Suspension Upgrade This Week

[thstone]

It took a little longer that I had hoped, but I finally got all of the components for my suspension upgrade pulled together:

1. Bilstein PSS9 Stocks
2. New Upper Front Shock Mounts
3. New Upper Rear Shock Mounts
4. Rear Tarett Anti-Sway Bar
5. Front Porsche 996 GT3 Anti-Sway Bar
6. Rear Tarett Drop Links
7. Front Tarett Drop Links
8. Rear Tarett Toe Links

Total Hardware = $3,350

Installation is being done by Eric (eric523 on several forums) at Hergesheimer Motor Sports in Orange County. I should have the car back by Weds.

Can't wait to get it out on the track!

[bar10dah]

Awesome!

[ChrisZang]

Congrats! Almost the same as my setup (I also have GT3 lower control arms)
Let me know when you have figured out how to setup your car, I am still struggling with the multitude of setup options I have now

To compare setups:
front -2 degree negative camber
rear -2.5 degree negative camber
rear 1/8 degree toe in

front sway bar: in the middle
rear sway bar: 2nd to softest

PSS9:
front 3 (1 is hardest, 9 is softest)
rear 2 (1 click harder than front to compensate for the 46%/54% front/rear weight distribution

Corner balance
LF: 740
RF: 740
LR: 880
RR: 860

[san rensho]

Originally Posted by ChrisZang

Congrats! Almost the same as my setup (I also have GT3 lower control arms)
Let me know when you have figured out how to setup your car, I am still struggling with the multitude of setup options I have now

To compare setups:
front -2 degree negative camber
rear -2.5 degree negative camber
rear 1/8 degree toe in

front sway bar: in the middle
rear sway bar: 2nd to softest

PSS9:
front 3 (1 is hardest, 9 is softest)
rear 2 (1 click harder than front to compensate for the 46%/54% front/rear weight distribution

Corner balance
LF: 740
RF: 740
LR: 880
RR: 860

I'm a nube to track alignment, but isn't the rule of thumb to dial out the rear camber, about 1 deg less than than the front, as close to 0 toe in the front and soft front sway bar, hard rear sway bar?

[thstone]

Originally Posted by ChrisZang

Congrats! Almost the same as my setup (I also have GT3 lower control arms)

Bingo! I already have the GT3 lower control arms!

I will post my starting settings when I get the car back.

[Topless]

You will like it. Check out how wasted your old struts are when you get them off the car.

[DFW02S]

That's a fantastic set up.
I hope you will post comparative lap times for those of us still on the fence!
Video and Drift box data would be a plus!

Your subjective commentary would be more than welcome too!

I hope you love the new suspension.

[ChrisZang]

Originally Posted by san rensho

I'm a nube to track alignment, but isn't the rule of thumb to dial out the rear camber, about 1 deg less than than the front, as close to 0 toe in the front and soft front sway bar, hard rear sway bar?

You might be totally right with that and as I said I am noob myself.
So I trusted the advise of my (very experienced) suspension guy.

Our main goal was to dial out understeer, that's why we went with very aggressive front camber. Of course now that I went the camber route to get rid of understeer I have to be careful not to make the rear swaybar too hard , otherwise I could potentially introduce (snap) oversteer.
With my current setup the car has lost all of it's understeer and when reaching the linit tends to (controllable) oversteer a little (which I prefer more than underster).

But as I said I am learning and would love to compare setup data

[thstone]

*** Initial Impression Update ***

My initial impressions:

• PSS9's on full soft are fine for commuting on LA freeways.
  
• PSS9's on full hard are way to0 stiff for commuting on LA freeways.
  
• Car feels as solid as a brick.
  
• The car corners very flat. Huge imrpovement over stock.
  
• Corner turn in is quicker and very smooth.
  
• Lower ride height looks great.

Set Up:
I asked to have the car setup biased more for the track than for the street but it still had to be livable around town since this is my daily driver.

Front camber: -2.75 deg
Rear camber: -2.0 deg

Front toe: 0.0 deg
Rear toe: +0.5 deg

Ride height: 100mm

Corner weights:
RF: 759 lbs
LF: 701
LR: 856
RR: 795

PSS9 Street: All full soft
PSS9 Track: Front full hard, rear 1-2 clicks from full hard

Of course, these settings may change once I get some track time. I'll post some lap time comparisions as soon as I have the data.

