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I have recently purchased high (160k km) specimen with a full service history etc etc. I have so far , driven the car about 3k km around various surfaces (our roads are both good and very bad) and during this time and learning the car ( this is my first porsche) I cant help but wonder what the car might have felt like when new. I am well aware that this is a car focused on handling etc so I shouldnt be expecting NVH to rival anything modern . The road noise is present and anything above 200kmh and the car does "buzz" a bit . Ive checked everything from wheel balancing and gearbox/engine mountings (by the local dealership and specialist) and Ive been told that they are fine. Should I be replacing them anyway (I dont see records for that ) nor do I see any arms, bushings etc that have been replaced either.
Again, I am not comparing the car to anything modern , I merely want to know if anyone on here has done any sort of or extensive suspension bushing replacement . If theres a kit I should be looking at , please let me know . Ive searched the forums and looked for videos, given the age of the car , theres little to nothing I can seem to find. I do not want to change everything to pillow ball etc - I want the car to drive like it were new(ish).
Does it have solid or semi-solid motor and transmission mounts? Original shifter cables? Lightweight flywheel? My 38k mile car has a bit of NVH with semi-solid mounts, Numeric shifter and cables, and Lightweight flywheel. Just one of those will give you a significant increase of NVH over stock.
Well, it is a track-focused car and Porsche removed a lot of sound deadening material to lighten the car. I don't even bother with using the stereo, but I've driven sports cars all my life and to me this is just the way it should be. Personally, the regular Carrera and Turbo feel too far removed from that venue to interest me. Your feelings may be different and that's okay.
The Ohlins R&T will definitely improve the handling on the road. On good roads it will really sharpen the performance. On bad roads... well, it will not make the crossing any more comfortable.
The same goes with the semi-solid motor mounts. It really tightens up the handling, but there is more vehicle noise.
Going the other direction, when I installed Michelin Sport 4S tires on my car it really smoothed out the ride and improved the handling. Highly recommended.
I have about 250,000 kilometers on my car now (almost all of it mine and on public roads). My drop links for the roll bars are getting loose, but the rest of the suspension bits feel okay. I believe that I am at that point where bushings and drop links should be refreshed. If you car was not tracked much, you should be in better shape. However, the OEM dampers tend to start expiring between 60,000 and 70,000 pampered kilometers, so either have them rrevamped or go with the Ohlins. You can dial the damping down to make it a little more sedate on the road, but nothing is going to make it ride like a sedan.
The GT3 is a special car. I would suggest trying to learn to live with its quirks and interior rattles first. It's just the nature of the car. If you really want a GT car, but find the 996 too abrasive, you might consider a later model GTS or even a 991 GT3. These are bigger cars, but Porsche added a lot more creature comforts to appeal to a wider market. Great cars and extremely fast. The 996 seems to have a better steering feel, and being smaller it is a little more nimble.
Lastly, besides the Ohlins suspension, anything else you replace should be either OEM or from the Motorsports devision of Porsche. Those parts are first-rate and generally better than the aftermarket parts. There are a few exceptions, but mostly for heavily tracked cars.
Does it have solid or semi-solid motor and transmission mounts? Original shifter cables? Lightweight flywheel? My 38k mile car has a bit of NVH with semi-solid mounts, Numeric shifter and cables, and Lightweight flywheel. Just one of those will give you a significant increase of NVH over stock.
The car is stock save for the secondary cats being removed.
Well, it is a track-focused car and Porsche removed a lot of sound deadening material to lighten the car. I don't even bother with using the stereo, but I've driven sports cars all my life and to me this is just the way it should be. Personally, the regular Carrera and Turbo feel too far removed from that venue to interest me. Your feelings may be different and that's okay.
The Ohlins R&T will definitely improve the handling on the road. On good roads it will really sharpen the performance. On bad roads... well, it will not make the crossing any more comfortable.
The same goes with the semi-solid motor mounts. It really tightens up the handling, but there is more vehicle noise.
Going the other direction, when I installed Michelin Sport 4S tires on my car it really smoothed out the ride and improved the handling. Highly recommended.
I have about 250,000 kilometers on my car now (almost all of it mine and on public roads). My drop links for the roll bars are getting loose, but the rest of the suspension bits feel okay. I believe that I am at that point where bushings and drop links should be refreshed. If you car was not tracked much, you should be in better shape. However, the OEM dampers tend to start expiring between 60,000 and 70,000 pampered kilometers, so either have them rrevamped or go with the Ohlins. You can dial the damping down to make it a little more sedate on the road, but nothing is going to make it ride like a sedan.
The GT3 is a special car. I would suggest trying to learn to live with its quirks and interior rattles first. It's just the nature of the car. If you really want a GT car, but find the 996 too abrasive, you might consider a later model GTS or even a 991 GT3. These are bigger cars, but Porsche added a lot more creature comforts to appeal to a wider market. Great cars and extremely fast. The 996 seems to have a better steering feel, and being smaller it is a little more nimble.
Lastly, besides the Ohlins suspension, anything else you replace should be either OEM or from the Motorsports devision of Porsche. Those parts are first-rate and generally better than the aftermarket parts. There are a few exceptions, but mostly for heavily tracked cars.
I totally get that and Im definitely loving its quirks and all. I just needed to know from all the experts out there what the general consensus was on doing a bushing refresh . My car has been actively tracked so I should probably look at replacing some stuff. Dont get me wrong I love this thing. All Im trying to do it tighten it up a bit to almost new spec.
Thanks for the reply and apologies for the duplication in replies . I havent used the forums for many years now !
