Sneak Peak of New Secret Weapon...

If you have been following the other threads of mine on suspension...here is a sneak peak of the new coilovers we are running. Its raining here and we are not done dialing them in, but will have them ready for our track event on Jan 8. These are the JIC Magic FLTA2. Here is the blurb from the site - Features a light weight, 15 way adjustable monotube damper that ensures high strength and fade free performance. The ride height is adjustable separate from the spring perch giving you maximum suspension travel at any setting. This also allows for proper corner weighting of the vehicle without effecting spring preload settings. They are available with spring rates- 7kg/10kg 8kg/12kg 10kg/14kg I am running the 8/12 ones. I have run these on our EVO, WRX, and RX8. They are AMAZING!!! Ask questions!

Price $ - ?? -C.

Interesting, most people on this board will tell you that the PSS9's are the way to go. In the effort to be different in my grey Porsche, I would like to try something different. I notice you spend a fair amount of time with Mitsu's and Subaru. Have you ever heard of KW suspension. There were a few happey users in the S4 world who loved them but most people went with Stasis, sort of like this board and PSS9's. I am particularly drawn to them as their damper body housing and the threading is all stainless steel. Important to those who use their car year round and live in the northeast of the USA. For whatever reason, these coilovers reminded me of the KW variant 3's. See pic below.

PSS9 are good! We run the H&R in our M3 but are familiar with the Billstein product. KW is nice. I have run in them in Audi and VW, but DO NOT like the ride. I actually have never had any JDM customers run them before... I do highly recommend the JIC as they have alot of experience in Porsche and we have alot of experience with running them on the streets and track in MANY cars. They sell for about $2500.

Not that this matters much anymore, but aren't the JIC's made in China?

15 way adjustable.. can you explain that? or is it 15 settings? and is it bound and rebound adjustable? with the different spring combinations, are there different valving to match the springs? also, who makes the springs?

JIC are NOT made in China. JIC Magic is an extremely HIGHLY regarded Japanese tuner with years of experience in circuit and drift racing. They have been racing Porsches for YEARS and have dominated the Japanese market as well. 15 way adjustable means that the dampening (rebound and compression) have 15 different settings. The Valving does not need to be changed with the spring combinations. The springs I believe are manufactured with the JIC components. It is not a Eibach or anything.

Is rebound and compression damping adjustable separately or are they linked? I respectfully disagree that valving doesn't need to change when you use a different spring rate. You want to handle rebound (more) and compression (less) differently as rates rise IIRC. I went through a ton of this on my old S4 (Stasis, btw) before finally throwing up my hands in disgust. You'll see that Porsche uses significantly different damping on their standard and M030 suspensions, including different ratios between compression & rebound. I'm now very firmly in the camp of: if there are factory tuned suspension options for your car (we're fortunate to have a few), use them. I've never found an aftermarket setup to be perfectly valved, and I've tried quite a few. Note that I don't have experience w/other systems on the Porsches, just a very happy ROWM030 customer. I happen to think Porsche knows more about how to tune the suspension of a 911 than all of the aftermarket combined. Also, finally, it seems like you're treading a very fine line between using this forum to market your products and "hey, I'm looking for 'feedback'".

With how close the spring rates that are offered, no revalving is necessary. Like a majority of the aftermarket coilovers, the rebound and compression are adjusted as one. Other coilovers such as DMS, Ohlins, Endless...have seperately adjustable, but usually for the layman tuner or driver, unecessary. Factory tuned suspension I am sure is great for daily driving...but when you want adjustments and to get serious about racing, you need aftermarket. Yes I am looking for feedback and yes we are allowed to promote and advertise here. I am not here to force my opinions as the right ones. I am not here to say our products are superior... We are here to bring a new angle to the tuning of the Porsche. There is more ways to do things then the conventional way, and when you step outside of the box, some of the other ways to do things might work better. If you want to stay conventional...hey we sell stuff like Billstein, KW, H&R, B&B, GHL, SuperSprint, B&M, TechArt, K&N, EVOMS, and other normal Porsche products.

hahah agreed

Oh btw...I am a pretty cool guy that does not mind to BS on the phone, email, or what not about products. I enjoy learning from others as they do from me. So now that we have gotten off to a good start...please feel free to contact me anytime. I do own a 996 and would love to learn or listen to how other 996 owners like to tune there car. Thanks Dan 1-866-44-VIVID x290 [email removed] AOL IM - evolvedaz MSN - [email removed]

I think you've got a good attitude, and I'm sure there are good products out there. What I'd personally love to see is a track test between the X74 and any aftermarket kit "sub-Ohlin". I'd personally lay my money on the x74. It performs phenomenally well on the track, from what I've heard.

One thing that really makes a difference...driver. I had a 430whp EVO VIII with the best suspension setup. I can drive really good. But my buddy with a E36 M3 race car with less power and only RWD would smoke me.. He could be in a rental Mustang too..because he is a incredible driver. No company does product comparisons like Burger King and McDonalds per say. To many variables and not ethical. But hey...lets arrange a Time Trial or something. Maybe a 996 Shootout in AZ or CA???

Put the JICs on my 99 about 4 months ago. Totally transformed the car (in a good way). They may be a bit stiff for the street for some--but I LOVE em...

Which spring rate did you go with Eddie? What are your camber and dampening settings?

Same rate as you. Other settings are "as stock" out of the box. Akkurat in the Bay Area did the install...

you are 100% correct. every change in spring rate *needs* a change in valving to match. the sprung and unsprung weights, roll centers, angles, amount of movement, etc all play into what is known as chassis frequency for a given spring lenght and rate. you've all seen stock shocks die a premature death when used with aftermarket springs (shorter and/or different rate)... that is the reason why...its not properly valved to match the frequency of the spring. to get the proper valving, its best to leave to a pro shop. not a tuner shop, a pro race shop that has a shock dynometer, spring dynometer and/or direct contact with a shock expert. they will weigh and measure everything and figure out what the correct valving for your application should be. the JIC setup seems like another street setup to me... or at least agressive street...

I agree with Stiles, it's awfully tough to beat porsche engineers when it comes to suspension and the 996. These race teams spend weeks and months of testing to get their coilovers exactly right for a given track, I just think folks on this forum would be better off with the stock suspension peices. Afterall, how many of us actually push the car to 100% of it's capability? If you do, then let a Cup driver take you on a hot lap in your car, it will seem like a totally different car! JMO, been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

ditto on the factory stuff. Although, I will say that if someone is willing to 'lend' me the Ohlins Supercup suspension, I'll give it a run, hehehe. My car is bone stock, and while some days, I wish I had better dampening and maybe a bit stiffer chassis setup, 99% of the time, it's a-ok for me. I rather play with tire pressures all day long. It's got the right price tag. Free.

it's not the shox or springs, it's who's doing the set up. too many variables and sometime the set up person just have to drive and drive the car unitl it's dialed in, much like a race car team. i and another rennlister both run moton club sport (993 and 996) both are set up by suspension experts. set up beside rd ht, spring rate, alignment but also track testing as both of these cars pretty much track only cars. my 2 cents is to find someone you trust. it maybe ohlins, motons or jrz... if they aren't set up right, it's junk.