Ride too stiff

I recently inherited a 996.1 that has the Bilstein PSS10 on it. Pretty stiff, even with the adjusters turned down. I'm not going to track the car, so I don't need anything super fancy. Question I have is, Should I go with the ROWM030 or the KW coilover variant 1? I'm currently using the 996 as a daily and would like a tad bit smoother ride. Absolutely love this car. Puts a smile on my face everyday on my way to work

These cars generally ride pretty stiff compared to an average car. I find the stock suspension in my C4S a much firmer ride than my WRX. I'm actually getting Bilsteins put on my car right now -- I can let you know how they compare to stock tomorrow. What tires are you running? Those can also make a noticable difference in street ride quality.

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This one seems ridiculously stiff. I'm running Hankook tires front 225.40.ZR18 rear 265.35.ZR18

Spring rates maybe?

Lower the tire pressures a couple PSI.

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Hmm, possible. I'll look into that. Thx!

FWIW, three things to think about. Yep, could be tire pressures. Should be approx 36 F 44 R. But as Prf said, you could lower them a bit. But don't go too low or you run the risk of wearing the outside of your tires quickly and destroying your wheels if you hit a pothole. The second is that the Hancook's you are running could have stiffer sidewalls than what you are used to. Never used Hancook tires so I can't give you a narrative on feel. Add in a set of PSS10s which are great coilovers, with low profile stiff sidewall tires, and you have a stiffness that you are not used to.

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Currently running 32-35 psi F 42 psi R. That is a great point about the tires being stiff. I've never used hankooks. They were on there when I got the car. I'll do a little research on the tires

I do not have any experience with PSS10s, but my car has M030 suspension, but with Koni Actives instead of B8s, which makes it softer over bumps, and it is still a pretty stiff/harsh ride. I don't have a lot to compare it to with other 996s, but I don't think I would recommend this set up if you are looking for something less stiff. If it were me, I would check the spring rates and look at maybe decreasing those a bit, and see if that helps. Otherwise in my experience with other cars, I have no direct experience with coilovers on the 996, you can usually get better ride quality at the performance level from coilovers than traditional spring/strut set ups, especially when lowered. Also, it's hard to tell from the one pic, but your car looks pretty low, and if that's the case even a ROW M030 will likely raise it. At the end of the day though it's a sports car and it will never ride like luxury car without absolutely ruining your handling.

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You should be able to run 32F 36R with a slight increase in tire wear. I'd drop the pressures in 2psi increments to see if it makes a difference.

Did you ever try running the coilovers with the dampers dialed UP as opposed to down? My Feal coilovers felt harsh and mediocre at halfway point (15 out of 30 clicks), so I turned them down to 10 and then 5 and then 0 trying to improve the ride. It got progressively worse. Then, I tried turning them up to 20 clicks just to see. The ride felt great and got smoother. I eventually set it at 28 front, 26 rear. Haven't touched it in over a year. Feels perfect. The moral of the story is that an underdamped suspension is bad. It will be harsh and stiff.

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I have proper tires new Michelin Pilot 4s on the front, and while the car is a work in progress new low cost Achilles Rears that the selling dealer put on for legal sale. Certainly I can tell tire quality matters and affects ride.. I would put up with the ride. I bought a HSV VF Senator sedan which is your Chevy SS sedan, years ago for a ride quality (magnetic ride control shocks) - car for long drives with my wife and kids. Only my 14 year old likes the 996 so I'm alone it mostly. Extreme measure beyond tires would be emasculating 17 inch wheels (I'm very confident this would improve ride with premium tires via higher side walls), retaining your Bilstein coilovers or going to Feals but having a custom lower spring rates made. Returning the car to stock springs, stock height, but using Bilsten B6 shocks, and some aftermarket sway bars to regain sportiness. If you enjoy the car leave it, spend nothing until your rubber wears more, that won't take long, then premium tires (?Michelin Pilots, Continentals), and keep enjoying it, and tell ride enthuiasts to get a Cadillac.

