Does trying to improve a car run the potential of ruining it, too? | Column

Absolutely you can but from being around the BMW and Subaru crowds, it's typically down to buying cheap, low quality parts. 

My NA track rat rode well for being 800/500 XIDAs, can I only imagine how bad some BC Super Low with 784k springs would ride. 

I ran into this on my C5 and it was the main reason I sold it. After doing some OEM+ upgrades (c6 z06 parts) and engine bolt ons, it was an exceptional car. It was fun and still worked well as a car. To go any farther Id have to make compromises to make it more fun would make it a worse car.

Im a big proponent, if you like wrenching, of start with something that isnt a great car. After your modifications make it more fun but are less geared towards being a good car, the bar was so low to begin with, its still a better car than it was.

Its why I enjoyed my 4th gen more than a C5 and I went back to a 4th gen.

z31maniac said:

Absolutely you can but from being around the BMW and Subaru crowds, it's typically down to buying cheap, low quality parts. 

My NA track rat rode well for being 800/500 XIDAs, can I only imagine how bad some BC Super Low with 784k springs would ride. 

True that. Replaced my 996GT3 suspension with Motons, doubling the spring rate, and ended up improving the ride quality compared to the stock Bilstein coilovers. 

In reply to docwyte :

I would think many cars were hurt with all the fiberglass Aero conversions thru the years , 

Many looked good when they were installed  but after time looked dated , 

And of course they junked the stock parts......

In reply to Olemiss540 :

Yep, and yet in the 4 years I've had mine, I can't think of a thread on rennlist about this that's turned up.  Is it a thing on the earlier 996 turbo's?  Yes.  That's why I bought a 2003.  However I don't think it's all that prevalent

In reply to Olemiss540 :

A really good set of shocks/struts can control the spring rates better.  I've had the same experience as you, going from a set of KW V3's (garbage!) to Ohlins with 2-3x the spring rate on a B5 S4 avant. 

docwyte said:

In reply to Olemiss540 :

A really good set of shocks/struts can control the spring rates better.  I've had the same experience as you, going from a set of KW V3's (garbage!) to Ohlins with 2-3x the spring rate on a B5 S4 avant. 

I've tried to tell people for years that KW's are complete garbage. 

z31maniac said:

docwyte said:

In reply to Olemiss540 :

A really good set of shocks/struts can control the spring rates better.  I've had the same experience as you, going from a set of KW V3's (garbage!) to Ohlins with 2-3x the spring rate on a B5 S4 avant. 

I've tried to tell people for years that KW's are complete garbage. 

But they are cheap atleast :-)

Opti said:

I ran into this on my C5 and it was the main reason I sold it. After doing some OEM+ upgrades (c6 z06 parts) and engine bolt ons, it was an exceptional car. It was fun and still worked well as a car. To go any farther Id have to make compromises to make it more fun would make it a worse car.

Im a big proponent, if you like wrenching, of start with something that isnt a great car. After your modifications make it more fun but are less geared towards being a good car, the bar was so low to begin with, its still a better car than it was.

Its why I enjoyed my 4th gen more than a C5 and I went back to a 4th gen.

Have you checked out that Swiss C5Z over in the builds forum on here?  Oh Dear Lord.  That thing might rival a Pratt & Miller build.

ShawnG said:

When I started autocross, I was talking to another driver and I asked him "how can you afford to race a Porsche?"

He answered "I can't afford not to, everything is already sorted for you."

 

There is a lot of truth in this, not necessarily Porsche specific.

It is very nice from a driver standpoint to just get in and drive.  It is very annoying from a car geek standpoint, but that way lies a car perpetually powering jackstands.

In reply to z31maniac :

Oh, I've been ranting about their warranty policy for years.  They make you send in your old stuff for them to rebuild it.  They refuse to sell you new stuff and then refund you when they get back your old stuff and confirm it's blown.  So on a daily driven car, it'll be up on jack stands for 4-6 weeks.  Or you have to put something else in while they're working on your stuff.  None of the other companies I've dealt with, like bilstein, koni, tokico, do that. 

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

My ex-dentist was a car guy. He had a couple Porsches and a Lotus 7 (a real one).

I came in one day and asked him what he was driving. He had a couple year old Corvette at that point.

I asked why he changed. Apparently the Corvette was just as much fun but didn't cost him a fortune when it broke.

Supposedly the 7 was broken more than it was fixed and they should be cheap to maintain.