golfnutintib

Anyone with PSS9's on their Cayman / Cayman S/R?

For sporty street use - good damping but still comfortable and compliant - what are good shock settings you use?

Thanks in advance.

mjdavis

Hi there. I have PSS9s on my 2010 2.9L Cayman. For street driving it's great, such a huge upgrade from stock. Keeps the car flat L/R and fore/aft. My wife says it feels like the car is glued to the road, and I won't argue with that. Not harsh at all, rounds off the edges nicely. But expansion joints and potholes still make me cringe every time. The car is quite a bit lower than stock, so be careful with the nose. Keep in mind that to get any camber into the car you will need to replace the lower control arms with something adjustable, at least in the front. And you will probably want to adjust the toe angle in the rear, or the car may have an unnerving habit of snapping into oversteer at times. I've run the dampers all the way at 1, and all the way at 9, and I can't tell any difference at all.

For the track, they are clearly an upgrade, and they fit the street/track compromise pretty well. I do think they need quite a bit more spring rate for the track though. The car moves around a lot when pushed on the track, which is fine, but it can take a second for it to settle on the front end when braking.

Have fun!

wizee

I was about to ask something very similar to this thread. I have a 987.1 base Boxster that's currently all stock apart from the wheels. While it's a decent handling car with excellent balance, there is a bit of floatiness and body shift in sudden direction changes, and it dives on hard braking. Last year I test drove a 718 Cayman (with PASM in sport mode) and was very impressed with its composure. When I pointed the 718's steering in any direction, it went there immediately with no sense of body roll or delay, even when rapidly jiggling the steering. In comparison, my 987.1 with stock (fixed) suspension feels overly soft and wallows a bit. I want to recreate the responsiveness of 718 in my 987.1.

I'm thinking of getting Bilstein PSS9s and running them in the softest damping setting, and also lowering the car maybe 15 mm. I don't want to lower it too much, as the roads in Kitchener/Waterloo are truly dreadful with potholes everywhere. My car is mainly for spirited street driving - 95% street use, maybe one or two track/DE events per year. The Bilstein documentation seems to indicate that they are meant to lower the car 25 to 45 mm, but I'd rather lower only 15 or 20 mm if feasible.

Do you think replacing my stock 987.1 fixed suspension with Bilstein PSS9s would give me the crisper handling I want? Would it remain comfortable on the street? How much do I have to lower the car?

Loopdog188

I'm in a very similar spot that you are and I was wondering if you ever figured out what you wanted to do? Thanks

wizee

I ended up buying a new 718 Spyder 🤣

mytime1

I have a 06 Cayman S and did this about 2 years ago. Replaced my stock suspension with 85K miles on it with the PSS9 and it was a great improvement. Mostly daily driving for me. Much less body roll in corners, tighter feel. Still try to avoid potholes as they can be jarring. Big plus for me was the ability to lower the car and give it a more aggressive stance. I have about 20K miles on them now and would make the same decision again. Definitely get adjustable LCA's as mentioned above.

genxguy

I have a 2011 CS with PSS9 installed, and it's my DD as well as occasional DE car. I set it to 8 (full soft is 9, iirc) all around and have no complaints about comfort or handling. For track work, I've read 3 front and 2 rear is most commonly recommended. I would not lower the car much on this suspension, as the shop had to raise my car by an inch (from previous owner's setting) while they were corner balancing it to get 50/50 AND to get the exhaust pip to clear the rear axle. For reference, I can *almost* fit 2 fingers in the wheel gap now.

Clutch10

Anyone have sways bars installed with Pss9's? I have PSS9's and looking to install Tarrett sway bars but want to make sure they'll fit. I have GT3 LCA's and RSS Droplinks

joseph mitro

I have the H&R sway bars on Tarrett adjustable drop links with the PSS9s and they fit just fine.
My car is quite low; in fact I've raised it 3/4" and still needs to come up some.
I agree with the posts above that the car is quite a bit more sporty and for me it works well both street driving and mild DE use.

Clutch10

Awesome, good to know!