I'm considering a T Equipment bar for my 996 Turbo coupe however while looking through the ads in the for sale section, I have found two different bars. Both ads show pics verifying they are genuine T equipment however one bar has a cross brace and the other does not.

Were there multiple varieties available?

 

Yes, 2 were available. Earlier one without cross brace. With this one, one can still use the back seats in a stock tt. The later model has the cross brace and harness bar. Back seat usage with this one is just about out of the question.

 

Yes, Porsche made two Tequipment models with the one without the cross brace being called "Pan Americana". If you google that you will get more info.

 

The Cross brace looks nicer,,but the one without looks easier to set stuff in the back. Not sure if yoiu can use harness with the one without cross brace? I since removing the seat backs seems required i wonder what a one could do to make the back look for factory..what do GT2 cars look like as they have no rear seats?

 

Has anyone tried both setups? Aside from the ability to attach a harness, is there an advantage to having the unit with the cross brace? Did anyone notice a handling difference between the two different bars? Noticeable lap time difference between either vs. none at all?

 

I have had both in the same car. I can not tell a difference and honestly can't even tell a difference between having either bar and no bar at all. The body on these cars is extremely stiff to begin with. I am sure the bars stiffen the car to a certain degree but not enough to make it perceptive on or off the track. The bars do look good in the car and probably provide a bit of rollover protection but again, I have never seen the roof cave in on these cars which I think is a testament to the strength of unibody itself. Hope that helps....

 

The one with the cross brace is slightly slower. Due primarily to the weight....

 

I had a different experience. I noticed a dramatic change in handling once the bar with cross brace was installed. I noticed the car was much more responsive to steering input and it required less steering input to initiate certain actions, such as lane changes to pass, etc. I actually had to adjust to less intitial input when turning at high speed, as the motion I was accustomed to was "too much" and jolted the car in an unsettling manner. I had to learn to drive with a little easier, less dramatic initial steering reaction at moderate to high speeds.

I recently removed the bar and noticed the dulling of steering, as well.

 

That's interesting John. I have a strut brace on the front shock tower and with that I could tell a difference (at least I keep telling myself that), but not the bars. The reason I say that is the fact that the tequipment bolt in bars still have a bit of flex to them. Heck you can actually flex them yourself by putting pressure at the bases which is needed to get everything aligned so the bolts go in nice and square. The two bars that bolt in to the back seat belts can be flexed even more. If you can flex the bases about 1/4" with just putting 50-100lb of pressure on them I just don't see how much extra rigidity they could provide. I just don't see the body flexing but a couple of mm at the b-pilars but I guess every bit of reinforcement helps....The biggest benefit I see, besides looking cool, is that you will get a little additional rollover protection...

 

From memory, the 2002-2005 cars have a stiffer chassis. I would expect more results on an earlier car. For those that noticed a difference, do you have an 01?

 

Y3LO 01, my car is an '02.

All I know is that there was a definite difference on my car. I have also heard from several others the same thing. I would go so far as to say the difference I experienced was somewhat dramatic. No mistaking it for me...I also have a PSS-9 suspension set fairly stiff, upgraded anti-roll bar and X73 motor mounts.

 

The bar should be dramatically stronger when being bolted in. I don't think that flexing it by hand has much bearing in that.

I don't think you want to put anyone in the back seats with any roll bar. An accident could kill anyone back there.

 

Quick question John, a bit off topic, but do you have any of the Evoms GT2 conversion kit in stock or do you drop ship them direct from Evoms? The reason I ask is that they don't have any and are 2 weeks out from manufacturing some parts of the kit (the brackets I assume). Thx....

 

Yeah, you definitely don't want anyone to ride in the back if you have a bar since the impact with the bar could be potentially fatal in an accident. Once you put a bar the car the back seats become additional storage....

 

We do it both ways, but we shipped our last kit last week.