Ruby13

Just picked up my box after having a a rear control arm and ball joint installed. The car was lowered when I purchased and can only handle 17"s without rubbing. It appears that the body has settled a bit more from the original almost 1" drop so got into a discussion on upgrading the suspension and raising up about an inch and to possibly accommodate 18's in the future.

My tech suggested PSS9's for overall use even though I don't track the car ('03 base) vs. just upgrading the shocks and springs. I drove his Carrerra4 S that has the PSS9 and loved the handling but just wanted some opinions of those who have installed vs. a stock upgrade with non adjustable shocks.
Thanks

smshirk

I don't have PSS9 but I am planning to as my next upgrade. I've heard a lot of good things, plus not so harsh as some track systems. My rear is stuck up higher than I would like. I could get away with some lowering springs but would really like to do the suspension.

eric523

I would defiantly go Pss9's over just shocks and springs. The adjustability is always a good thing. You will be able to set the ride height, rake, corner balance to whatever you please. All of those are set wherever the springs land when you just get springs.
They're great for street use and can handle track duty as well.

MikeBat

Look into the M030 ROW set up from Porsche as well. That is an entire system, shocks, springs, sways....all calibrated to work together.

Suncoast Porsche (and other retailers) sells the entire kit for $1088.

smlporsche

+2. If you won't be going on the track the ROW MO30 will really tighten your car up nicely. If you ever want to track it the PSS9's will give you much more adjustability.

MikeBat

Just a thought regarding adjustability....

When talking with real track hounds, guys with 20 + years of tracking and racing, they all seemed to say the same thing, car set up is very complex, and your interpretation of what the car is doing and what needs to be adjusted is not something that is as simple as you may think. They say, with adjustable systems, for anyone less then a really experienced and sensitive driver, just set it and forget it. Constant tweaking distracts you from focussing on the driving.

In the end, they recommended a complete system.

I just defer to their depth of experience and knowledge.

That said.... I would love to drive a Moton equipped Box!!!

Pat

This is wise^^^
If I were to go with any coilover system I would install it myself, then have a race shop familiar with Boxsters set the damping, height, alignment, balance, etc.
Then I'd forget about the settings and go drive the **** out of it.

eric523

Yeah I'd venture to say that most people that have double or triple adjustable systems don't really know how to use them. The Pss9 is a very basic single adjustable shock that you wont really ever play with.
The adjustment I am most concerned about is the initial set-up, and then they pretty much don't get touched unless your changing tire/wheel sizes like the OP said he wanted to. At that time you may want to adjust the ride height to clear the wheels, set the fenders on top of them just perfect etc.
Most lowering spring systems don't have the aggressive rake, or angle from front to rear that you may desire. A lot of them set the nose too high in comparison to the rear of the car and they kind of look funky. With the Pss9's you can independently adjust the height as you desire.

I had a customer, TODAY, call me and say he wasn't happy with the lowering springs because the butt sags and there is a big gap over the front wheels still... and now he's paying twice to get it done.

eric523

When you do this, and don't measure the shocks right when you put them on, It will actually take the shop twice as long to get their alignment and corner balance done. Just a tip.
A lot of people just bolt them on out of the box and then bring them into me. Makes my job twice as hard.

Pat

Well sure, I would ballpark the ride height. That's what you mean, right? Ensure each corner is approximately where you want it to end up?

eric523

Well yeah, you want them as close as possible, hopefully within 5mm or so. I didn't mean you specifically...but I've had people just throw them on out of the box and not measure anything. Then get upset that the alignment and corner balance took longer than two hours.

fuhrius

this is directed at Eric since I've been following your successes with you boxster and you have such a respected shop....

