siitech

I have no problem with the handling or performance of my car, I am also not interested in lowering my car, just looking for a bit more sophistication of ride/handling that a more expensive shock could provide. I have purchased Bilsteins for many of my previous German Cars with good result, however, those cars were mostly BMWs and Audis came with less performance oriented shocks. Wondering what kind of shocks are used on my 2013 base 991.1 without PASM? And if there is any benifit replacing OEM shocks with the Bilstien B6s?

SlickOne

Back from the dead!

Does anyone have any feedback on the B6?

stout

I've spent a lot of miles with your suspension setup. If you are on 19s, it is hard to imagine conventional dampers that will outperform or out-ride the factory dampers. Maybe Bilsteins would do so, but I doubt it. You'd be throwing away all of the tuning that Weissach put into the standard dampers, which is a big part of what you paid for the car (new or used). Fwiw, I found the 991.1 Carrera on 19s with standard dampers to have very, very good suspension tuning—the only "black mark" being one spot along my test route where the car bottomed on compression where no other Porsche has (at least, not noticeably). But that was over 1,000+ miles of seriously demanding roads.

If you're on 20s, there may be a benefit, but as with all things suspension, it's a pretty big roll of the dice. If I were going to do it, I'd look at something that's a system and adjustable for damping as well as ride height. In other words, something like Bilstein's PSS-9 or PSS-10.

YMMV!

CarreraFahrer

@stout, I'm curious what your rationale is between the 19's not needing improved damping but the 20's might? The 20's will raise the car and CG and are probably a bit heavier. In theory the 20's have a larger contact patch but I'm not sure how noticeable that is driving on the street. Is it just the added weight and rotating mass of the 20's?

stout

Years ago, I tested a 987.1 Boxster S for Sports Car International with the standard suspension and 19s, and its damping/setup was easily the worst of any Boxster I tried from Porsche to that point (and since). Enough so that it lost the comparison to an SLK55 AMG (!). Everyone present was aligned on this...the Boxster S was missing the handling magic it always defined. Next time I was in Germany, I raised the matter with a suspension engineer, who noted that he wasn't all that surprised—because the decision to offer various suspensions with multiple wheel diameters (three, back then) created a problem for development. So they had to make some decisions, and one was that customers who selected the wheel upgrade would also select PASM. Of course, we know a lot of buyers like the big wheels and care not a lick about handling or ride (or at least, don't think about it/won't pay for it). And then you have dealer-ordered cars....

In this case, there's everything you note, plus the shorter sidewalls—which can have a pronounced effect. Every suspension engineer I've met says the same thing: Setup starts with the tires.

In the case of the 991.1, the standard car comes with standard suspension and 19s, while the S came with PASM and 20s. PASM, being adjustable, can account for 19s or 20s. Standard dampers can't, and probably represent a compromise. It's possible that's a better compromise than the one from the 987.1, but I can't speak to that from experience. Would be interesting to know.

awrryan

CarreraFahrer

stout, thanks for sharing your insight on that. Good stuff. Yep tires make a huge difference. Too bad magazine tests aren't all done on the same tires.

I may at some point buy 19" wheels for track use so it's good to know there shouldn't be any issues with the PASM Sport on my car.

siitech

I started the thread in 2016, I have the basic suspension and 20" S wheels. Since no response from someone who actually tried Bilstein shocks on the 991, and that I found changing the tire pressure to the comfort setting gives me a satisfactory balance of handling and ride comfort, I decided sticking to the stock suspension 2 years ago.

On the other hand, car is getting older with more miles on it, and Bilstein generally make replacement shocks that is beefier and more sophisticated than the stock ones, there maybe benefit getting new quality shocks. I would love to hear from someone who actually tried replacement shocks on the 991.

awrryan