Its best to replace all the rubber bits as they r not that expensive so the advice i would give mirrors the advice given in the regular 996 board. .....its all 20 years old it, the rubber bits have timed out and they should be replaced. Any thing with a tre (toe link ot lca) i would also replace as proactive maintenance. Its cheap insurance as u have stated the car has been tracked. If u want to make the car "better" on track there r several companies like demonspeed, rss and tarett along with pmna that can supply solid uniball links and parts. These upgrades will all add nvh to the equation.
In my case i have removed all the rubber bits and installed ohlin rt coilovers. I dont mjnd the extra harshness but all my other vehicals r 20 yrs/old.
At 160k kms, if the suspension bushings and dampers are still factory original, it's very likely they are all end-of-life.
My prior 996 GT3 with ~39k miles felt notably "crashy" over bumps and poorly damped. It was on its original dampers and suspension arms/bushings. I sold it for my current 11k mile (~18k kms) 996 GT3. This car sits on Ohlins R&T and an assortment of solid bushes and monoballs. A few observations:
Caveat: the previous owner had new Ohlins R&T installed, so I did not directly compare the damping of a 10k-mile stock damper vs a new Ohlins R&T.
New Ohlins R&T vs old stock: That caveat said, the Ohlins R&T ride a million times better than the 39k mile stock coilovers. I don't know how much of that improvement is attributed to wear, dampers, vs springs. Based on my prior cars that I installed R&T (including 996 Carrera, E90 M3), R&T demonstrates improved damping, and the damping is well matched to the out-of-box spring rates (which are a multiple higher than the factory springs).
Bushings. The 10k mile suspension felt tighter than the 39k mile car. Rubber wears out, times out.
A few things worth looking into:
Front lower control arm inner bushings. The fronts are a split arm, so you can just buy new inners to save money.
Rear upper control arms (aka 'dogbones').
Toe arms.
Check the droplinks; if they feel loose, replace them.
At 160k kms, if the suspension bushings and dampers are still factory original, it's very likely they are all end-of-life.
A few things worth looking into:
Front lower control arm inner bushings. The fronts are a split arm, so you can just buy new inners to save money.
Rear upper control arms (aka 'dogbones').
Toe arms.
Check the droplinks; if they feel loose, replace them.
Which arms can we just replace the bushings and which arms do we need to replace the whole thing?
Anyone know which GT3 arms can be replaced with Porsche Motorsport parts? I know Powdrhound had a pic with all PM links/arms but I'm wondering if those only attach to OEM GT3RS uprights or can they also attach to regular GT3 uprights?
None of the parts r unique. They will fit either upright and its all interchangable. Unless u r super worried about being all original just order the Meyle or Trw replacement parts. They will be OE and function the same.
The only bushing u may be able to change is the caster bushing in the center of the lca. The upper rear dog bones and shimable lca(s) will be porsche only but there u many aftermarket arms that work just as well but look different.
If you want that new "OE feel", first off I'd have the dampers refurbished and rebuilt back to stock by an approved Bilstein agent. Yours will be well past their best now, and they won't be doing you any favours from a ride or damping perspective.
I'd also fit new OE springs front and rear.
After those, you're into new front coffin arms (they're split for adjustability, and expensive) new diagonal arms (AKA tuning forks) sway bar bushings, sway bar drop links and the steering rack tie rods (I'd do both the inners and outers)
At the rear you'll need to replace the toe arms, the rear coffin arms, cheaper because they're not adjustable, the upper arms (AKA dogbones) there are two on each side, rear sway bar bushings and rear sway bar droplinks, along with the rear diagonal arms (the same as those fitted to the front)
Once fitted have new tires fitted and the car set up to the correct ride heights, the corner weights adjusted and the geometry set up accurately.
That lot won't be cheap, but rest assured the car will drive beautifully, and whilst it won't be a track car (far from it), but it also won't be a noisy, harsh, clunky car to drive on the street either.
19368890[/url]]If you want that new "OE feel", first off I'd have the dampers refurbished and rebuilt back to stock by an approved Bilstein agent. Yours will be well past their best now, and they won't be doing you any favours from a ride or damping perspective.
I'd also fit new OE springs front and rear.
After those, you're into new front coffin arms (they're split for adjustability, and expensive) new diagonal arms (AKA tuning forks) sway bar bushings, sway bar drop links and the steering rack tie rods (I'd do both the inners and outers)
At the rear you'll need to replace the toe arms, the rear coffin arms, cheaper because they're not adjustable, the upper arms (AKA dogbones) there are two on each side, rear sway bar bushings and rear sway bar droplinks, along with the rear diagonal arms (the same as those fitted to the front)
Once fitted have new tires fitted and the car set up to the correct ride heights, the corner weights adjusted and the geometry set up accurately.
That lot won't be cheap, but rest assured the car will drive beautifully, and whilst it won't be a track car (far from it), but it also won't be a noisy, harsh, clunky car to drive on the street either.
If you want the car to drive and feel OE, I wouldn’t be fitting any of those parts.
Ideally you want to use all OE parts, but as I said, that won’t be cheap.
Personally I wouldn’t use Meyle, so your options are TRW parts where they’re available, and OE.
Swaybar bushes will be OE.
Not sure SPL is the right way to go. Porsche Motorsports should be the 1st choice to upgrade, and Porsche should be the 1st choice for OEM road going quality.l Nearly everyone uses lousy bearings in their products, but be prepared for a hefty bill, The rod ends are ~ $150 ea. What you do for replacement pars should be dictated by your use case I.E. track or street
03-25-2024, 04:00 PM
996 GT3 Suspension/Bushing replacements
