New pics after some simple mods....

Sorry, not the best pics..... I just did the H&R/Bilstein coilovers, euro side markers, spacers F (15mm) and R (17mm), bumper plugs, and new tires, so I went from 265/35 rears to 285/30 rears. What do you guys think?

NICE!

crazy fittment. do you get any wheel rub with that setup?

Nice, did you need the spacers to avoid rubbing or was it more for aesthetic reasons? I was going to move up to 285's but was not aware I needed spacers. Car looks nice, reminds me alot of mine!

Your wheel/tire shouldn't stick out that far. Moving from 265 to 285 will already move out toward the fender (20mm is a big difference), then adding the 17mm spacer is just overkill. If you were going to 285, then the 5mm spacers would have been better (all the way around). Just my $.02 though. Very clean car though, looks great.

the rear sticks out a bit ..but not too noticable. still awsome lookin

I like the look although I agree that the rears are a little too wide. This is a newbie question: do the spacers pretty much render the donut spare tire useless or can you continue to use the donut with the spacers? Thanks.

Thanks. I also agree that the rear is out a bit far. It's really on the edge of too much. I've actually been debating moving the 17mm to the front, and putting the 15mm on the rear. It's only 2 mm but again it's so close to the edge that it might make the difference. I may try it this weekend. The spacers were purely aesthetic. With the 285's, there is no rubbing with or without the spacers, far as I can tell. As far as the spare goes, I'm guessing it will mount with the spacers on, but maybe it's a good idea to keep the allen tool and 5 factory lug bolts in the spare tire pouch, just in case. I'll swap spacers and update the thread to see if it's an improvement.

Does it drive any differently with the spacers? I'm considering going w/the 5mm factory spacers. IMHO your rears are out too far. It's a pet peeve of mine when you can see rear tread from the front of the car. From the rear is OK, IMO. Otherwise, like others have said, nice clean car!

If you go to that big of a spacer fwiw not only will you need the longer bolts, but it will produce bump steer. I used them to rectify a clearance issue with a set of bbs re's and it made it nasty. A caveat to that however was that those rims even by themselves produced bump steer but the spacers increased the effect. I stuck a set of mk1 gt3 rims on and No bumpsteer whatsoever. I then went to the 02 5 spokes becuase they were the same offset and have been happy since.

Sean: I thought bump steer was caused by an incorrectly setup suspension system. How do thoses wheels cause bump steer more than others? Just wondering as I have those wheels. This might just be the reason I have been looking for to get some new ones!!! CJ

I'm unable to say what effect the spacers themselves had on the feel of the car, as I did the H&R coilovers at the same time and it would be impossible to attribute one change to one specific part. I can say that in trying to find the right settings (for me) on the adjustable sway bars, I haven't noticed any appreciable increase in bump steer. I can also only say that this is how a Porsche is SUPPOSED to feel.

I had the 8.5" fronts and for whatever reason it just had bumpsteer mid corner demanding constant mid corner correction. The problem magnified itself with the spacers to clear my pss9's. When I put the stock offseted 8" rims on there were no problems. I have heard that the effect is a "tracking issue", due to the wider widths, however while I did notice that problem, the mid corner effect was undeniable at least to me. (I am very sensitive about minutia)

besides the rear tire sticking out slightly, I like the drop. Have you noticed any considerable difference in handling?

You dont need spacers to move from a 265/35 to a 285/30, there is not issues with rubbing.

Jasclass, is that on the same width wheel? kristap

Yes same width wheel, 99-01 run a 18x10 wheel with a 265/35 and 02-04 run a 18x10 wheel with a 285/30, the wheels are the same specs including offsets.

The biggest difference with the 285's is that they are paired with an 8" front and the 265's are paired with a 7.5" front.

SPR is correct.....but it is odd that the fronts are still 225's (even when you go with the 11" Technos with 295s).

slammed

Man, and I thought my car was low!

hehehe. with the sportec's offset i had to use a 7mm spacer up front to clear the springs. none on the rear yet i still had to roll the fenders (using 285 bridgestone so3). i like the look but my front bumper is having to deal with my steepish curb/driveway. the black plastic cover has ripped off!

Yikes! At my ride height my old BBS Re's wouldn't fit without 25mm spacers so I dumped them for standard offset 02 5 spokers. I like those Sportecs though. What brakes are those just S red calipers?

SRL, Hows the ride compared to your stock suspension? I'm about to install H&R and Bilstein next week. Gert said that the H&R springs have lower rates than the stock but the Biltein Sport Shocks have harder compression rates, so it should equate to almost the same ride. TNX

He has coilovers not the mismatched.

