I recently picked up a 991.1 GTS 7-speed and I am looking to upgrade the suspension. I am between the Ohlins R&T and the Tractive touring line. I picked this car up for the back seat to bring my son along for some drives, but will still enjoy by myself. I am not going to be tracking it so I just can't justify the $10k for the Tractive DDA RT. The car has PASM and even in sport plus I find it pretty soft (compared to my other sports cars at least).

It appears the touring are newer and I am not finding much out there on them, especially comparing to the Ohlins. Does anyone have any experience with both of these?

Ideally would like to set height right around stock GT3 height with them. It sounds like the Ohlins have less height adjustability?

Also, looking at the spring rates on the Tractive touring, it seems they are pretty low even compared to the Ohlins. Are they more comfort focused than the Ohlins?

Losing PASM is not a huge deal for me; I was pretty set on the Ohlins until reading several threads raving about the Tractive. Granted they were all about the more expensive set, so curious to get some inputs on the touring vs Ohlins.

 

@AU_911 We can convert the Tractive Touring to accommodate linear springs front and rear on this kit, but it is an additional $1400 for the parts and springs. I would say the Tractive dampers work best with the DSC controller as well to the point you should consider that first even. It really comes down to this; do you want to have none or some in car control and is price a factor within the ranges I linked below?

That being said we can alter spring rates (or valving for a cost) from either kit to suit the driving style. The Tractive tends to have more damping control range with the electronic valve fwiw.

We have re-opened the door to offer Nitron again as a mention if you were not aware of them.
Nitron for 991
We have a kit we speced up for some forum members a while back before temporarily putting that on pause. The manual setup is the same cost as the Ohlins and can be speced with pretty much any spring rate desired.

Do you have PDCC?

Here are the kits you asked about from our site for price and the DSC. We have a small bundle discount as will with the controller as well.

DSC Controller for 991

Tractive Touring for 991

Ohlins R&T for 991

 

No PDCC on my car. I planned on a DSC if going with the Tractives.

I am ok with no in car control - I don't necessarily need a comfort setting. Ideally looking for something that is going to really improve the handling/reduce body roll of the car for street purposes, and am fine with a slightly stiffer ride than stock. Realistically, I am not looking to spend a ton of time with a computer dialing in the suspension, so if that is necessary on the Tractives that may rule them out. I am assuming a windows computer is needed (which I don't have).

And far as the added cost of the linear springs - it is not out of the question, but does put it around 2k more than the ohlins after DSC too, so it certainly

How would you compare the two with the springs that come on the Tractive touring?

Ideally looking for something that is going to really improve the handling of the car for street purposes, and am fine with a slightly stiffer ride than stock. Also, I am not looking to spend a ton of time with a computer dialing in the suspension, so if that is necessary on the Tractives that may rule them out. I am assuming a windows computer is needed (which I don't have).

 

@AU_911 To be fair, I wouldn't normally compare them. They are very different systems designed to accomplish different goals. The Tractive with Touring rates is like an OE+ setup with a much wider bandwidth of comfort and chassis control with the use of the factory controls. The Ohlins is a passive system that you also need the delete kit for. You have to adjust at each corner (fronts adjust at the bottom of the strut). It has rates that are a bit shy of dedicated track use, but still acceptable on the road. Both we can tailor, but that may not be necessary here since you fit the use case for either.

 

For a car with PDCC, how would Tractive Touring compare to Bilstein B16 - since it sounds like both are the ‘enhanced OEM’ end of the spectrum?

 

Tractive is a higher end piece of equipment that can be rebuilt (by us). I would say it has a better valve and a bigger range.

 

If you’re looking to control roll whatever kit you go with you will want to run stiffer ARBs.

 

I have PDCC…

 

I was responding the OP.

 

I also have PDCC and have run lowering springs to B16's and now on Tractive R&T- Def a big bump from B16 to Tractive R&T.

I don't have first hand experience with the Touring, but my assumption is that they use the faster reacting electronic valve similar to the R&T which should have much better response rate than the B16's which is essentially the same valve as the stocks PASM damper.

This translate to softer soft and quicker dynamic transition to stiff depending on how you tune the DSC.

I am not sure the price differences between B16 and the Touring Tractive, but IMO the B16 is a small improvement over stock whereas the Tractive will be a much larger leap with the ability to rebuild.

 

First of all, buy with confidence from @Inertia Lab Chris . He helped me get my car set up almost a year ago and I couldn't be happier.

I'm curious how you use your car. Do you live in / around / or spend time carving mountain roads or canyons? Country roads? City roads?

Also, how long do you plan to keep your car? This matters because I believe that the longer you plan to keep a car, the more it's worth choosing the better of two options for the longer term.

BTW... I totally get what you mean about PASM feeling soft. I was there too at one point.

 

Pretty sure the dampers are the same.

 

yah it seems the internals are identical, one is just setup for stock top hats versus aftermarket monoballs and linear springs.

The biggest gain IMO is that PASM/B16 dampers react in about 100m/s vs 6m/s on the tractive. Makes a big difference in feel on the road.

 

My biggest issue when I had Tractives/dsc was the inconsistent feel in transitions, due to g force driven damping. If low gs the car felt like a camry (exaggerating)in transitions , I don’t want my 911 to feel like a Camry regardless of pushing or not - EVER. This was with rates as high as 100/140 ( I also ran 70/140 and 120/180 though nothing is going to make 120/180 feel like a Camry ). In fact , I often swapped in my OEM controller for the somewhat more stable platform and consistency it provided. This was only effective if the roads were relatively smooth, otherwise it was punishing.

With the rates that stiff and on the oem controller , I did get to observe how the oem controller works more clearly - If the roads were rough , it would shift to softer damping -eventually . It would wait just in case the roughness was momentary. When roads were smooth the same thing occurred in reverse. It was definitely not a bump to bump change , but more so a section to section change.

Secondly- I couldn’t get it to handle all things well. In some scenarios it was magic and in others it was downright scary.

3rd - with that many switchable , fine adjustment, parameters, I just never knew if I turned a **** enough or too much _ this lead to constant tinkering and fomo anxiety. I wish the parameters had larger steps as an option and the fine steps as a drill down _ similar to a parametric EQ.

Now having said all that there are 2 mistakes I most likely made in retrospect:
1. It is possible I ran my ride height too low.
2. Running stock sways , most likely had me using damping to compensate for roll.

Ive since gone back to ohlins and much prefer the simplicity of clicking *****. However my car didn’t really get sorted to “my satisfaction “until I raised the height and installed GT3 ARBs. I’m going to eventually want a setup with a bit more travel , but I doubt I’ll go back to an active system.

 

Thanks, this is great feedback. I am very intrigued by the technology on the Tractive, but it sounds like the Ohlins may still be a better fit for me. I feel the stock PASM feels too soft in firmest setting. I am not looking for the car to feel soft (within reason) and the Ohlins should still give a comfortable enough ride but still feel like I am driving a sports car.