Can't truly tell with the picture if the car is lowered, but I suspect it is because you are running PSS10s. Which would also lead me to guess that alignment may be set to GT3 specs which is very common and also means camber. With this set-up you will not only have a stiffer ride, but your tires will feel every nook and cranny on the road and follow them giving the steering wheel a very "alive" feel. I love it on my car because I feel everything, but very few folks do, unless they come from a track mind-set. But yes, this would get to be very tiresome as a daily driver. Forget about drinking coffee on the drive to the office. Keep in the back of your mind that the PSS10s are an excellent set of coilovers, with a lot of adjustability. Don't know what it takes to reverse the lowering and improve the "travel" for a softer ride, but reversing the GT3 spec alignment to neutral is pretty easy. A good set of all season tires which are typically softer rubber will also help. As a side note, if in some way you decide to eliminate the "lowering" of the car, a set of spacers will definately help to move the wheels out and fill in the wheel well space.

You also might not know that the PSS10's are adjustable. There are ***** on the top of the rear and the bottom of the front dampers. Higher = softer ride, at last on the PSS9's, which is counter-intuitive.

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Absolutely. It took a couple of track days with my indy out at the track but we settled on full stiff in the rear and half stiff in the fronts plus tarret sway bars set the same. Eliminated the understeer that plagues the 996 with factory settings and allowed me to rotate the back end. We will see what adjustments will need to be made when I run with the gt3 front lip. Not as concerned with our local 2 mile track, more concerned with the speeds at Road America with my back end getting squirelly. All part of the fun.

I think it will help give some perspective if you tell people what car you�re coming from. If you�re coming from a minivan with plush suspension, yeah, this is gonna feel like a rigid go kart by comparison.

Interesting I have PSS10 on my 996 and find the adjustments to be significant softer than stock and firm on full stiff I do know if the coilovers werent installed correctly ie to low it can affect ride quality Check install and alignment and make sure adjustment clicker is going the right way

Yeah, it could be a lot of things from point of reference to a bad set up to just needing to adjust the set-up. One thing is certain, PSS10s are awesome coilovers with a lot of adjustability.

FWIW - when I first got mine I was kinda bummed on the stiffness (w/ Ohlins coilovers), but after changing from 7 year old Yokohama Advan tires to Michelin PS4s and lowering to 33/37 PSI, the difference was drastic. Yes, it's still firm over large cracks and holes, but it's quite smooth and quiet on relatively good pavement. Much more bearable. Good luck.

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That's interesting. I ran PSS9 for many years but they started leaking so I installed a set of the Feal's. I set them at halfway to start with but boy did I find them harsh. I turned them down to zero and the ride improved. I'm going to try cranking them to full but I will eat my hat if the ride smooths out... Are you (and the OP) sure that what you think is full soft isn't actually full hard ?

One other thought I beleive the PSS9 vs 10 adjust differently double check your settings. Full tight is clock wise on 10s vs clock wise on 9s is full soft

Well, I found out that I in fact do not have PSS10's. My local alignment shop had told me that was what was on there. I have PSS9's With that being said, after doing a little research, the PSS9's adjust opposite of PSS10's. This morning I rechecked the dials and they were set at the hardest setting #1 It seems the alignment shop had turned the dial the wrong way. I have now set them at 4 front 6 rear and have driven it a few times. and it feels much better. Going to drive it a for week before making any other changes. I have tarret adjustable sway bar links coming and then I'll get it corner balanced and re-aligned. I'm doubting the legitimacy of the other alignment shop. Found a local performance shop that can handle this for me. Nate.evans had a good point about what I usually drive. My daily before this was a Lexus GX470 with a 3" lift and 33" tires, which I still have. While I was never expecting the Porsche to be that ride, No one in there right mind would want it to be. I did expect the suspension to have some sort of give. Of course I found out why it didn't. I have owned earlier air cooled Porsches in the past and have owned a couple Mini Coopers (2004/2006) the BMW years and even owned a couple of custom hardtails that were both suicide shift. I do appreciate everyone's input on this. Sometimes you just need to step out of the box and get some ideas from others. I do have to say this forum has some of the nicest people on it with some great knowledge. I'm on some other car forums and dang some of those people are just ridiculously rude

Welcome to the PSS9 club. Durable as he'll. Glad you figured it out.

996 people rule.

Glad you got it figured out.

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Yes, I am sure.