GT4RS Suspension Secrets - Page 1 - 911/Carrera GT - PistonHeads UK

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I’ll put it in the technical thread

Thanks ... I should probably have posted it there !

To me, as a relative inocent on these technicalities, this all appears logical and worth pursuing. What I cant reconcile is why the strings are not made available through the stock kit? Porsche go to huge efforts to produce Nurburgring lap times to better the opposition and further through their Manthey brand offer expensive after market kit to make things even more capable, and in the case off the 992 Gt3RS set the ultimate Nurburgring lap time. All of this carried out by engineers steeped in winning races across the globe. In no way wanting to be senselessly controversial, and more as an individual trying to expand their understanding, is it likely that some folks in a Chesire know better~?

Porsche deliver the car to understeer (for safety reasons). The GT4RS does not have the same level of adjustment as a GT3RS. The car is delivered with "unreliable" geometry settings ... and for road use. (To be fair it does take a little time for a new car to settle). A geometry setting set to the desires of the owner will suit their application better than the standard offering. OK ?

Thanks Chris, Thanks for the info though I does not yet persuade me as if we for the moment concentrate on the Manthey kit, with which they use factory drivers to chase ultimate times, are we to believe they are using poorly set up cars?

Here let me have a go Once you get to a certain level of track performance you start to degrade your road performance. A full house GT3 or GT4 race car is horrible to drive on the road, trust me I have done it myself. However it’s great on track. So Porsche have to tread a fine line between track driving performance and road driving performance. This is a very difficult balance to strike and not all set ups will suit all drivers. Some drivers will want different handling characteristics to others, whether that is on road or on track. The more sophisticated the suspension design the easier it should be to strike that balance. The 4RS has a fairly crude suspension design especially at the rear, which makes it a more difficult balance to strike. Porsche do appear to have set up the 4RS with a very stiff rear spring rate, presumably to counteract the geometry changes as the suspension loads up and to make it more consistent in its handling behavior. Trying to strike that suitable balance. As a result I found it way too stiff for road driving, pretty good on track but far from perfect. Some people like it exactly as it is but lots do not. This gives lots of scope for people to try different set ups and to tune the ride and handling balance to something they prefer. It’s not that Porsche got it wrong it’s just that for a lot of people the standard set up leaves a lot to be desired. The Cayman platform is quite sensitive and small changes can make a very significant difference. Add to that the high level of adjustment in the standard chassis, plus a rather slapdash assembly process and it’s not surprising that two outwardly identical standard cars can drive very differently. The other thing to bear in mind is that even for an experienced driver the 4RS chassis can be quite a handful. I love the expression “quick hands” because you certainly need them when you are wringing the neck out of a 4RS! So no not poorly set up cars at all, but very adjustable and sensitive cars yes. To be fair it gives the car a big dose of charm and character which can only be a good thing in this digital age.

Thanks BM, that goes a long way into helping with my understanding - much appreciated

bigmowley said: Here let me have a go Once you get to a certain level of track performance you start to degrade your road performance. A full house GT3 or GT4 race car is horrible to drive on the road, trust me I have done it myself. However it’s great on track. So Porsche have to tread a fine line between track driving performance and road driving performance. This is a very difficult balance to strike and not all set ups will suit all drivers. Some drivers will want different handling characteristics to others, whether that is on road or on track. The more sophisticated the suspension design the easier it should be to strike that balance. The 4RS has a fairly crude suspension design especially at the rear, which makes it a more difficult balance to strike. Porsche do appear to have set up the 4RS with a very stiff rear spring rate, presumably to counteract the geometry changes as the suspension loads up and to make it more consistent in its handling behavior. Trying to strike that suitable balance. As a result I found it way too stiff for road driving, pretty good on track but far from perfect. Some people like it exactly as it is but lots do not. This gives lots of scope for people to try different set ups and to tune the ride and handling balance to something they prefer. It’s not that Porsche got it wrong it’s just that for a lot of people the standard set up leaves a lot to be desired. The Cayman platform is quite sensitive and small changes can make a very significant difference. Add to that the high level of adjustment in the standard chassis, plus a rather slapdash assembly process and it’s not surprising that two outwardly identical standard cars can drive very differently. The other thing to bear in mind is that even for an experienced driver the 4RS chassis can be quite a handful. I love the expression “quick hands” because you certainly need them when you are wringing the neck out of a 4RS! So no not poorly set up cars at all, but very adjustable and sensitive cars yes. To be fair it gives the car a big dose of charm and character which can only be a good thing in this digital age. This. Not driven a 4RS but ran a 996.2 GT3 optimised for track - KW coilovers, motorsport diff, PFC brakes, aggressive geo etc - and while a dream on track it was a nightmare on the 10,000 or so road miles I did in it. Miss it though. Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 21st December 18:29