of yet, and that's where I feel the car needs most help.

Has anybody tried lowering the front slighlty more than the back and increase the whole car's AOA?

I'd lay money on the fact that now, after the GT-R is getting such great praise for it's high speed abilities, that the next 911 model to come out will have greatly increased down force.

[Hombre]

I've had my cab two years now. In the last 6 months or so I have eased my max speed upwards on the toll road which is not used by locals and quite frankly lane discipline is much higher!!

I now cruise, where apropriate, at around 240/250 kph. That said I am not happy with the stability of the car at this speed and only "touch" this speed for a second or two prefering to sit at around 180/190kph.

What is more annoying is the number of fast Audis that scream past at circa 280kph seemingly undetered at their high velocity. I understand the reasons for this and have gone away and purcahsed a nearly new RS4.

I keep my 996 for the excellent Andalucian country roads now. B)

[der meister]

I can't believe that Porsche didn't sort all of that out in testing. Now after doing some recent research (especially now that all the car mags are comparing it to the GT-R) I read the opposite of what I used to, that Porsche's don't have the high speed stability that a lot of the newer cars have. My guess is that at 100 to 130 they are great, and that's probably where 95% of Porsche owners tread in their "opening her up" outings, so Porsche probably hasn't had that many complaints about it in the past. Like Corvette Z06 owners, cars that are capable of going almost 200 but 98% of their owners drive them 60mph in the fast lane and may if they're feeling spry get them up to 120 or so.

Some seem to forget or just disregard that Germany is home to the Autobahnen?

I had a lowly 323i when I was there for several years, and I certainly got stomped by a few Porsches going in the 150mph range.

Remember the basic phyics involved of the very rear-engine design and such a light front end.

It's not unheard of for people in Germany to add weight in their cars to enhance stability at the very high speeds and in winter.

But I got mine up to speed incrementally on New Year's morning (talk about empty roads in SoCal), to 110, 130, and hitting 145mph.

The car was completely stable and settled, even through long sweepers at those speeds.

I have no aero kit or other wings.

As noted earlier, if your alignment is off, your tires even slightly out of balance, etc, you're going to really feel it at high speeds.

In Germany, people drive these speeds *every day* during a normal commute, so they inherently know their cars much better than we do.

[viper501]

I'm convinced that the US suspension height requirements are where the 'floatie' feeling is coming from. My factory aerokit I car settled down quite a bit when I put on the X74 suspension, although I can't say that it was really 'bad' at 120-140 before.

[Hombre]

An update for you: had a wee one to one with a rosso red F430 spyder this afternoon on the mountain road up to my village.

Tanked his *** B) easy peasy. He simply could not keep up on the bends. My car also had 6mm of dirt all over it so made overtaking him all the pleasurable...........

Hasta la vista baby!

[ivanuf]

I had the same feeling when I bought my 996. Do a seach for "My EVO handles better than my 996".

[Dus10R]

I had the same feeling when I bought my 996. Do a seach for "My EVO handles better than my 996".

I read your old post; that was pretty funny, that guy refusing to believe that a Evo could handle better than a Porsche. You can gurantee that he'd never driven one. But I, like you, still think that the Evo has better top end handling than the Porsche. The Porsche needs a little more down force and some better high speed dampening on the suspension and it will surely surpass the Evo. But the little Evo is a wicked car for the price point.