Frontwheel grip in corners

I just bought a '99 996 a couple of weeks ago. Have an RX-8 since before, which is a totally different car the way it handles. I have noticed what I think is lack of frontwheel grip in corners (when going fairly fast). Not sure if that is what it is but the car is not going exactly where I point the wheels, sort of bumping along. A little bit of more throttle helps a bit. What can I do to reduce this? Magnus

drop in a new suspension... Correct me if I'm wrong, but does the handling almost feel floaty/unstable at high speeds?

don't almost all 911's have the floaty feeling in front?? Even with a new susp....I lowered mine and this took away a lot of the floatiness...

I would advise before spending a ton of money on suspension mods that you go to some PCA Driver's Ed events at a race track near you, learn to drive your car properly near the limit and learn to interpret what your car is saying to you. What you say your car is doing (understeer, then neutral when on-throttle) is certainly possible but not the natural attitude of the car at speed. Modern 911s are designed to understeer slightly in a steady-state when at or near the limit. In that state the car will oversteer slightly when you reduce throttle (opposite to what you say your car is doing), and understeer more when you add throttle (again, opposite to what you say your car is doing). That is the classic 911 handling and was "designed into the car" by the engineers. The attitude you are describing for your car is most possible in a low-speed corner (below about 50 mph), but then low-speed corners are hardly worth talking about in the grand scheme, right? I'm sure you're an excellent and capable driver as most people who buy Porsches are. But in more than a decade of instructing at the track I have never seen a newcomer to track driving who didn't improve by more than double in their understanding and ability to drive at speed during their first weekend at the track. If you spend a dollar on suspension mods without doing the track instruction thing first you are definitely wasting at least half of that dollar.

I absolutely agree with Realist D. about doing a DE. In addition, what you are feeling can probably be corrected with a change in tire pressure. This is something else you will learn about at a DE.

Agreed I will have to do some DE, already booked. Will check the tire pressure as well, even though that's maybe not so likely to be the cause. Thinking back it might have been like this: It's a wide 90 degree corner, I brake and change to second gear, start the turn with some throttle (perhaps too much) and get the floating feeling ~40% through the corner, I think I let off the throttle at that point but then decided to try more throttle and was out of the corner. So perhaps it was me letting off the throttle saving the day, lowering the speed enough. Mind you the corner itself is very bumpy which doesn't help the traction and makes it hard to judge what to do, grip/no grip/grip :-) Anyway, DE is needed.

How old are the tires. You can have tread left but grip can be greatly reduced.

Magnus - a 911 feels very different from a front engine car. Without getting into advanced techniques, it is best to enter a corner with a constant speed - i.e. don't coast, don't accelerate, until you get to the apex, then you can accelerate as you unwind the steering wheel. If you go in with any amount of acceleration the nose will go wide, i.e. push, understeer. That is often interpreted as a lack of grip. Your car has a ton of grip (DE will prove that) but you have to adapt to the fact that the engine is behind the rear axle. Once you learn how to take advantage of the rear weight bias, you'll find a 911 to be very rewarding. Its success in racing for 40 odd years stands as mute testimony to that. PM me if you'd like more hints. Best,

Your car has the typical North american Handling option....Its called ****. I would check the tires, and do the suspension, or at least get a more aggressive alignment, our cars really need these things to handle like the ROW cars do.

Too much understeer in a 996 in the corner? Just LIFT! Kidding, of course, but only in part. All modern cars, including your previous RX-8, have understeer tendency buit in as a safety measure. With the known tendency of the older 911's for sudden/snap oversteer, the newer 911's now have humongously fat rear tires relative to the front and the suspension tweaked towards oversteer when pressured in the routine way. The key is to drive the car the "911 way". Too long a topic to go into here, so I echo what everyone is saying. Go to a DE, with PCA, preferably with an instructor who drives a 911. "NEVER LIFT" and "SLOW IN, FAST OUT" wil be the initial mantra. As you get better, you'll learn terms like "TRAILBRAKE" and "LIFT", two terms that are usually taboo in a 911 but ARE usefull as you advance in skill. Have fun at DE!! Above all, be SAFE!