Bilstein PSS9

[charlie360]

Hi All,

I was wondering if anybody here had any experience of fitting these adjustable dampers to a 996 or more specifically a turbo. I know the chaps over on the Rennlist rave about them, but I was interested to know if anyone had used them on our UK roads and as to whether they compromised the road handling? Thanks in advance for any replies and a happy Christmas to one and all!

[domster]

Stiffer damping is always likely to compromise ride, so it's always going to be a trade off. The question is: does PSS9 improve the handling/grip more than it degenerates ride quality? Maybe someone here can answer, otherwise try and find a car with it fitted at a tuners etc. and go for a test drive? You could of course just get it fitted and then soften it right off if you couldn't live with the ride.

My guess is it will be an unnecessary expense as the 996tt already has quite a good trade off between handling and ride comfort. It is a road car not a track beast, so why not have it a tad softer than a GT3-RS? If you were doing track work, there would be many more trick suspension set ups you could choose, but road use would be hit.

[nel]

domster said:

You could of course just get it fitted and then soften it right off if you couldn't live with the ride.

I fitted it to my 993tt - even set to the softest setting it's fairly hard - this is no doubt partly a result of the harder springing too! Don't know if the effect would be same for the 996, but the PSS9 spring height adjustment, even at maximum height gives a low ride height, i.e. same as the RS.

[aceparts_com]

What's the improvement like? Is the increased handling offsetting the decreased comfort? I've got the gt3 seats and now want to take it a stage further.
Did you go for the full RS suspension settings?

[nel]

aceparts_com said:

What's the improvement like? Is the increased handling offsetting the decreased comfort? I've got the gt3 seats and now want to take it a stage further. Did you go for the full RS suspension settings?

Have already burbled quite alot about the PSS9 kit if you do a search - here's one relevant thread:
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=138644&f=48&h=0&hw=pss9

[aceparts_com]

Thanks, i'm sold on it! Just need to find some spare cash having just forked out for an xmas tree. bar humbug.

One last Q, did you go for the RS setup?

[domster]

aceparts_com said:

Thanks, i'm sold on it! Just need to find some spare cash having just forked out for an xmas tree. bar humbug.

My xmas tree cost £23. If you can get me PSS9 for that I'll have a set for my Merc!

[aceparts_com]

I've put a bilstein kit on my old audi 80 TDI and even with 60 profile tyres it gives a much harder (uncomfortable) ride than even my tt.
I guess it's because the 80 is basic, crap etc. Truly terrifying when you hit a bump during cornering!

[nel]

aceparts_com said:

Thanks, i'm sold on it! Just need to find some spare cash having just forked out for an xmas tree. bar humbug. One last Q, did you go for the RS setup?

Basically, even if you set the PSS9 kit to the maximum ride height possible, you end up with the RS ride heights of around 128 mm front, 112 mm rear (at Porsche reference points), so about 30mm lower than a standard 993. The PSS9 height adjustment only allows you to go lower than that, further reducing by around 20mm at the front and 15mm at the rear if you wanted to.

Obviously you can then play with the damper settings, but I find that on normal roads the softest settings are firm but fine. As I said in that previous thread, if I end up buying another porker for track work then it was a bit over the top getting the PSS9 kit for the tt - the objective for me was to drive to the circuit, stiffen up all four corners for the day, then soften up again before driving home.