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-   Series I Wheels, Tires, Brakes & Suspension (https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-wheels-tires-brakes-suspension-55/)
-   -   Anyone here run Bilstein PSS9's? (https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-wheels-tires-brakes-suspension-55/anyone-here-run-bilstein-pss9s-140733/)

BRODA 12-28-2009 08:40 AM

Sounds good. Looking forward to your feedback. If I ever swap out the JIC's, the Bilstein's are on my short list.

chiketkd 12-28-2009 09:53 AM

For the money, the Bilsteins are hard to beat. Definitely a very solid monotube shock which can be set-up to work extremely well. The stainless finish makes the shock bodies very resiliant to corrosion and they are truly a coilover you can live with on a daily basis w/o requiring rebuilds every 20K miles (Ohlins, Koni, etc advise that rebuilds be done every 20K miles).

With that said, the out-of-the-box PSS9's are not a "perfect" competition coilover. The spring rates are somewhat soft (340 F/ 240R), but with adjustable swaybars and/or revalve (and different spring rates), these can be set-up to be right up there with the 3-4K coilovers. Tom Kenna and Rick Jung went 1-2 in STU this year in Jung's Evo that uses PSS9's.

P.S. Speaking of FatCat, I'll probably be going with a set of their bumpstops with my PSS9's. I don't plan to slam my car, but it will be lowered at least 1-1.5" lower than stock, and if I get into my bumpstops, I want to be sure my car will still handle predictably.

BRODA 12-28-2009 11:24 AM

Right on. I am in total agreement. For selfish reasons, I would like to see you up the spring rates and daping sooner than later, but I'm sure the factory settings will be a fun upgrade from your stock springs... and a bit more tolerable on the street than a pure STX setup.

On a side note, I used to run against Tom and Rick occasionally in STU back in San Diego (and Max H). Moving the RX8 out of STU was a very good move. :)

chiketkd 12-28-2009 11:37 AM

For budgetary reasons it definitely won't happen until late 2010/early 2011. A few different people (including Strano) have also recommended that I run these coilovers "box stock" for a season. This way when I do invest in a revalve ($125/shock from Bilstein), I'll have a better understanding of my overall needs and target spring rates.

Even with 600+lbs spring rates, these coilovers are still very daily driver friendly. Rick drove his family in his STU Evo to the SEMA show in Vegas a couple years back.

Yeah, the RX-8 definitely was outgunned in STU. All three drivers are definitely top notch and are always in the trophies or winners circle!

S0l08 12-28-2009 08:42 PM

What are the FatCat bumpstops? Where to get them? How much?

GeorgeH 12-28-2009 10:03 PM

http://www.fatcatmotorsports.com/

They have a whole range of bump stops available. This can be very helpful in fine-tuning a stock-class autocross car, where you have very little that can be changed. For a car with coilovers, it's perhaps not so important, but I suppose a judiciously chosen bump stop might let you lower the car a smidge more.

BTW, Shaikh typically likes to start with HDs, not PSS9s, for his rebuilds. He uses Ohlins internals. I'm not saying he wouldn't do PSS9s, but when I asked him about this last year he encouraged me to send him some HDs if I wanted his double-adjustable coilover setup.

He's a good guy, and helped setup Jerry Jenkin's ES Miata, '08 and '09 national champ, who is in my region. Jerry speaks very highly of his FCM setup.

chiketkd 12-28-2009 10:30 PM


Originally Posted by S0l08 (Post 3367619)
What are the FatCat bumpstops? Where to get them? How much?

George provided some great info. For the PSS9 application, I'll be looking at the 36mm or 46mm bumpstops. They run $64 for a complete set of four (4).

Here's a link to the FatCat bumpstop application guide: http://www.fatcatmotorsports.com/FCM....htm#Bumpstops

Originally Posted by GeorgeH (Post 3367697)
BTW, Shaikh typically likes to start with HDs, not PSS9s, for his rebuilds. He uses Ohlins internals. I'm not saying he wouldn't do PSS9s, but when I asked him about this last year he encouraged me to send him some HDs if I wanted his double-adjustable coilover setup.

Correct. Which is why I'll be going with the Bilstein engineer who revalved Jung's PSS9's when I do mine. Not saying Shaikh can't do them, but he prefers to work with HDs.

S0l08 12-29-2009 06:06 AM

Never knew bump stops were so complicated:Eyecrazy:

BRODA 12-29-2009 07:30 AM


Originally Posted by GeorgeH (Post 3367697)
BTW, Shaikh typically likes to start with HDs, not PSS9s, for his rebuilds.

