H&R RSS Clubsport coilovers: Initial Review.

After a long haul I�ve finally settled on a suspension. My goal over the winter was to get the best of the best and do either a Moton or JRZ suspension setup but business decisions (lack of budget) and the realization that I�m still very much in a learning phase with my 996 brought me to a more reasonable choice. In the end the system I felt was the best fit for me was H&R�s RSS Clubsport coilovers. I wanted a more aggressive setup than PSS9�s offered and decided that despite the lack of an adjustable damper with the H&R�s (Sorry JimB) that they would be a good progression and allow me to work on the nut behind the wheel without being distracted by too many tuning variables. Install: Everything went exactly as planned. NO problems at all with any fitment issues. My only gripe is that the rear uses a different sway bar end link bracket that spins like a height adjuster on the coilover. This seemed great to me as it allows for pre-load adjustments without adjustable link, but the sway bar bracket cannot be spun on the strut unit while it�s mounted on the car as it hits the half shafts. One other side note was that the rear struts are nearly at the top of their height adjustment and the fronts are pretty near the lower end of their adjustment. (105mm front / 115 mm rear height). Fearing the worst I took everything apart and used a zip tie on the shock shaft then drove for a couple of days and I can report that I�m not even close to being near the bump stops Ride on the street: I fully expected these to be harsh with the 455 / 915 spring rates but the surprise is that this car rides much better than I had expected. *Disclaimer* I�m probably not the one that should be making the call as I feel this is how a sports car is supposed to ride. I�ve never owned a car with stock suspension for more than about a week and my current daily driver is my M3 which has 500/600lb springs in it. �Tight� would be a better description for it over harsh. However, my wife commented she could barely tell a difference in ride and has been happily driving it daily this past week. I think that the use of a tender spring in the rear and reusing the stock rubber upper mounts helps with ride on the street although I�m sure I�ll eventually go to a monoball setup. As far as Handling�well the car is nearly dead flat now. I�m feeling some understeer in slow speed corners right now but have the GT3 sways set up towards this balance until I can fine tune with them at the track (front full stiff, rear 1 from full soft). In high speed sweepers and freeway exit ramps the balance is outstanding. I was hoping to make a test and tune day at a local track on Friday but my schedule is no longer going to permit this. I'll be on track with them in a few weeks and report back more. Here's a shot of the new stance: clubsport1.jpg Andy

One more picture for the Morning crowd. clubsport2.jpg

Andy, The car looks great. The first coilovers I put on what is now my black 996 race car were H&Rs. I sold them four years ago and the guy is still using them. I always thought they were great and I'm sure the ones you have are much better than those. The spring weights surprise me. That seems like a big spread front to back but it must work. They must be using the heavy springs in back to control the weight and keep the car from squatting and the soft springs in front to reduce understeer. You'll have to report back after you've been to the track. Jim

Jim, Thanks for the kind words and all of your help in answering my pesky questions. I too was shocked with the spring rate split. This was the biggest sticking point for me. In the end I looked at % of split front to rear compared to stock GT3 spring rates (knowing I've got GT3 bars on the car) and decided they were worth a go. GT3 spring rates: 228/543 (1 : 2.38) H&R Clubsport : 455/915 (1: 2.01) I also set the bars pretty agressivly towards understeer and will adjust to more neutral settings as I get more seat time. Got the car on the rack yesterday and managed to get -2.5 degrees of camber front and set the rear to -2.0. Hopefully this will be enough for now as my next few outings will be on street tires getting re-acquainted with the car and it's new bits. Andy

Interesting. Maybe the split we're using on our race cars isn't enough. I think your camber will be great. Maybe a little too much on the street but fine for the track. More is always better but I'm not paying for your tires.

nice! i too had h&R coilovers and really liked them. i, however, had the street coilovers. they were still great for the track. i thought you were going to buy the motons of a gt2? those are some high rates, especially for the rear. i have 450/700 on my motons and it's pretty hard on the street. defintely go with some gt3 sways. you might find that the rear is too stiff giving you oversteer. since your shocks are non adjustable, you can at least stiffen the front/soften the rear with gt3 sways.

Looks siq bud - good memories of that car!

Thanks for the report. I looked at the standard H&R Coilovers that Tire Rack sells and they seem very simular but offer a softer ride. Is this correct? I want to be able to lower and improve handling on the street. What is your feeling on these? I delt with the stress of roadracing on weekends for 8 years and won't be tracking my car. Thanks again, Nick