For those wanting a comfortable improved ride... LOOK

Here is another cool update on the Vivid Racing car. For the past 9 months we have been running the JIC Cross FLTA2 Coilovers on our 2000 996 C2. This coilover is a great system. We run it on a lot of our cars including: STI, EVO, RX8, 240SX, and more. We have tested this coilover on our cars on many race tracks with great results. It has 16 way adjustable dampening, adjustable ride height, adjustable camber, and a monotube shock for a ultra stiff ride. And not to knock the product at all, but for a street coilover, it is a little aggressive with the spring rate and setup we had on it. Since we are not tracking the 996 and it is the daily driver pushed to limits like most 996 owners, we were ready for a change. I contacted Bilstein directly to let them know our plans for a switch and how we wanted to help market the product. 3 weeks later and a little money, a brand new set of PSS9's showed up at my door. Now from having many friends and customers that have ridden on these coilovers, I had high expectations to look forward to. At first glance, a lot of the characteristics were similar. Thick shock body and piston, helper spring, adjustable dampening. The PSS9's had 9 way dampening where JIC offer 16 way. The PSS9's use the factory strut tops where the JIC included new camber plates and pillowball mounts. The JIC had more height adjustability and beefer sway bar mount. But all this is comparing Apples to Oranges. What matters is how the car handles on the road as we are focused on street driving. With the replacement of the H&R sways, stock control arms, and stock sway bar links, Project Comfort was ready to drive. Setting the Bilstein PSS9's ride height and dampening was very easy. We basically put the coilovers almost as low as they could go. We turned up the dampening to ultra stiff in the rear and in the middle up front. We put the rear sway bar on the stiffest setting and left the alignment for later. Jumping on the road the car was buttery smooth. No clunks, no noises, and no harsh kidney bouncing. Going over man holes, train tracks, and gutters was smooth. We hit the turns hard to see how the car would handle. The helper spring gave the car just the right amount of lean with the PS2 tires. The rear end rubbed a little which we then raise it about a 1/4 inch to compensate. How will this car handle on the track? Probably damn good, not as much adjustability and rigidity as the JIC, but in the end, we want comfort, quietness, and style. Now that I have ridden on H&R Springs, JIC CROSS Coilovers, and Bilstein PSS9, GT3 Sways, H&R Sways, Adjustable Control Arms, Sway Bar Links, and more�I can now say my advice and input is worth something Check out the pics. If your interested in purchasing any suspension components or would like advice for setting up your car on the street, track, or for both, give me a ring!

be careful about lowering the PSS9s too much. by lowering too much you will greatly decrease the amount of effective piston travel. they have potential internal bump stop issues. i would call bilstein and ask for a lowering recommendation.

WHAT>>>>????? "And not to knock the product at all, but for a street coilover, it is a little aggressive with the spring rate and setup we had on it. Since we are not tracking the 996 and it is the daily driver pushed to limits like most 996 owners, we were ready for a change." That's a change of tune...................................................................

the pss-9 system cannot take radical lowering of the car. GT-3 +/- 10mm is about the max you can go and still retain enough travel in the dampers to prevent them from riding on the internal stops. My car (pss-9's, stock pss-9 springs, stock swaybars, GT-3 ride height) now can actually handle a bump in the road (pothole, etc) without bottoming out the dampers. The ride is not much improved and the shocks were not reset (4/4) from their lowered settings. the difference is in the damper travel only. For an auto-x car radical lowering is not so much of an issue since typical auto-x courses have very few high-speed rebound needs (i.e. are generally smoth) and the decrease in travel is more than made up for with the increase in camber, & static compression.

so how low can the PSS9 Coilovers go? +-10mm does not sound like a lot of visual difference. I want a lowered look, maybe the H&R's are better for lowering? They do list a wider range of height on the H&R's coilovers.

that is +/- GT-3 ride height which is already 10mm lover than a stock 996 - for instance my front tires were almost tucked at the last setting i had on the pss-9 system. it is pretty low. you start running out of damper shaft movement though - this is a weakness shared with the H&R system at extrely low settings - the shaft has about 1" of movement before hitting the internal stop and then you get progressively stiffer (the stops have some give to them which is progressive) you will have wheel hop over high speed bumps at the lower limits of travel.

bilstein says you can lower the 996 with the pss9's by 1.5 inches up front and 1 inch in the back. they pretty much told me if you want to slam your car, then this is not the setup i was looking for. i bought the bilstein's anyway and i'm very happy so far.

How comfortable are they, or ARE they? I'm considering these and I am hoping that on medium damper settings the ride will be fairly comfortable (with a 1" drop). I don't track, but I drive pretty aggressive around certain corners and exit ramps and such - plus occasional canyon/mountain runs. How do you rate the overall ride quality on the various damper settings you've tried? I know this is almost impossible to convey in writing, since everyone's idea of comfort is different. I don't care if I can feel the bumps and holes and things on the road, but I don't want to be scared to go over them because they are gonna startle my passenger and/or cause a high pucker factor. I guess I just don't want the bumps to bother me, or to be on my mind when just driving around.

it's only slightly stiffer than stock, but handles much much better. my settings are right in the middle.

Cool - that's all I needed to hear, thanks.

could damage occur from running them too low? I had my car cornerbalanced and the place lowered it when adjusting the x-weights and put it wayy too low. I have since had it raised by Lucent as the bastards at the first place refused to do anything. However the car has not handled 100% the same since. Ideas? Also does Ruf do revalving via exchange??

did they do a X-Balance when they raised it - also what alignment settings are you at since Neg camber is a function of height at the front - you are probably feeling the effect of the relation of the camber settings. Just a thought. I don't know if RUF will revalve the PSS-9's they probably just order them from Blistien directly rather than work on them them selves. It would be worth a call to Smart Racing as they do revalve Blistiens (not the PSS-9's but who knows they might be able to do it). I'm not sure about hurting the shocks i would imagine so since the damper shaft would be riding the internal stop and constantly compressing it wearing it out - it is not meant for use like that. I sold my pss9's incidentially - to me they were not a race shock nor a good road shock - i am running the stock US sport dampers with H&R lowering springs - which is fine for now - when i start getting back on the track i will move to a more focused setup (Moton, Ohliens, or better) depending on the class i am going to race in

in reference to gt3 height, what is the gt3 specs so we can have a benchmark when lowering with pss9? thank you Adam _______________________ 2001 996 C2 Aero 2000 M Coupe - autx rat 2003 Z4 2005 Tacoma Prerunner 2006 MZ4 Coupe - incoming

nope on the corner balance when re-raising as Lucent doesn't have scales- that is why I took it to the other place in the first place- what a mistake!!! I contacted ruf and they don't revalve them. I am going to contact Bilstein as they are down here in SD in poway.] Do you like the ride better?