Hi all, I also have (until today) a car with 'vague' steering. I recently bought a 993 Targa and it didnt feel right at all; it wallowed and also tramlined and bump steered a lot, which is pretty frightening on a fast motorway when it wants to change lane at the slightest ripple.
I knew that a previous owner had added H&R lowering springs and the Billstein shocks. Its apparently quite a popular suspension mod so I was surprised that it was playing up so badly and went along to an indy to take a look. He immediately said that the car was too low and the only way to cure it was to replace the springs with originals.
I found the original invoice in the file from the supplier, Carnewal, so I contacted them to see what they thought. Gert asked me what pressures I was running, told him as per the handbook, and he said to drop 2psi maximum all round. Tried it out and immediately stopped the bump steer (cheers Gert, saved me a wad of £££s there!).
To cure the wallowy vaguey bit I went to RGA Porsche this morning and left the car there whilst i took the dog for a walk. Came back and was told that whomever had last done the alignment had set extreme camber for track as per RS and it was massively toeing out (wtf? imagine trying to walk in that stance!) and that the steering wheel wasnt even centred!
They reset the toe-in and the car is transformed beyond belief; it feels a ton lighter, turns in sharply and is really responsive and nimble. I cannot believe that the car had a full inspection by a very well renowned indy and they missed the fact that it was setup like a dog. On the other hand, in my ignorance I had test driven it, bought it, drove it for a month whilst still making excuses all the time. Its my first 911 and id heard about understeer, yadda yadda and so wasnt really sure how they handled thus what to expect, so I still drove it like a loon and had a whale of a time.
Now, having experienced a badly setup 911, I can appreciate what people say when they stress the importance of alignment and geometry in these fantastic cars. Mine is, at last, fantastic. And also no hard feelings to the garage I bought the car from; he told me it was a solid motor and ive just had it dynod - almost the same bhp and torque as it left the factory 10yrs ago and now it handles as solid as rock i intend to enjoy it to the full.
]! Lowering the pressures overall definitely helps, but obviously vast differences in pressure in any one tyre won't help your cause!