Did not know that. Good info.:icon_tup:

S0l08 12-30-2009 05:22 AM

Got mine in last night! Quality looks really good. Better than my old KWs and way better than my old Helix:)
Looking at them, the fronts come with theur own bumpstops and thw rears don't appear to use any at all. Of course the instructions are aweful, so maybe Peppy can confirm this or not.

chiketkd 12-30-2009 09:09 AM

^ Do you have the ability to accurately measure the length of the front Bilstein bumpstops? The rear uses a tapered progressive rate spring. It'll be interesting to see if the kit uses a bumpstop in the rear.

I heard the instructions are a bit sucky. I think Peppy said they were like the picture instructions you get with Ikea furniture! :lol: :lol: :lol:

91 Impulse RS 12-30-2009 09:40 AM

the rears are inverted monotube, so the bumpstops are enclosed in the outer lower portion of the tube. I would assume that they are using bumpstops, never heard of a damper that didn't, but the only way you'll know is to disassemble your rear pss9 and find out :eek:

S0l08 12-30-2009 10:11 AM


Originally Posted by chiketkd (Post 3369517)
^ Do you have the ability to accurately measure the length of the front Bilstein bumpstops? The rear uses a tapered progressive rate spring. It'll be interesting to see if the kit uses a bumpstop in the rear.

I heard the instructions are a bit sucky. I think Peppy said they were like the picture instructions you get with Ikea furniture! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Just replace Sweedish with German. To measure the bumpstops I would have to take apart the adjusters. I'll try to do that some time soon.


Originally Posted by 91 Impulse RS (Post 3369549)
the rears are inverted monotube, so the bumpstops are enclosed in the outer lower portion of the tube. I would assume that they are using bumpstops, never heard of a damper that didn't, but the only way you'll know is to disassemble your rear pss9 and find out :eek:

This makes sense. I could not see how it would work with the OE one.

Pretty happy with how they look and can't wait to get them on. But, I gotta work this weekend, so Itll have to wait till next thursday.

chiketkd 12-30-2009 10:53 AM

I'll be ordering my set this coming Monday.

91 Impulse RS 12-30-2009 07:36 PM

instructions say the bumpstops are 40mm in height and 32mm in diameter for both front and rear.

chiketkd 12-30-2009 08:47 PM

Thanks. That's good to know. I guess the bump stops come pre-installed on the rears then.

S0l08 12-31-2009 05:05 AM

They come installed on both front and rear. The fronts could be changed easily. The rears cannot.

chiketkd 12-31-2009 09:20 AM


Originally Posted by S0l08 (Post 3370923)
They come installed on both front and rear. The fronts could be changed easily. The rears cannot.

Gotcha. Looking at the lengths that Impulse RS posted from the instructions, the standard bumpstops provided by Bilstein are pretty close to the lengths I was looking to run anyway.

Sounds like Bilstein did their homework with this kit! Looking forward to getting mine. :smoker:

chiketkd 12-31-2009 09:28 AM


Originally Posted by 91 Impulse RS (Post 3024580)
Hi, was just wondering if you recall whether your PSS9's were shorter in extended length than the stock shocks, or were they the same.
thanks.

Did you ever get an answer to this question?

If not, I could take pics of a F&R PSS9 side-by-side with a F&R stock shock when mine arrive. I have konis on my car right now, so my stock shocks are off the car and in a box @ home.

91 Impulse RS 12-31-2009 07:57 PM

never did, and would be appreciated, thanks.

Peppy@kacework 12-31-2009 09:21 PM

Ya, the instructions are horrible. I had to second guess myself 3 or 4 times before being happy with the way they were assembled. It's all worth it in the end though.

chiketkd 12-31-2009 10:39 PM


Originally Posted by 91 Impulse RS (Post 3371701)
never did, and would be appreciated, thanks.

Once I receive my set, I'll be sure to take several pics and post them. Look for pics in the next 2-3 weeks.

Originally Posted by Peppy@kacework (Post 3371755)
Ya, the instructions are horrible. It had to second guess myself 3 or 4 times before being happy with the way they were assembled. It's all worth it in the end though.

Well, I might have a few questions for you during my install weekend... ;)

chiketkd 01-05-2010 05:06 PM

Ordered a set of PSS9's today. Got one of the last RX-8 sets in the country. Seems like Bilstein USA is out of them and won't get another shipment in until ~2/15. Major thanks to Stranoparts.com for tracking those coilovers down - he made quite a number of calls to locate this set for me! :cool:

Also ordered a set of 17x9 Enkei RPF1's.

S0l08 01-05-2010 06:01 PM

I will be installing mine Friday. I'll try to take some pics and do a write up.

chiketkd 01-05-2010 08:47 PM


Originally Posted by S0l08 (Post 3376747)
I will be installing mine Friday. I'll try to take some pics and do a write up.

That will be greatly appreciated! :)


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