HarmonyJim

One of our very respected posters on the forums who professionally races his RS at Sebring as well as the other major venues, wrote a while back that he too was looking into changing out the shocks. He first went through the suspension replacing all the rubber bushings with the full front and rear RSS Tarmac kit (incl semi-solid motor mounts). Upon completion, he stated that he felt changing out the shocks was no longer necessary because the suspension was finally working as designed. I am not a racer, and use my RS only on the street, but I have the exact same kit, and I agree that the shocks seem perfectly sufficient for my needs. Some food for thought.

Mvez

The pro you are talking about doesn't "pro-race" his .1 GT3RS, but if he did, I can assure you he would be using a higher performing shock and spring package. Part of the problem, up until recently, was cost. Only now do we finally have some cost effective, high quality options for shocks. Previously, everything was $6000+ for some uber-complex 2-3-4 way shock that nobody knows how to tune. I have said all along, we needed a simple, single adjustable monotube shock. Ohlins now delivers that, and at an outstanding price, $3100, which is about the same price as a full monoball conversion.

I've had this conversation with lots of suspension experts, and all agree that a stiffer spring/shock package will allow better performance gains than just swapping to all monoball bushings. The monoballs give a more direct feel, which is confidence inspiring, and may ultimately let you drive faster, but for sticky R-comps and Hoosiers, more spring to hold the car up helps even more.

Monoballs are great, but they wear faster than stock rubber bushings, so their service life is shorter and more frequent alignments are necessary due to wear.

The only monoballs I have are the rear, inner-lower control arm. Toe links are a given. We've shown my alignment holds longer than full monoball setups, and with only stiffer springs on stock shocks (not even re-valved), the performance gains are very real for a .1RS.

Ask any pro to choose between monoball bushings, and a higher performing shock/spring combo, they take the shocks/springs all day long.

wanna911

Mvez, when are you going to get your Ohlins on track? I'm contemplating a set if this DFV technology really works, they would be perfect for me as a single adjustable.

Mvez

I will be at Barber on March 1st, and VIR on March 14th. So I should have a good grip on the setup by the end of those events.

wanna911

Two good tracks. I'll be interested in hearing how the suspension handles the curbs at museum turn and 9/10 (if you use them) and any/all curbs at VIR.

I'm more interested in Curb manners. Setup varies by driver preference, car type, tires, etc. If it handles the bumps well, my guys can get it set up how I like it.

I'll be deciding in March so if you take any videos from the events, I'd love to see them. TIA

Mvez

I will let you know as soon as I get to Barber. Curb manners should be better than any shock in the price range. My shop uses PSI (Performance Shock Inc.) for rebuilds/revalves, and they will tell you flat out it's one of the best single adjustable monotube shocks there is. Easy to rebuild, lasts a long time between rebuilds, and is essentially an active double adjustable, because the DFV valve opens on bumps instantly, then firms back up once shaft movement slows again.

They also will tell you to stay away from AST or JRZ single adjustables, and they rebuild those shocks along with just about anything else available.

marco911gt3

A friend of mine say me also exe-tc one way are very good do you know?

Mvez

I'm sure they are great, and from what I gathered, they are similar in philosophy in that "a compliant car, is a fast car".

I went with Ohlins simply because they are readily supported here, priced right, come highly recommended, and have a history of great build quality and reliability. I'm sure you can find some that say the same about the exe-tc shocks.

Nick Wong

I am quite happy with my TTX series Ohlins. But I am also quite happy with my 685/1313lb f/r spring rates too. My kit is 4 way adjustable fronts, 2 way rears. Switching out to 3 or 4 way in the rears is easy, just swap out the valve adjusters I think.

Leigh2

^^^THIS^^^

Keep the shocks stock and change the spring rates to reduce the weight transfer. I'd go 600/800 and a crisp alignment, it's not as bad on the street as you would think..... Not sure about the monoballs, they help but can be noisy...

Veloce Raptor

I understand. Which is why I suggested hiring someone who CAN help you properly set up a street car with a modified track-oriented suspension.

+1

Also, to Dez's point, curb-handling is one of the primary benefits of a quality remote reservoir damper system. You can run relatively stiff (compared to stock) springs, keeping the car flat in corners, and yet make the car super-supple & compliant over curbs, bumps, and track undulations.

usctrojanGT3

What are the OEM spring rates on a 997.2 RS? Also, where's the best place to buy Swift springs? Get linear or progressive springs?

Spyerx

I had an interesting experience this weekend on the track (outside my ice mode encounter, see separate post). The Streets of Willow is technical, short course, that is pretty bumpy, lots of off camber corners, built into a hillside. I like it, ton of fun, despite USC claiming it eats tires :-)

Anyway, as I've posted here before my car has Ohlins DFV shocks with custom spring rates that I replaced after one of my PASM units electronics went wacky. At the same time I also went full monoball and had the car aligned, balanced, and setup 'neutral' by my shop (for a beginner). I love the way it rides.

Onto the track... my instructor has a .1GT3 and was turning times around 1:26 if I recall, the very fast GT3 drivers are in the 1:24-1:27 range it seems. I'm at a 1:31 (not fast!). He's a very experienced driver and has raced, been instructing for many years. His car is setup/tuned/balanced, but doesn't have a full mono ball setup and is using stock dampers.

About the 3rd run, after the session he asks me what I've done to the suspension and what dampers I have. I told him and he was amazed at how planted the car was, there are lines he is avoiding because they are upsetting the car, but he didn't feel that in mine at all (I don't know any better). The 4th run I went for a ride in his car and there are 2 turns, the entry from the skidpad to the front straight, and a turn right before the back bowl, running clockwise, that I could absolutely feel what he was talking about, the car, in those very bumpy sections is getting unsettled and to me (inexperienced driver) was freaking scary.

Not knowing any different as my car has had this since the first time I had it on the track, it was amazing to FEEL the difference. I should have let him drive my car a few laps, would have been interesting to see what he could have done with it... next time!

Mvez

Ohlins magic. Mine are being installed literally as we speak. I've got plenty of seat time on stock suspension, and stiffer springs (on stock shocks), so I'll post my thoughts after this weekend at Barber. The real comparison will be once I get on my home tracks (Putnam, Mid-O), but that won't be until April.

bmwtye

looking forward to your thoughts. i dont like how unsettling the stock .1 suspension feels. been debating revalving and stiffer springs (since its so close to where i live) or going with the Ohlins DFV. I do drive my car a lot on the street