I'm in the midst of turning my street-only car into more and more of a track car. I know that buying an already-done car is cheaper and all that...and that I'm not doing this in the most economical way (ie. extra labor to be doing small bits, then more small bits with redundant work being done)...but I'm thoroughly enjoying the process and I'm hoping to learn as much as possible about what is really affecting the car and what isn't. I'm a bit odd that way, maybe...I took 8 days of of car control / hi-perf driving / race school programs before setting foot on the track. I've got brakes and safety gear where I want them for now...running street tires this year...did what was needed to get a proper alignment / descent camber, did the sways...now I'm looking into dampers / springs. (not necessarily coilovers). the problem seems to be that many guys I know say the pss9's just aren't going to sufficient at the track, while others seem to dig them (and my car gets driven on the street as much as possible too). I don't mind some harshness...heck I don't have carpet or a stereo or a handful of things to drop weight. but the next step up from pss9 to JRZ (or AST, who's stuff I hear good things about) costs maybe $2k more (when you count in swift springs with the pss9's and upper monoball plates front and rear).

soooo, what advice would you give me for a car in transition?

doclaw64

I have had the PSS9 on my 01 S for a long time and before that I had the M030 suspension that I ordered with the car. If you don't track the car I would not get it. It is significantly stiffer then the M030, even on the loosest setting. Also if both the front and the rears are on the loosest settings then if you do push the car it can fishtail/spin on you. Don't ask me how I know. If I were only going to drive my car on the street I would have stayed with the M030. That being said I did track my car and trying to get all of the variables down, ie. temp, temp of the tires, pressure in the tires, setting of the shocks... there were alot of variables to think of. That being said the PSS9's are worlds better then the M030 on the track. just my 2 cents.

eric523

I'd recommend the same to you as I did the OP. I think the PSS9 is a very capable and versatile system. The Pss9 has good street manners for a coil-over shock. I find the softer settings to be comfortable and I would not hesitate at all to use them on my DD. You can set up the ride height and corner balance just as you could using a Moton, JRZ, or Ohlins.

When it comes to Pss9's on the track, I recommend what I use myself. To say that the Pss9's are not capable I feel is incorrect. So many people get hung up on getting the most expensive, most adjustable, stiffest suspension with huge sway bars. I just don't think that is the way to approach tuning your car, especially with novice and intermediate drivers. Sure, Patrick Long might be able to tell the difference between a properly set up Motons and properly set up Pss9. I'd venture to say that 95% of us would not.
We need to be realistic in the fact that we do not have suspension engineers at our side while out on DE lapping days. We also aren't using 2 sets of slick tires a day that are consistently fresh. There are plenty of other things to spend your racing budget on than pro level shocks.

If I were you I would install a set of Pss9's and get the camber dialed in at around -2.5 for the front and -2 in the rear. Set the front toe at zero and the rear toe in at about 10 minutes. Ride height should be about 100mm from the ground at the lowest point of the crossmembers front and rear. Any lower and you may run out of travel on the Pss9's. Set the front shocks to full hard, the rear to one click from hard and drive the wheels off of it. When it becomes more track oriented, maybe opt for the swift springs at 450/500 lbs. F/R. Bump up the camber to -3 in front and -2.5 in the back. Personally, I liked the way the stock springs handled, but I like driving softer cars. Depends on the track surfaces where you are at.

I have the Gt3 front bar and Tarett rear and both are set at FULL SOFT. The car tends to push with any more bar in it.
I'd rather have the car grip with some body roll than slide with less roll.
Also, I don't even have monoballs in my suspension. I just replaced the old worn out bushings with new stuff. Sure they are good to have, but not a necessity.

Keep it simple, don't over think it, and don't overspend when not needed.

fuhrius

Eric,

I appreciate your thoughtful and thorough response. I also share your main perspectives around keeping it simple and not overspending. I'd like a 'set-it-and-forget-it' setup as much as possible. I've been racing mountain bikes for a lot of years and there are so many products with so many adjustments, and I've learned over the years that most of that stuff is a nuisance, not a benefit. My focus in the coming years will be on my driving...I don't want to be doing a bunch of fiddling with suspension settings...knowing that half the time I'll probably be hurting, not helping, the situation.

I'd done tarett camber plates to get more camber (I'm at -1.9) in front...are you using the gt3 control arms to get your add'l camber? and are you running them with stock upper plates? and stock upper in the rear it sounds like...are you using the gt3 arms back there too?