My front shocks need to be replaced and thought it would be a good time to upgrade to the PSS10. However, after searching many of the posts, it seems that the PSS10 may not be worth it or may cause other issues such as tire wear unless you add many other parts (e.g, rear dog bones, toe steer links, sway bar drop links, camber kit, antiroll bars, etc...)

My car is a daily driver that will see 2-3 schools a year so I want to have a ride comparable to stock on the street BUT I am expecting the PSS10 kit without additional upgrades to be significantly better at the track than the stock set-up. Otherwise, I might as well just replace my front shocks with stock parts and call it a day.

I welcome any advise -

 

I had PSS9's which are not much different than PSS10's and I found them too softly sprung for the turbo on track. With that said, if you are on the stock system now and you are satisfied with the handling, then I see no reason why you wouldn't like the PSS10's. You don't need any other parts, but I would recommend upgrading to TRG or Tarret drop links as the ones that come with the PSS system are rather thin and have been known to fail on track. I was kind of disappointed in the PSS9's, I didn't think they were much different from stock, even the adjustability was not very pronounced between full soft and full hard compared to two way adjustables.

 

best mod i did to my 996tt, do it, major difference almost feels like a new car

 

Pss10's should be good enough for what you do but it might be hard to find them as they seem to be BO until mid july/august. There is always bilstein HD or whatever they're called, from what I understand it's an upgrade to stock shocks.

 

For those of you using the PSS10 at the track without others mods, how would you rate the change on a scale from 1-5 with 1 being "about the same as stock" and 5 being "it transformed the car to a new level of performance"?

Landjet - for the drop links you suggest, is that the fronts rears or both? Also, excuse my ignorance but what do they do?

 

Haven't tracked this car yet, the 10's made a big difference for me in the twisties, I had them set at 5 fr/rear and the ride is better over bumps, but stiffer and more stable in corners. I can't wait to stiffen them up, add drop links...I am very happy.

 

I have tracked my Turbo a few times now with the PSS10 without any other mods than a bit more "agressive" alignment.
I would give them 4 in terms of changing the cars behaviour and feel compared to the stock setup.

They are quite softly sprung for track use and especially turbo´s weight as others have said as well.
They are still a noticeable upgrade over stock suspension. I would think they would benefit from a swaybar upgrade (H&R or similar) and thats my next step.

If you do plan on tracking your car more, maybe something else (more track orientated) might suit you better.
According to my experience they are a fully adequate setup for DE and other "light" track use without sacrificing too much of the everyday comfort in exchange.

Also, when adjusted with everyday settings (I run 6 rear, 4 front on the street) they are in par or better than stock in terms of comfort.

Just my 0.02$

 

Drop links connect the sway bars to the cars suspension, usually on the shock mounts. The ones from Bilstein are rather thin and prone to breakage on track. I have had the TRG links on my car for 3 years now without problems or noise. Tarret also makes a high quality set.

Have you upgraded your sway bars? That will make a difference on track.

 

Landjet - my car is all stock. If I was to do it in phases, would you first do the links and then later the sway bars? Also, for the sway bars do I have to do front fronts & rears?

Mikkofin- thanks for the response; very helpful

 

I really liked the PSS9s and felt that they transformed that car. Not too stiff and great for a mostly street car. FVD sells their own spec PSS which are supposed to have slightly stiffer springs.

If you lower the car past a certain point, you will want at least toe control arms and the PSS can run out of travel.

 

I have the PSS9 and drop links, dropped ~1", aligned, corner balanced and really like the new feel and look. I had the fronts at 5 and found it a bit bouncy and floaty at speed. Clicked to 4 and cleaned it up a bit. Expect 3 would be the business. I also changed tires to new MPSCups with new pads/rotors... The car is night and day at the track but smooth on the streets as well. I lucked out and found my shocks and links on eBay for a deal.

Good luck-

 

No problem.

I am also thinking of the swaybar upgrade and from what I have read / heard from real life drivers, do both! Its worth it.

 

On a 996TT there is insufficient adjustment in the rear eccentrics to correct for too much negative camber and toe in if you lower the car too much. As PSS10 are adjustable (and have a specified range of adjustment), you can keep the ride height at a level that will allow the stock eccentrics to get street acceptable alignment. However if you expect to get to close to GT2 ride height the stock rear eccentrics will not be able to deal with the negative camber and toe in, hence you'll need dog bones and rear adjustable toe links. Larger width and diameter tires with more radical offsets make the issue even more complex to deal with.
Stock drop links are notoriously undersized and have a tendancy to bend or break regardless of ride height. As you lower the car you need longer drop links. Bilstein does provide longer front drop links but does not supply rear drop links. Tarrett, GMG, TRG make both beefy front and rear drop links. While dog bones and toe links do not make much more noise, drop links do. Dust boot help quiet them down. If this is going to bother you, then stick with stock links and a consevative drop.

My suggestion for even a safer bet is the X73 package from Porsche. Non adjustable but you know it's going to work. I don't think the X73 cost much more than stock parts.

Overall Bilstein PSS10 are a good comfortable street coil over for occasional track use. Height adjustability and rebound control are a nice features and very user friendly. But the design of the shock has its limitations. As the adjustment collar just raises or lowers the coil against the spring perch, it changes the spring rate and impacts shock travel. You'll have to get to Moton or similar to get a true threaded coil over body that allows height to be adjusted without changing spring rates and amount of shock travel. These of course are very expensive, require the aformention other suspension parts plus they have solid pillow ball mounts at the top of the shock adding more noise. Solid thrust bushings and split lower control arms are also recommended along with corner balancing.

While you're getting the suspension all nice and stiff, the soft stock motor mounts and tranny mount let all the engine/tranny mass get jiggy and will need to be replaced with stiffer units.

It's a very slippery slope. What started out as a $3k upgrade ends up costing over $10K. Have fun.

 

i have pss10's and nothing else and i loooooooove the handling of the car and the ride comfort (and im on 19's). buy them

 

First let me say I hardly drive my car on the street and I have completely redone the suspension on my car for the track. If you want a street car ride then less is more. In your case I wouldn't change the drop links until you upgrade your sway bars. Some guys just upgrade the rear bar but racing shops will tell you that sway bars are sold as sets for a reason. To each his own. You have to decide just how far you want to take your car. The better the car is for the track, the worse it will get for the street, and visa versa.