how did the install go?

 

So I installed them today, can't tell you how they are yet. I have to take the rears off tomorrow morning and reassemble them. The instructions are pretty crappy and i missed a washer so the rears rattle around over bumps. Hopefully that's the only thing wrong. As it sits the car has 0 wheel gap all around.

 

Did you measure your ride height before and after? The biggest mistake I see on coilover installations is setting the ride height too low so they are in the bumpstops. Then it is on the elastomer all the time instead of the spring, and people complain about them riding and handling poorly, when the actual spring/damper combo is super dialed in. Especially with inverted monotubes like the Bilsteins, there's no way to see this from the outside because the elastomers are at the bottom of the outer tube. Stay within the recommended lowering range provided by the manufacturer. I generally set a car for minimum lowering (highest recommended ride height) to preserve as much bump travel as possible.

Are the front tender springs fully compressed at static?

 

Ok. I took out the rears and raised them up a bit making sure the were within the recommended lowering range. I also put the washer in the right place that I had missed before. Honestly if you've ever built something from IKEA you'd know exactly what these instructions look like, lol. All pictures no real instructions and crappy labeling. This time I got it right though.

I drove home with the fronts set 3 down from full stiff and the rears 6 steps from full stiff. I have to say the car rides better now than it did stock. It feels firmer but soaks up the bumps and my cd's don't skip as much as they did with the stock suspension. Body roll is non existent. I got 2 of my tires/wheels mounted and balanced, picking up the other 2 tomorrow and getting the height adjusted and an alignment. I'll prolly get it corner balanced later on down the road.

I'll take some pictures tomorrow with the wheels on and post them up tomorrow. Right now the car is a little lower in the front and has the mustang look, lol. On the plus side of having to do the rears a 2nd time, i can replace an RX-8 suspension as fast as I could my WRX, 1hr

 

When will you get them set up so you can have driving impressions?

 

I'm getting an alignment tomorrow and I'll have my summer wheels/tires on. I'll do a lot of driving tomorrow to test them out. So far from the 2hrs I've driven on them I love them they remind me a lot of my AST's and most of the other cars I've driven with PSS9's.

 

If you get a chance to push them, please tell us about the front to rear balance. I think everyone is curious how the Bilstein springrates will affect the RX-8.

 

Any more feedback you can give us on your impressions ?

Its been about a month now, if Im not mistaken

 

Well, I'm still loving them. I've got them set stiffer in the front and softer in the back. Honestly I haven't seen much of a difference in the balance, the car basically just turns no matter what speed ur going at. I haven't had any snap oversteer and the car is nice and progressive at the limit, which is really hard to get to on the street with 275's. I am very satisfied with these coilovers and would def. recommend them to anyone looking for a street friendly occasional track use setup. I'm pleased to say the fears of upset balance were unwarranted

 

How would you compare steering response/transitions with PSS9 vs stock?

 

I Just installed PSS9's yesterday and this is by far the best mod i have done to my car so far. Still playing around with the settings, but full firm is NOT a good idea for the freeway, how my ***** are still attached i'm not sure.

You can throw the car into corners scaring the crap out of anyone in the car without even tire squeal, and thats on 245's

 

Camel8, when I lived in NE with crappy roads I found a good compromise setting for the street was 5 in the front 7 in the back. Now that I have moved to GA and most of the roads in my area are glass smooth I have them set basically full stiff 1 in the front and 2 in the back. I still like to keep them a tiny bit softer in the rear. Once I get my sway bars on I will probably put both on 1. The difference in steering response between full stiff and full soft is very noticeable.

 

Thank you! I think this is exactly the suspension setup I am looking for.

offtopic: do you miss the boost?

 

I am resisting the urge. I just saw them at www.shox.com

 

^^^ it looks like they have the best price out of all the places I've seen.

 

if you dont mind,

can you post some pics from the install or how you have your ride height set ?

 

Where'd you get them from at that price? I'm very interested in these coilovers...

 

I purchased them from shox.com. It seems as if they have raised the price since I purchased mine. I don't think I have any pictures left over from the install, I'll dig around and see if I can find any. I have them set towards the lower end of the recommended range.

 

Cool - thanks. Now you've had the coilovers for a few months, how do you like them for daily driving? Do they soak up bumps and road imperfections well? Have you done any track events and/or autocrosses on them? How much lower is your current ride height from stock?

I'm running B-stock again in '09, but will be moving to STX in 2010. I need a coilover set-up that's comfortable enough to daily drive on, yet competitive enough to win on!

 

I have them set to full stiff for my daily driving and don't find them any less comfortable than stock. They really do well on the street. I have my first track weekend on them this upcoming weekend at Road Atlanta, I'll let you know how they are on the track. I'm not sure how much lower than stock I am cause I never measured stock but this picture can give you an idea of how low it is:

 

Thanks. I'm very interested in your write-up after your first track day with them.

I'm currently using konis with the stock springs in B-stock. Due to konis having a lower gas pressure than the stock struts, my ride height has actually been reduced by roughly a 1/2" over stock with them installed.



From the pic you posted above, I'd say your car sits at least 1" lower (so maybe 1.5" lower than stock).

 

car looks really good man

 

How was the track event at Road Atlanta? How did the Bilsteins perform? Btw, what are your current alignment settings (as this could impact handling as much as the Bilsteins).

Thanks.

 

The weekend went really well. I couldn't be more pleased with this setup. Never had any issues with the car on the track. I would definitely recommend these if you plan on tracking your car but also want something streetable. There was a stock rx-8 in my group and it really allowed me to see the difference the PSS9's made in the hard corners. Here's my alignment settings:

Front camber: L -1.9/R -1.9
Caster: L 7.1/R 7.1
Front Toe: L -.01/R -.01

Rear camber: L -1.8/R -1.8
Rear Toe: L .07/R .05
Thrust angle: .02

 

Cool - awsome. Thanks for the review and the alignment specs.