Clearance on a 2020-2022 911 4S

[Penske21]

Colleagues -- have a 981 GT4 and so am familiar with clearance issues..@I# but how essential is it to have front axle lift on the new generation of 911 4S cars with the the Sport Package that lowers the car 10mm?

This car would be a daily driver in a city of potholes and driveways with fairly major dips in them. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Thanks folks for the comments --rear axle steering can be found on a fair number of cars, but the font end lift is unfortunately rare in the 911 S and 4s and even nearly all the GTS listings I am seeing... but the occasional one is popping up. Patience will be rewarded no doubt.,,@!

[blueline]

Colleagues -- have a 981 GT4 and so am familiar with clearance issues..@I# but how essential is it to have front axle lift on the new generation of 911 4S cars with the the Sport Package that lowers the car 10mm?

This car would be a daily driver in a city of potholes and driveways with fairly major dips in them. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Firstly, welcome to Carpokes! We are glad you found the forum and joined up. Please feel free to browse around, join in conversations, post photos, share ideas and experiences, etc. There's lots to see here and there is more every day.

To your question: YES to front axle lift. Definitely, especially for a daily driver! Now, that is my opinion but also is based on my experience. I don't have FAL on my 718 GT4 and am ok with that as it is very much a track car. However, I have to take extra precautions when driving on regular roads. So to repeat, for a daily driver I would highly recommend ft axle lift.

Having said that, FAL won't help for potholes, road dips and the like - that's not what it's intended for and besides, the car will automatically lower at approx 35 mph. The danger to your car from potholes as you already know is tire/wheel destruction. FAL won't help there. As for road dips, you need to anticipate and drive accordingly if at all possible.

But, any kind of apron will cause issues big time and that's where FAL is so very special. If you cannot enter at a 45° angle or less, you'll likely scrape. Aprons need one front wheel first, followed slowly and gingerly by the second. That might work in your driveway but is next to impossible if turning off a busy thoroughfare into a parking lot. Slow down enough to make the turn and you're liable to get rear ended hard - there are way too many distracted, idiot drivers.

[Tom]

Colleagues -- have a 981 GT4 and so am familiar with clearance issues..@I# but how essential is it to have front axle lift on the new generation of 911 4S cars with the the Sport Package that lowers the car 10mm?

This car would be a daily driver in a city of potholes and driveways with fairly major dips in them. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Adding to that, I have a '21 Turbo S without the 10mm height reductions and I'm glad I got the front axle lift. I'm sure it would be possible to jockey around some driveways with approach angles and such, but there are at least 2 places I go regularly that are a squeeze even with the lift. If you lowered my car another 10mm, it would get pretty close to the 981 GT4 in terms of clearance. (As is, the 981GT4 definitely has less clearance though.)

[Porsche4Live]

Here are my 2 cents

I have a 992 with the 10mm drop without FAL and I was fine. I did learn pretty quickly how to manage the angles.

I have a very steep entrance to my building and never had any issues. I also never had any real issues in the real world but did scrape slightly twice on very difficult parking lot exits (the lot was much much higher than the street). One time, there were pad potholes and that combo got me. The other time, the road wasn't even (slanted in the wrong direction coming out of the lot). In both cases, the sound was horrible but when I went under the car - it was fine.

Everyone's experience will be different and depend on where you live. The thing though is you can't ever predict how things will go in real life and having it can only be a plus.

I would say:
- If you have standard - you probably don't need it.
- If you have the 10mm drop - feel free to take it for peace of mind but if you don't get it, you should be fine
- If you drop further (e.g. 20mm on GT3) - I would definitely take it

Note that I only have experience with 10mm drop.

Long story short - if you can spare the budget in your build, I would get it. You do get some of that back in resale value.

[Michael818]

My 992 with 10mm drop does not have FAL and is a daily driver in and around Washington DC. in the 3 years I have been driving the car, I have scraped maybe twice. I use a bit of caution if a driveway looks steep and use the angles to enter and exit. If my car had it I'm sure it would be fine but, I'm fine without it too.

[elm310]

I have the front lift on my 4GTS, I use it a lot and especially on my driveway. I know it is pricey, but I do recommend you getting it as a piece of mind.

Eric

[blueline]

I have the front lift on my 4GTS, I use it a lot and especially on my driveway. I know it is pricey, but I do recommend you getting it as a piece of mind.

Eric

I agree completely. There are too many extremely angled aprons, driveways and other street-to-property transitions, many of which don't allow for very slow, highly angled approaches due to traffic and other factors. The crappy entrances are everywhere anymore and they are often very bad. Having FAL is a huge plus in that regard.

[Tom]

I view it as a convenience too -- just makes some driveways easier to navigate. I love the GPS memory too, which often lifts the front end for driveways that I might otherwise forget to manage. I did this video last year to the extent helpful. The lift isn't all that high, but it does seem to make a big difference.