After reading many of the posts on which suspension to use and talking to quite a few of the tuners out there I went with the boring but proven Bilstein PSS9 with H&R Sway Bars. I am an agressive driver, and do half a dozen track days a year. My goals are to set up the car to handle as tight as possible without having to feel like I am in a buckboard.

I need help debugging the setup, and possibly the installation, something seems to be wrong.

Here was the install by Autosport Engineering:
-Lowered to ROW Height (20mm).
-Align and corner balance, and recalibrate steering position sensor.
-PSS9 set to 4 in front, 3 in rear.
-H&R Front bar with stock drop links set to middle
-H&R rear bar with stock drop link could only set to soft in rear because of right side drop link hitting suspension link.

The one major concearn is that the right rear drop link just touches the lower suspension link on the softest setting, so the sway bar cannot be adjusted any firmer, and it just plain should not hit! Everyone I talked to said you do not need adjustable drop links with this bar. It was verified that the bar is not installed upside down. The left side of teh bar clears the suspension by a good finger width. I talked to Bilstein, H&R, and several others trying to debug(thank you all! )

Results:
Car handles like a BOAT! tons of body roll, knumb steering response, and massive understeer. Feels like a worn out 914 with skinny tires!

First step to try to prevent any damage to suspension:
I felt uncomfortable leaving the Rear sway bar in the car hitting the suspension so I switched it back to the stock rear sway. (As a note: the left side still has at least 2-3 mm more room to clear the suspension than the right.)

First step to try to resolve handling:
Played around with PSS9 settings and found that with factory rear bar, and H&R set to medium in front, Bilstiens set to 3F/1R makes that car handle pretty darn normal again, somewhat near stock, Thank God! I was very suprized to see I had to go to the #1 setting in the rear to achive this. With the rear set to 2 there is simply just way too much body roll.



I have purchased adjustable rear drop links and will install them this week, but I am still concearned about the overall issues.

Questions:
1. What could be wrong in the rear causing me to require adjustable drop links with the H&R bar, so I don't hit the suspension with the drop link on the right side?
2. If I install adjustable rear drop links so that nothing hits, will this just mask/band-aid a more serious problem?
3. If I put back the H&R sway bar in the rear with adjustable links and set to firmest setting, can I relax the settings on my rear shocks? Having to set the Bilstiens to #1 in the rear to be able to geat any form of decent handling just seems wrong based on what other have done.

 

Live2shift, I Have The Exact Setup As You On 02 Tt, My Settings Are 5f & 3r, My Shop In Houston Performed The Install, Had No Issues Of Rear Bar Hitting Anything. I Wonder If Maybe H&r Sent The Wrong Rear Bar?

 

As you lower the car, the link positions need to be addressed. Adjustable drops are the answer (I use these).

Set your bars in the same position to start and then adjust as needed.

 

These cars are VERY finicky when it comes to suspension setups, its crazy but also took me alot of testing to get a setup i liked , goodluck

 

It seems crazy because the stock setup was so good!

 

I've never run this combination but it seems that your H&R rear sway bar is the culprit here. I had the factory GT3 rear sway bar and had nothing but positive results with it. If you get your links and set them right than you can re-set your the rears to your liking. Check the part numbers on those H&R sways, maybe you got a set that wasn't made for your turbo.

 

Live2shift,

Your handling comment seems to indicate something is wrong. I have the RUF PSS-9 and after experimenting with settings, settled on 3F/3R. On 1 or 2 the ride was rock hard and jarring. The #3 setting feels very similar to stock (just slightly firmer), except the squatting and dive are gone. At night with the stock suspension, if I stomped on the gas the headlights would shoot in the sky, if I braked hard the nose would dive and the lights would highlight the ground directly in front of the car. This behaivor has been completely eliminated to the point where there is very, very little dive and squat. In fact, I have tried to make the headlights shoot high or low like stock and it is difficult to induce any significant movement, even with aggressive input.

The ride is improved over rough surfaces (less jarring, yet firmer and more composed) and the handling is great. In tight corners with a moderate throttle....where the car understeered or plowed before, it has become nuetral. With the application of heavy throttle in the same type of corner, the rear steps out and I can steer with the front end. I do not have much experience pushing the suspension to the limit, mostly street driving.

When set to #1 or #2, the suspension firms up considerably and was too firm for my everyday taste. I have not tried the softer settings (#5-#9), but based on my experience, I would think that it can be made very soft, if desired.

The RUF PSS-9 suspension comes with an adjustable rear sway bar only.

 

I have exactly the same setup on my 2002 Turbo. PSS9s lowered appoximately 20mm and the H&R Sway bars. I went out to my car and checked the clearances with the stock drop links and they clear without a problem. According to H&R's Website they show a different bar for the 996 C2 part number 71513. The 996 Turbo rear bar is part number 71385. One easy way to check is measure the diameter of the bar. The C2 bar is supposed to be 23mm, but the Turbo bar is 24mm in the rear.

If anything you need the rear bar more than the front bar, because the rear is really where you need to roll stiffness. That's why some people just run the GT3 rear bar and use the stock bar up front.

If I had to bet, I think you have the 23mm bar and not the correct 24mm Turbo bar.

Good luck!

 

Your not drivin' that car of yours!!!

 

I ran the H & R rear bar ONLY.

NO rubbing no extra parts, no problemo.

 

The piece the rear sway bar is hitting on in the picture is the rear toe link adjustment. Make sure this car has NEVER been towed with that toe link used as a tie down. I have seen this piece get wrenched down so tight, it bends that toe link so bad it rubs on the sway bar. Not saying this is the case, but some tow drivers love that lower link as a tie down point.

 

I have purchased the adjustable links and installing today. I am assuming you are supposed to install the links with no pressure on them when the suspension is loaded with the weight of the car?

 

Did the droplinks fix your problem? I am in the same boat with the PSS9 and H&R.

 

I have question about my PSS9 setup then. It seems like the small spring on mine are completely compressed and actually will not have any travel movement at all. Is this normal? Mine are set at ROW too.

 

Its funny but it seems there are a handfull of people with the same problem as you so I guess PSS9's are just not the right coil-over to get if you lower the car more than X amount. I lowered my Pss9s and the back also does the wiggle even after being aligned. I'm starting to think the JIC route would have been better for a more stable ride at the same height my PSS9's are set at right now.