PSS9's

I had the PSS9 system installed about 1ooo mi. ago & have not been able to come up w/a combination of settings that will keep the front from bobbing up & down when driving spirited. Have had them set as stiff as 2/1 which transfers to much road vibration into the car & still dosn't fix the issue completly. I think part of the problem is that I got spoiled w/an SC that had the JRZ suspension under it. Is there any way to solve this issue short of changing to a Moton or JRZ shock?

I have PSS9's on my car and I've taken it to 5 DE' and 3 autocross's. I don't experience front end bobbing as you describe. The front end will lift up slightly under hard acceleration and then settle very quickly without bobbing. You're previous SC with JRZ suspension must have had no lean or front end lift at all! Nonetheless, bobbing doesn't sound right and makes me suspect that one of your shocks is defective.

turner, you need a better mechanic. i had pss9 on my previous 996. it will not bob and it will be 200% more planted than your stock set up.

Eric, its the lifting you describe that gives me a sense of unstability @ speed, once the car settles in it feels very stable or planted, but there's that 10% of the time or the time the front is in that lift position that is the issue for me, I order the Moton's next week.

turner, i have moton on my present 996. the moton is not very useful and noisy on streets. and it's even more difficult to adjust. IMHO, moton isn't something the user adjusts. you really need a tuner to goto track with you and spend at least one ENTIRE day to get it right. it took me 10 DE's and the tuner was pretty much there with me all the time to get it to the way i like now. it's getting monoballs later, but this is pretty much a track car with 3500 track miles logged in 3 months. PSS9's for 996, IMHO, are better valved than PSS9's for 993. you should have zero lift on the front of your car with PSS9's, other than the first nanosecond when you mash the throttle, but you will get this regardless of whatever suspension or whatever car you get for that matter. a friend of my has JRZ doubles on his 996. it also lift up front when you mash throttle, again only for a nanosecond.

John, you say "pretty much a track car". How about the rest of the time like when your out for a Sat. tour or a trip down HWY 1, would you trade the Moton's in for the PSS9's? I'm pretty sure you already answered that question in your post by saying the car is not soley used for the track. It sounds like you have come to the same conclusion I have. I to will invest in the monoball tops, I only wish I had come to this conclusion the first time around, not sure how marketable a used set of PSS9's will be.

weekend fun drives... hard to say. on smooth fwy (if you find any), moton is fine just like PSS9. twisting but smooth backroads, there's not much differene b/n the two either. twisting but bumpy like ice cream grade, empire grade, moton will not work, you will hit lots of bumps but PSS9 worked wonders. for streets, i prefer PSS9. when i say "pretty much a track car" i mean most of the miles are track miles, other than driving to and from the race track. for example, it's 350 miles round trip for me to goto thunderhill and i rarely put less than 200 track miles on it per track day. so roughly 1/3 of it are track miles. i just don't think you will get your money's worth with motons unless you track it a LOT. and motons aren't easy to tune either. i never change its setting. it's always done by my tuner when we drive it on the track. he changes the setting as i improve and get faster. hope this helps.

John, You going to TH on 9 August?

i am signed up, but not sure if i can make it due to work. however, i will be at thunderhill with traquest on the 29th and 30th of august. kim, jeff, pin will all be there. you really should come out. it's safer than laguna and it has more combination turns.

Mooty, I was thinking of upgrading my stock suspension to ROW 030; do you think a PSS9 setup is better than ROW 030? (I have a '99 996 and I only drive it on the streets, not the track, although that might change.) Also, I'm guessing there's a big "delta" in $$ between ROW 030 and PSS9?? Thanks, Mark

mark, i know the price of PSS9 has gone up considerably, you can check with viper bob for pricing. sorry, i have no experience with ROW 030 so i don't want to comment on that in the dark. i had the standard suspension in my 996's before mods.

John you need a new Avitar!

John can not update his Avatar as all of his Porsches are scattered in various locations....

YOU CAN NOT GO WRONG WITH THE PSS9. MINE IS A DAILY DRIVER AND I TRACK 10/YR AUTOX 6/YEAR. I HAVE IT SET ON 2 FRONT AND REAR. IT IS A LITTLE ROUGH ON THE STREET BUT IF I WANT A SMOOTH RIDE I CAN DRIVE MY WIFE'S CAR. IF YOU GET THE ROW YOU ARE MOST LIKELY JUST DELAYING THE ADDITIONAL PURCHASE.

"John can not update his Avatar as all of his Porsches are scattered in various locations...." bob is going to blow my cover one of these days. kirby, if you got time, come by, use your new camera, take some pix and put on my avatar. i am computer challenged.

Sometime around the end of August I will be having the Moton's installed which will make my slightly used set of PSS9's available to someone if interested, they are the US versions & will come w/a lifetime warrenty. Paper work will be supplied by Steve Weiner of Rennsport Systems whom I bought them from a couple of months ago. They will be in very good condition as I clean the underside of the car with the wheels off on every socond exterior wash.

Turner: I'm interested. How much? Where are you located?

It seems to me that the big advantage of the Motons is the ability to adjust compression and rebound separately. ie, if you are pushing under acceleration after the apex you can increase your front rebound setting or increase your back compression setting reducing the amount of weight that shifts back which results in reduced acceleration understeer. If you are pushing, or oversteering, under deacceleration you can fix that too. The same with braking issues. Every track is different so I end up tweaking them slightly at every race. You don't have that ability with PSS9s. For the street, it seems like a whole different ballgame. I'm not sure how you would take advantage of dual adjustable shocks. I would think that you would be way better off with single adjustables like PSS9s. If nothing else, they seem harder to really screw up. Jim

Query- will the PSS9s in and of themselves achieve a lowering effect on a C4 Cab w/ M030, or is there additional work that needs to be done? Car is tracked and autox-ed, and I'm thinking about some handling improvement mods. The lowering effect would be a nice throw in. Appreciate the feedback.

mrw, yes, your m030 will be replace by the entired pss9 kit and it can be adj. to be lower than mo30.

fasteddie99, I sent you a PM, I'm just up the road from you in Bellevue,Wa.

According to the Bilstein.com website, the lifetime warranty is not transferable : "Krupp Bilstein of America warrants its gas pressure shock absorbers against defects in workmanship and materials for as long as you, the original purchaser. own your car."

I have been assured by Steve Weiner @ Rennsport Systems that in fact in this case it is fully transferable & he will be providing the proper Bilstein Documents "warranty" for the new owner. Steve told me he would be happy to talk to any potential purchaser in regards to this matter. That being said there seems to be alot of people still buying this street performance system & there not getting any less expensive nor are they going to do me any good as paper weights so they will be available until the end of August to the first one that makes me a fair offer.

Steve and his boys also installed my pss-9 with adjustable gt-3 sways system and I am very happy with it. The front end stays very well planted but it still bobs around a bit on uneven payment; that seems to be a function of the rear weight bias inherent in the 911's design. With that said however I would love a ride in your car once you have your motons installed. I'm in Portland. Send me a message if you want to go for a little run.

One last question- what is the prevailing wisdom regarding x-74 suspension retrofit (I already have M030) vs. PSS9s? According to the Carnewal website, some people seem to be very happy w/ x-74. May not be as flexible as PSS9s in terms of adjustment, but doesn't require realignment after every change either. What's the hot setup, PSS9 w/ GT3 swaybars or x74? Again, the car is enthusiastically tracked and autox'ed. Thanks for the input.