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3 minute(s) of a 612 minute read
12-1-2012
As promised, picture of correct placement of front drop link - outboard. As mentioned above, if you put the drop link on the wrong side of the sway bar (inboard), it will pop out. Even very experienced techs are known to make this error - so you might want to print this picture and "gently" :-) remind your tuner of the proper installation.
BTW, the picture is not of the original Bilstein drop link with polyurethane bushing, but a Tarett after-market link with metallic heim joint. Nevertheless, the principle is the same: **outboard**. You can find the beautiful Tarett drop llinks and other yummy suspension components here : http://www.tarett.com/items/996-997-products/996-997-suspension/996-997-swaybars~drop-links/list.htm. The link makes the car feel more planted and precise, particularly the rear, which likes to mambo LOL a lot in comparsion to GT3/GT2 and the likes. You will feel the difference.
3-28-2013
I recently had a Panamera for a few days and would like to add some comments on this latest generation of PASM. In case you are not familiar with PASM, it's Porsche talk for its electronic damper, in which the overall stiffness of the suspension is altered by a button that controls the damping force. This button opens or closes a valve in the damper (aka shock absorber) electronically: In one position (valve closed) the dampening factor is high (stiff), in another position (valve open) the dampening factor is low (soft). Voila, stiffness is changed not by changing spring (the conventional way), but by changing damping factor, a convenient short-cut.
The first generation of PASM (in 997 C2S, Turbo, and GT2) all share something in common: the Normal position is very soft (particularly in the Turbo, not GT2) causing a lot of leaning and a feeling of ponderous, while the stiff position is extremely stiff and jittery. In other words it goes from 1 to 10, with nothing in between. Porsche was aware of this criticism and 997.2 Turbo suspension system was indeed better. The stiff setting was much less jittery, much more useable. However, it was still a 2 level-change: soft or stiff. I've always wondered about a mid level in between.
With the Panamera, lo and behold: 3 settings of PASM! In addition, they have fine tuned the system *extremely* well. I am not a particular fan of electronic PASM but I have to say that I was very impressed with this latest generation. All 3 very useable, and the change is just right. It's a different car, a different suspension but I think this bodes well for 991 indeed.