We just picked up our first
Porsche
,
987.2
base 6-speed with 18" wheels and only 35k miles. I'm happy with the stock non-
PASM
for our roads, except for the understeer (and likely front tire wear). I've had a modified NA
Miata
, which was slow, but extremely well balanced. Camber measured with my phone is about -0.2 front and -1.7 rear.
What are your favorite canyon road (possible HDPE days) alignment settings? How close can I get with the OE top mounts?
I assume I'll want to change either front top mounts or to adjustable LCAs. The LCA swap has the advantage of increasing front track without wheel spacers, which also reduces understeer. Front caster adjustment is another plus. Which parts do you recommend?
Reducing front ride height 10-15mm (increasing rake) might also be helpful, but maybe not necessary.
An adjustable rear sway bar would probably be the cheap and easy understeer fix, but I'd rather start with increasing front grip.
I may eventually change dampers, and possibly springs, but probably not this year.
What was your suspension journey? Any recommendations appreciated!
You have about 1 degree of slotting at the top hat. Typically a 987 can get -1.5 in stock form. To get more you'll need LCAs or camber plates.
A good sporty street alignment that can go to the track is -2 camber all around, 0 toe in the front and .2 degrees of toe in at the rear. Caster will be 7.5 ish but it's not adjustable in stock form.
I'd start with a good alignment and see if that meets your needs on the street. For HPDE you're going to need more camber than the OE bits allow or you're going to eat tires...
We're running a
sale on Ohlins
right now, I know it's not on your roadmap for this season but something to think about.
Agree with everything Joshua said.
One additional thought is moving to 245 width tires in front rather than the stock 235 size. The alignment is far more important, but slightly wider tires up front can help with understeer as well as help with braking.
Good alignment info, thanks! It might make sense to just max the front negative camber, reset the toe, and see how that works for now.
Yes, I'd love to do the
Ohlins
, but not prepared to invest at this time, and I'm otherwise pretty happy with the stock springs and dampers for my current use.
Tires are new, but I could see going with closer to a square setup, and/or a sticker front tire, in the future. The ExtremeContacts in OE sizes were really good in the wet at 40F today, though. They track great through standing water, too.
DMack, you mentioned that you would like to lower your car a bit, and if you do it, you could get a bit more negative camber from the OEM as well.
The cheap way is to use a set of KW springs, and the best option of course would be a set of coilovers (more $ than the springs), but you would be able to adjust compression and rebound as well..
