Got my GS back from Giallo on Friday and managed to take it for a drive last night. Unfortunately, being absent minded to say the least, I once again forgot that my car goes out of sport mode when switched off (I stopped for petrol, as I do quite often, despite not driving the car that often..), so wasn't in sport mode the whole time. Anyway, I had FD stainless steel brake hoses, Ferodo DS2500 pads and new Goodyear Eagle F1s fitted, as well as the geometry checked. Matt also discovered that the car was riding about 10mm higher on the passenger side (no jokes about the size of the previous owner's partner or having a "fat floor set up" please). The car is now flat and low.
Anyway, even when driving in normal mode, the tyres made a huge difference: more steering feel and general responsiveness. I'll be able to better assess the brakes when I'm on track again, but the fact that I didn't notice them suggests they're a lot more positive and confidence inspring (they didn't give me cause to **** myself every few minutes - the car actually stopped when I wanted it to).
And when the car was in sport mode? Three words: holy ******* ****! A number of road tests from '04 had this car up there with the 997. After owning my GS for a few weeks, I couldn't quite get my head around that. It felt like more of an eight tenths type of car, one that showed it's weight when pushing really hard. But with the new rubber and the suspension properly set up it is an absolute animal and very sharp in the twisty bits. It just destroyed my favourite local B road route. So for anyone who drives or buys one of these cars and isn't blown away - you need to drive one that's sorted! Italian body, muscle car engine and it handles. I'm in love!
(Some of you might be wondering how I could fail to notice that the car was not in sport mode. Well, I just assumed that my clutch was on the way out! Those shifts in normal mode are absolutely dire. And I had the window open, so the exhaust was louder. And I was preoccupied with the fact that I'd just spent a load of money on the car and now it looked like I was going to have to drop £2k on a new clutch.. That made the short blast I had in sport even sweeter.)
Anyway, even when driving in normal mode, the tyres made a huge difference: more steering feel and general responsiveness. I'll be able to better assess the brakes when I'm on track again, but the fact that I didn't notice them suggests they're a lot more positive and confidence inspring (they didn't give me cause to **** myself every few minutes - the car actually stopped when I wanted it to).
And when the car was in sport mode? Three words: holy ******* ****! A number of road tests from '04 had this car up there with the 997. After owning my GS for a few weeks, I couldn't quite get my head around that. It felt like more of an eight tenths type of car, one that showed it's weight when pushing really hard. But with the new rubber and the suspension properly set up it is an absolute animal and very sharp in the twisty bits. It just destroyed my favourite local B road route. So for anyone who drives or buys one of these cars and isn't blown away - you need to drive one that's sorted! Italian body, muscle car engine and it handles. I'm in love!
(Some of you might be wondering how I could fail to notice that the car was not in sport mode. Well, I just assumed that my clutch was on the way out! Those shifts in normal mode are absolutely dire. And I had the window open, so the exhaust was louder. And I was preoccupied with the fact that I'd just spent a load of money on the car and now it looked like I was going to have to drop £2k on a new clutch.. That made the short blast I had in sport even sweeter.)