[MikenOH]

To change the settings, do you have to remove the shock or can they be done on the car?

[Johnny Danger]

I'm running a set of PSS-9's (a la 9ff) on my vehicle . In short, this suspension transformed the way my vehicle performed. However, for "street", I can't dial in the coilovers more than 6 in the rear and 7 in front . Anything beyond that, causes my dental work to fall out !

[Johnny Danger]

Originally Posted by MikenOH

To change the settings, do you have to remove the shock or can they be done on the car?

The settings are adjusted via a small dial at the base of the coilover . Stiffness is increased according to descending numbers. For example, 10 is the softest , and 1 is the stiffest .

[Topless]

I'd gladly share my setup numbers but then I would have to hire Danger to kill you all.

[Johnny Danger]

Originally Posted by Topless

I'd gladly share my setup numbers but then I would have to hire Danger to kill you all.

I charge by the mile, and the victim (what's left of them any way) pays for travel ! Massachusetts to California = $$$$$$

[thstone]

I have run the PSS9's on the street at all settings now. I think that the 9 available settings are more accurately three settings (1-3 = hard, 4-6 = med, 7-9 = soft). I can't tell any difference in between.

F/R soft gives nice ride quality on the street/freeways. Medium F/R is a nice compromise. Hard F/R is great on the track but a little stiff for a daily driver. It seems best to set the fronts where you like them (1, 4, or 7) and then go two numbers higher in the rear (3, 6, or 9).

Of course, your preferences might be different.

[jaykay]

Subscribed

Is there a PSS10 kit variant for the 986 yet?

[V-Rod]

Originally Posted by thstone

I have run the PSS9's on the street at all settings now. I think that the 9 available settings are more accurately three settings (1-3 = hard, 4-6 = med, 7-9 = soft). I can't tell any difference in between.

F/R soft gives nice ride quality on the street/freeways. Medium F/R is a nice compromise. Hard F/R is great on the track but a little stiff for a daily driver. It seems best to set the fronts where you like them (1, 4, or 7) and then go two numbers higher in the rear (3, 6, or 9).

Of course, your preferences might be different.

That certainly is a nice setup...I am in New England and would like to improve my current (stock) suspension. How does the ride of the PSS9's at the softest setting compare to a new M030 setup?

Obviously, you have already upgraded some of your other suspension parts. I am starting from stock and would like to restore the suspension to better than new. What is the mandatory hit list of parts?

[thstone]

I went from OEM stock to PSS9's so I can't say how the PSS9's compare to M030. My guess is that the PSS9's on soft would still feel stiffer than the M030 simply due to the stiffer springs that come with the PSS9's as compared to the M030.

There really is no single mandatory list of parts for a suspension upgrade. First, you have to decide what you want to acheive and what kind of budget you can afford - then you can start looking at what parts will reach those goals and what tradeoffs you might have to make to keep within your budget.

Also, selecting some parts will require that you install other parts to make everything work so there is a bit of a ripple effect that has to be taken into account. A good example of this is the rear adjustable toe arms. They were required on my setup because the PSS9's allow the ride height to be adjusted beyond the point where the stock part can provide sufficient range in toe adjustment to meet my track alignment settings. If someone had a differnent goal, such as no or only occasional track use, then they might be ok with the stock toe arms and save the money that I had spend.

Take your time and learn, learn, learn. Talk to several shops. See what each of them recommends and ask tons of questions. I spent 3 months learning about what I wanted and another 3-4 months pulling all of the parts together (at a price that I was willing to pay). For example, $2,200 for a set of PSS9's seemed high to me so I waited and searched until I found a brand new set available for $1,500.

Here is a ratio chart for the 996 GT-3 front and Tarrett rear sway bars along with M030 that might come in handy:

[jaykay]

Were items 2 and 3 necessary or just a nice to have? Are the tarrett spring adapters needed here?

I am referring to the original post

[thstone]

Due to old age and mileage, items 2 and 3 were necessary on my car. There was no point in upgrading the suspension + having adj lower control arms if the upper shock mounts were going to have a lot of slop. The condition of these and other remaining suspension components will vary by car - replace as required.

The PSS9 shocks are a direct bolt-on - the Tarrett spring adapters are not needed as long as you use the springs that come with the PSS9 shocks. If you use another aftermarket spring, then you might need the spring adapters (depending on the size of the spring).