PSS9 setup questions
 

I have a 2000"S". I drive the socks off this thing and have since new. I totally wore out the original suspension and some time ago installed a PSS9 suspension.

I run it fairly low and have fooled around with a bunch of different ride heights and shock setting adjustments. It has always seemed, well....not quite "right". Too harsh in some ways and too soft in others..

I just had the need to pile a bunch of stuff in both the front and rear trunk (emergency situation..I hardly ever run with anything not necessary in the car). I haven't weighed what all was in there but I guess about 80lbs rear and 80 or so lbs. in the front. TRANSFORMATION! All of the sudden the car was supple enough not to bang you around but tight enough to feel like a performance suspension.

Based upon this, what does the car need? Would lighter springs help? Changing the shock settings? I do not know which way to go to get the car to feel like it has the weight in the trunks at the extreme ends of the car....without having weight added to the car!

Anyone have any answers? Suggestion? ....help.....................

This is tricky because there are many interdependent variables and it is easy to get wrong.
For a mild setting that works:
Use the stock springs and set the shocks to their mid setting.
Set front ride height 1" lower than stock.
Set rear ride height 1/2" lower than stock and have a performance alignment done.

This will improve corner balance, allow more front neg. camber and improve front grip without getting extreme and screwing everything up. For a more precise setup, find a highly experienced chasis guy and gladly pay him to work his voodoo.

The added ballast is doing a few things:

1. Lowering the car
2. Adding camber
3. Changing the center of gravity
4. Possibly altering corner weights

I experienced a similar issue with my coilovers. My first track day, the car was plowing like crazy. When it was totally full of gas, it got very neutral. I added a bit of camber up front and all was well.

That having been said, i prefer slightly lower ride heights than topless. I'm probably 2" lower than stock up front and 1.5" lower in back. I like zero toe front and just a TOUCH of toe in at the back (pretty much zero). If you drive mostly on he street, go with topless' ride heights.

Try -.8 deg camber front and -1.4 deg in back. Consider getting it corner balanced.

In order for Boxsterund914 to effectively corner balance his vehicle, he will have to install adjustable drop links. Correct ?

Yup. Front and rear. Possible to get a decent street setup with measuring tape.

I had always assumed that you get the corner balance by fine tuning the height at each corner (@ the spring perches), not really by pre-loading the sway bars..

However, please note that I am a shade tree mechanic and far from any from professional procedures :rolleyes:

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gilles -

you are correct, HOWEVER: when you adjuste the corners, you have added pre-load to the sway bars. the adjustable drop links are used to REMOVE the pre-load condition that's caused by corner balancing.

Insite
Ok now it's clear, therefore I should save some and get the adjustable links to compliment the KW-V3's, thank you..!
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That's a heckuva' nice suspension, isn't it?
Had it on my last car and loved the adjustability between street and track settings.

You are right the KW-V3's combined with H&R and Nitto 01's are a nice combination.

But I would love to add adjustable links (for the bars & rear toe) and lower control arms for extra camber
(now maxed @ -1.8 with the coilovers alone).

It's quite easy, all I need is money, right..?


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I appreciate all the feedback on this. Corner balance would be great and that is the next step but I was really just trying to achieve a useable suspension setting that didn't jar my teeth out at one extreme and one that would control the spring at the other extreme.

All suspensions are, by their very nature, compromises. What I am trying to acheive is a good performance setup for agressive street driving. I finally found a height that works and a shock setting that works. The ride height is low, but not "boy racer low". I used the first "click" on the PSS9 adjusters. I dialed the adjuster all the way to it's most extreme position (full travel to soft). I then advanced to the first click and it seems right on for me. This setting controls the spring but allows the spring to function as intended. It now allows the spring to absorb bumps without over reacting and over damping spring movement.

I didn't like the harshness at the firmer settings but that was not even the main issue. The main issue was that the firmer settings would keep the tires from maintaing a good contact with the road surface. The suspension would react to a bump by moving a slight amount and then the shock would stiffen the movement to the point that the car would bounce up instead of the spring absorbing the impact. I was dancing over the bumps and the suspension just seemed out of phase with the bumps it was trying to absorb.

The settings (clicks of adjustment) do not seem linear. They seem to go from very much too hard to unbelieveably too hard from the second click on....

Some of us purposely run the drop links in bind :)


B