Anyone here run Bilstein PSS9's?
03-24-2010, 12:47 PM
#303
Row faster, I hear banjos
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Thanks. I put a lot of thought into every upgrade I put on the car. I'm glad everything came together as well as it did!
03-30-2010, 08:55 PM
#308
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Came across a few more pics from the Blue Ridge event from 2 weekends ago. One that caught my attention was taken in the cleanest/grippiest part of the lot in a medium speed sweeper (where speeds were around ~40mph):
The outside front corner definitely has a little more dive than I would consider ideal. In a lower grip sweeper of similar speed, the car looked like this:
I'm definitely looking forward to trying the stiffer springs up front...
P.S. FWIW, on the middle setting of my adjustable front swaybar, my current front wheel rate is identical to someone using the stock front swaybar with a 500# front spring (~960lbs/in).
The outside front corner definitely has a little more dive than I would consider ideal. In a lower grip sweeper of similar speed, the car looked like this:
I'm definitely looking forward to trying the stiffer springs up front...
P.S. FWIW, on the middle setting of my adjustable front swaybar, my current front wheel rate is identical to someone using the stock front swaybar with a 500# front spring (~960lbs/in).
Last edited by chiketkd; 03-31-2010 at 09:38 AM.
04-02-2010, 12:26 PM
#309
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This site has a lot of good info: http://www.fromsteve.net/node/2
Also has a good review of Swift Springs:
Not all springs are created equal. To show this, here are two springs of nearly equal spring rate and length. (Both are 9" long, but one is 300lb/in while the other is 280lb/in. That's close enough that we'll consider them both 300lb/in.) Notice how one uses thicker coils and many more of them:
Because of this, the blue spring has a significantly shorter solid length. The difference is not slight: the silver spring has about 4.2 inches of travel, while the blue spring has 5.7 inches. This is a 1.5 inch difference, or a whopping 35% more travel! Furthermore, for a car that puts 900lbs on each of these springs, we know that 3 inches of travel will be used up just by supporting the weight of the car. (This is the car's ride height.) At this point, the silver spring has 1.2 inches left for bump travel, but the blue spring has 2.7 inches remaining. This means the blue spring allows 225% more bump travel!
Because of this, the blue spring has a significantly shorter solid length. The difference is not slight: the silver spring has about 4.2 inches of travel, while the blue spring has 5.7 inches. This is a 1.5 inch difference, or a whopping 35% more travel! Furthermore, for a car that puts 900lbs on each of these springs, we know that 3 inches of travel will be used up just by supporting the weight of the car. (This is the car's ride height.) At this point, the silver spring has 1.2 inches left for bump travel, but the blue spring has 2.7 inches remaining. This means the blue spring allows 225% more bump travel!
Last edited by chiketkd; 04-22-2010 at 02:49 PM.
04-02-2010, 01:37 PM
#311
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From checking with a couple of sources @ Bilstein, the standard front PSS9 shocks can handle a spring rate between 340-400lbs/in w/o requiring a re-valve. As I'm using a big bar, soft spring set-up for STX, the first couple of events I've done in the car have left me feeling like I needed a slight tweak in my front wheel rate.
Going to the stiffest setting on my front swaybar would be 120lbs/in increase, which is a little too much for what I needed. I decided to increase my front spring rate instead. I went with a pair of 7K Swift springs (392lbs/in), which should be just about right.
These springs will go on my car sometime around the weekend of May 1st.
Going to the stiffest setting on my front swaybar would be 120lbs/in increase, which is a little too much for what I needed. I decided to increase my front spring rate instead. I went with a pair of 7K Swift springs (392lbs/in), which should be just about right.
These springs will go on my car sometime around the weekend of May 1st.
04-11-2010, 08:53 PM
#312
Did an event today with the new sways and the difference was night and day. The car was back to doing what I told it to. The new wheels and rs3s did well after a few runs to scrub them in. They only had 40 highway miles on the when I started the event and they were pretty slick.
Paxed third.
Ended up .9 sec behind Kerry in the STS CRX and .1 sec behind a CSP Miata. Both of which won there classes at the TX NT. And Kerry paxed 12th at TX.
Also of note was that the course pretty tight and fovored the small cars. So over all I am pleased. With more time with the car I'm sure the car will be pretty competetive.
One more event for me then we host a divisional next month. Can't wait.
Paxed third.