I see. I thought he has the H&R 29513 Springs and the Bilstein FRONT VN7-4613, REAR BE5-2994. Tnx anyways.

they're just painted stock 996 calipers. did it myself with caliper paint. it's held up well. do you mean the BBS REs were sticking out of the fender well? the sportecs are made by bbs. they're 19s. they've added a little bump steer but i love the look. i still have the old 18" champion monolites once i get my azz on the track

They weren't sticking out but bump steered terribly with the stock suspension and abhorently with the pss9's and 25mm spacers used to make them fit!

My Low-Rider What exactly is Bump Steer?

hey kirby, to my limited knowledge and seat of the pants experience bump steer is the tendency for the steering/tracking of the car to be influenced by irregularities of the road which is then transmitted to the steering wheel. bump steer can be exaggerated when suspension/geometry changes are made outside of the original design intent e.g., wider track/stance through the use of spacers, wider tires, stickier tires, larger wheels, camber and caster changes etc. regarding my car's condition, the 19" wheels produce larger steering movement from the increased weight and inertia from the larger diameter and wider width/stickier tires. anyone jump in and please correct me if i am wrong. i forgot to ask you for a ride in you 996SC when i met you at akkurat p.s. sorry for hijacking the thread.

Actually, it was lower right after the install, but we raised it a bit. Looked great though! Exactly why we raised it a bit! This car will see a lot of track use, so the nice thing about the coilovers is the ability to raise and lower/realign easily. Helps to have access to an alignment machine, though!

Basically, in a nutshell it is when the car requires constant mid-corner correction making you "fight the car" to keep it on line.

Nice! I haven't decided if I'll just get the H&R springs of the PSS9 coilover set.

riotgear....I definitely recommend a well engineered coilover setup (PSS9 or H&R, or if you have some cash to burn and love track days - Moton Club Sports). The PSS9's have great, easy built-in adjustability, which is perfect for track days. The H&R's don't have that out of the box, but it still makes for an agressive street/track package with relatively easy ride height adjustability. My problem with springs-only is you're always "mixing and matching" spring/shock packages and you're never sure if you're really getting a system that's been specifically engineered/valved for your car, plus you get a static ride height that cannot be tailored to your preference.

SRL - how easy is it to adjust the ride on the PSS9s? How are they adjusted and does it require removing the wheels? Are there clicks or marks to help with the adjustments?

X74/73 and be done with it, chassis readjustments are for the birds after you've done it a couple of times.

The PSS9 comes with an adjustment **** that allows you 9 different damping settings. Most of the ones I've seen have the **** at the bottom of the shock. You shouldn't have to remove the wheel for damping adjustment but you definitely would for ride height adjustment, followed by an alignment (no alignment needed for damping-only adjustments).

To change the settings, it is somewhat a pain to do the fronts. The easiest way is to crank the wheel one way to give enough room. I have the caps on the fronts and you have to take those off to adjust them. In the rear it is under that foam shelf where the ecu is.

Am in that oft discussed pss9 vs x73 quagmire of decisions. And the ease of making damping adjustments ... well, that sounds great. Appreciate your input SPR, SLR, & C4S Surgeon!

I would spend the extra dough. Just make sure you pay for the corner balance and proper alignment

Carlos' answer is pretty good. Technically, bump steer is a change in toe while the suspension is loaded/unloaded. Normally, going over rises/dips in the road, both L/R wheels will experience the same toe changes and thus the forces will couteract eachother. It's when only one wheel hits a "bump" is the toe change not counteracted by the other side, and hence one wheel will be toe in/out and tend to steer/pull to one side. Hence, the term bump steer. Changing suspension geometry/alignment can change the bump steer characteristics. Changing wheel width/offset/tire theoretically should not, but... With tire/wheel changes, what happens is similar, and I don't know if there is a term for it. Basically, there is a theoretical/mathematical axis about which the suspension moves and rotates. For out strut-equipped cars, it roughly follows the strut housing itself. If you're visualizing this, the effective tire contact patch (under various conditions) should be in-line with this axis. If it is not, there is a torque that will try to rotate the wheel/tire about this axis. Similar to toe changes, it usually counteracts L/R, but going over bumps will cause a similar effect as toe changes. The bad thing whether counteracted or not is that too much can cause accelerated wheel bearing load/wear. I can definitely notice it on my bigger wheels with more offset. Also, the stiffer, lower profile tires will move that effective contact patch out from the center (opposite of what you would imagine of a little, skinny tire). Disclaimer: I am not a suspension engineer, but this is pretty close

When you move the centerline of the tire from the original location in relation to the geometry you change the bumpsteer