Gurgie's 997

[Gurgie]

Needed to rear tires as shown earlier in this thread. Managed to go about a month on the old summers still & could've maybe gone a bit longer, but didn't wanna chance it. To get the matching Bridgestone Potenza sports was eye watering, so then I was just looking at alternatives, ended up stumbling on a full set (fronts & rears) of Michelin Pilot Sport 4's up for sale on Kijiji that were almost brand new (maybe 1000km on them at the most, still have the rubber nubs sticking out of the sidewall). Only issue was they were in Markham, reached out to the guy & told him I'd be in the area on the May long weekend, and if that worked for him, I'd pick them up. Managed to stuff them in the CX-70 that weekend, plus 4 of us & some luggage    Got all 4 installed later that week, but they couldn't get the car on their alignment rack because it was too low, so got the alignment done a couple of days ago & managed to off load my 2 front Potenza Sports this past Monday as well. In the end I've ended up with the 4 PS4's, install & alignment for less than it would've cost for 2 rear Potenza Sports    I do find the PS4's much quieter & the ride is great. Handling seems about the same & same as the grip, but I really don't push it too hard out on the street too often.

[Johnnymac]

Oh man, that's some great outcome for getting tires.  Am I wrong to assume that your tire/rim size are staggered?  If so wouldn't that make it so much harder to find a full set of 4 tires that fit used?

[Gurgie]

Oh man, that's some great outcome for getting tires.  Am I wrong to assume that your tire/rim size are staggered?  If so wouldn't that make it so much harder to find a full set of 4 tires that fit used?

Yes, staggered, fronts ended up 245/30/19 (stock is 235/35/19) and the rears are 305/30/19 (which is the stock size). The guy selling them had them on a 997, but took them off before he sold the car. Seems like going to a 245/30 front is a common change & even comes up on searches on tire sites, but if anything I would have gone 245/35 on the front for a little more height in the front as the car scrapes getting out of my driveway & on speed bumps easily. Previous owner never mentioned anything about lowering springs, but the front end on my 997 seems to be lower than most I see. Could be 20yr old springs sagging at this point as well. I do want to do a suspension refresh on it, but that'll wait for another day, next up are new motor mounts.

[Blueprint]

You need an anti-scraping kit...

[Fobroader]

I love the Safari 911 builds, they are so awesome!!!

[RRocket]

Oh man, that's some great outcome for getting tires.  Am I wrong to assume that your tire/rim size are staggered?  If so wouldn't that make it so much harder to find a full set of 4 tires that fit used?

Yes, staggered, fronts ended up 245/30/19 (stock is 235/35/19) and the rears are 305/30/19 (which is the stock size). The guy selling them had them on a 997, but took them off before he sold the car. Seems like going to a 245/30 front is a common change & even comes up on searches on tire sites, but if anything I would have gone 245/35 on the front for a little more height in the front as the car scrapes getting out of my driveway & on speed bumps easily. Previous owner never mentioned anything about lowering springs, but the front end on my 997 seems to be lower than most I see. Could be 20yr old springs sagging at this point as well. I do want to do a suspension refresh on it, but that'll wait for another day, next up are new motor mounts.

Get the transmission insert, too.

Did it a couple of my Porsche and a TT too.

Will likely do again.

Also, have used one of these companies for engine mounts..But I forget which.

https://www.function-first.com/products/transmission-mount-insert

https://www.torquesolution.com/product-p/ts-por-010.htm

[Firm]

Good deal on the tires, hard to go wrong with PS4s. I bit the bullet and put a brand new set of PS4s on the Maserati a few months back, night and day difference.

[RRocket]

Good deal on the tires, hard to go wrong with PS4s. I bit the bullet and put a brand new set of PS4s on the Maserati a few months back, night and day difference.

I have Pilot Sport 4S on the Boxster. I bought the car safetied and buddy had to put on 2 rears. 265/35/20. Cost him $1500.

[Gurgie]

Get the transmission insert, too.

Did it a couple of my Porsche and a TT too.

Will likely do again.

Also, have used one of these companies for engine mounts..But I forget which.

https://www.function-first.com/products/transmission-mount-insert

https://www.torquesolution.com/product-p/ts-por-010.htm

Those function-first engine mounts look interesting as well... just too bad all this stuff is in the US, not sure what the duties & taxes look like on this sh!t now 

[Firm]

Masi is 235/40R18 on the front and 265/35R18 on the rear. Checked my invoice and it cost me $948USD for 3 (two front, one rear) as the car actually came with one new rear  Not that bad I guess.

[Gurgie]

Did the engine mounts (Torque Solution) yesterday afternoon, thought it would take me an hour or so, but it ended up taking longer than planned. First issue was get the MAF connector off of the intake box, stupid design has the tab on the back where you can't see it. Once I freed up the airbox & tilted it over to see the connector, I was done in two minutes. Next up was to put the car on jack stands & get a jack under the engine, which was quick & painless. Removing the old mounts was super easy & quick. Installing the new ones was a bit more of a chore as they didn't seat properly the first time. The driver side eventually sat into place & I was able to torque it down, but the passenger side was fighting me. Eventually I took a break & had a bite to eat, came back out with a fresh mind & food in my belly & had it torqued in place in about 10mins... guess my brain needed food. Overall they're pretty well made mounts, more of a semi-solid design vs the stock ones. Stock ones were completely shot, the rubber inside completely compressed. Took it for a 10min drive and the difference is QUITE noticeable, both positive & negative, LOL!! At idle it's much smoother, before it had a shake, felt like the car was misfiring, but it wasn't. At wide open throttle it's much louder & more vibrations can be felt, you really, really hear the engine now, almost air-cooled like in the feel. Not sure how I'm gonna like the harshness of these new mounts on a long trip, but I'll find out next weekend as I venture down to the GTA. Taking the car to golf this afternoon & it's a 30min run mainly hwy, so that'll give me a better feel. It feels more responsive, but that's probably more due to the fact you can just feel the engine vibrations more than before. They do say to give them around 500 miles to break in a bit, so there's that factor as well. If I really hate them after next weekend, I'll just bite the bullet & buy factory mounts & then unload these on FB Marketplace

Oh, & I did the engine air filter as well since I had to take out the entire air box

[RRocket]

Are those the softest ones?

[Gurgie]

Are those the softest ones?

They only make one set - https://www.torquesolution.com/product-p/ts-00-002.htm

Other manufacturers have different models.

[Firm]

Nicely done! Pricey mount though, dang, hopefully they settle in with some miles and you end up loving them.

[Gurgie]

Nicely done! Pricey mount though, dang, hopefully they settle in with some miles and you end up loving them.

Thanks buddy. These were cheaper than OEM ones by about $250 CDN