Ended up .9 sec behind Kerry in the STS CRX and .1 sec behind a CSP Miata. Both of which won there classes at the TX NT. And Kerry paxed 12th at TX.
Also of note was that the course pretty tight and fovored the small cars. So over all I am pleased. With more time with the car I'm sure the car will be pretty competetive.
One more event for me then we host a divisional next month. Can't wait.
04-11-2010, 09:42 PM
#313
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Great job Max! What shock settings have you found to work best for you?
I had my second event with with my local Blue Ridge region today. I won my class (6 drivers) and finished 2nd out of 76 in PAX. The guy that won FTP was one-out-of-the-trophies in FSP at Nats last year.
Not many pics are up but here are two:
I had my second event with with my local Blue Ridge region today. I won my class (6 drivers) and finished 2nd out of 76 in PAX. The guy that won FTP was one-out-of-the-trophies in FSP at Nats last year.
Not many pics are up but here are two:
04-11-2010, 11:18 PM
#316
Nice Chike.
I liked them at 5 and 5. Never changed them. I did drop tire pressure to 43/41 and picked up a 1/2 sec. Still did not seem to be using all the tire by looking at the wear marks. I will have a codriver next event and will try some different settings and pressures.
Stew- what's you alignment and what bars are you using?
I liked them at 5 and 5. Never changed them. I did drop tire pressure to 43/41 and picked up a 1/2 sec. Still did not seem to be using all the tire by looking at the wear marks. I will have a codriver next event and will try some different settings and pressures.
Stew- what's you alignment and what bars are you using?
04-11-2010, 11:28 PM
#317
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I also tried some lower pressures today - started at 40F/38R cold, and maintained 43F/41R hot. Tires felt quite grippy but not as grippy as the first event when I had a co-driver.
My other region, Washington DC, is hosting the NE Divisional next month. I'm signed up and I'm currently trying to talk Gary into being my co-driver. These Hankooks definitely need heat to work at their best.
My other region, Washington DC, is hosting the NE Divisional next month. I'm signed up and I'm currently trying to talk Gary into being my co-driver. These Hankooks definitely need heat to work at their best.
Last edited by chiketkd; 04-11-2010 at 11:30 PM.
04-12-2010, 03:15 AM
#318
Relax baby!
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Hi guys, t have been looking for bilstein colovers recently and i wanna ask what are the differences between B12, PSS9, PSS10 . Im sorry if this have been cover before. thank you
04-12-2010, 10:22 AM
#319
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1) PSS10 has inverted monotube shocks F&R (PSS9 is rear only)
2) PSS10 has 10 clicks of adjustment (PSS9 has 9)
I'm not aware of a PSS10 kit for the RX-8, but they do offer a kit for the MX-5, so I figured it wouldn't take them very long to adapt it for the RX-8.
04-13-2010, 02:23 AM
#320
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im on stock sways and im sure i had 43-45 psi and on setting 6 i think I'm going to go softer on the rear and 2 clicks stiffer in the front and maybe try 35-40 psi this sunday and see how that goes
04-13-2010, 08:11 AM
#324
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FWIW, I'm surprised your car is "*** happy" on these coilovers on the stock sways. At your next event, I'd ask a fast local miata/S2000 driver to do a ride-along with you (or even drive your car). I'd be interested to see if they find your car loose or not.
P.S. FWIW Max, I was getting a little inside wheel spin this past weekend. Part of that could be due to the lot being dusty in a few sections of the lot, but when I look at this pic I posted earlier:
My inside rear looks like it's starting to loose contact with the ground. At my next event this weekend, I'm going to try the pressures of 40F/38R (cold) again, along with a front shock setting of 3 and a rear setting of 4. I'm hoping with a little more rebound in the front and rear this issue will go away.
This weekend's event is with the DC region. I typically PAX'd in the top 30 (out of 200-250 drivers) in my last two seasons in B-stock. This region is packed with several multi-time national solo & pro solo champions (including Sam Strano, Mike "Jr" Johnson, Ian Baker, Brian Garfield, Brian Burdette, Lee Piccione, Jason Burns, Mike Neary, Marshall Cone). The talent definitely runs deep...
04-13-2010, 08:17 AM
#325
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Bilsteins don't have this rebuild requirement. Their monotube design is very simple yet effective and holds up very well to long-tern use. If you ever need to do a revalve, cost is just $125 per shock which is dirt cheap (just find out the cost to revalve a moton shock
).