Bilstein PSS9 track report
Bilstein PSS9 track report
I spent the weekend at Pahrump/Spring Mountain Raceway. First, it was a minor pain to get the Tein camber plates to work with the Bilsteins. You either have to machine the spring shaft or use a spacer. I didn't have time to get them machined so I cut some spacers. They actually worked fine. Just a heads up if you are considering buying these.
I set them to 9 (9 being the firmest) and they only have one adjuster for both compression and rebound. I used the stock sway bars, Enkei RPF1 17X9.5 with Toyo RA1s. Camber set to -3 front, -1.5 rear.
The quick summary is this. These coils are soft. The car was well balanced and composed with only a little understeer in turn 4 (slow, tight corner). It certainly had less body roll and more lateral grip than stock. However, the PSS9 just doesn't have enough spring for hardcore track driving. There were 4 Evos and I drove 2 of them back to back. One had Mueller JICs, one had the high end Teins with remote reserviors and one had Tein springs on stock shocks. The extra spring rate makes a pretty big difference, especially in the rear. The only upside of having such a soft set up is that I could hit the alligators hard and they didn't upset the car at all.
I'm OK with this. The Bilsteins are so comfy on the street where I spend way more time than the track that I'm willing to sacrifice some track performance.
So if you're looking for significant ride improvement on the street and a mild performance improvement over stock on the track these might be for you. If you're a track animal you will want something more aggressive.
I set them to 9 (9 being the firmest) and they only have one adjuster for both compression and rebound. I used the stock sway bars, Enkei RPF1 17X9.5 with Toyo RA1s. Camber set to -3 front, -1.5 rear.
The quick summary is this. These coils are soft. The car was well balanced and composed with only a little understeer in turn 4 (slow, tight corner). It certainly had less body roll and more lateral grip than stock. However, the PSS9 just doesn't have enough spring for hardcore track driving. There were 4 Evos and I drove 2 of them back to back. One had Mueller JICs, one had the high end Teins with remote reserviors and one had Tein springs on stock shocks. The extra spring rate makes a pretty big difference, especially in the rear. The only upside of having such a soft set up is that I could hit the alligators hard and they didn't upset the car at all.
I'm OK with this. The Bilsteins are so comfy on the street where I spend way more time than the track that I'm willing to sacrifice some track performance.
So if you're looking for significant ride improvement on the street and a mild performance improvement over stock on the track these might be for you. If you're a track animal you will want something more aggressive.
Good review! PSS9's and upgraded sways makes for a more aggressive set-up (obviously) and for at least 1 of our customers, has provided a little more capability at the track without any decrease in ride quality.
BUT it sounds like you're happy with the current set-up...and thats all that matters.
Also, the Bilstein's use a different size nut, so when ordering camber plates make sure you specify...Cusco has the different nut available for a couple bucks extra.
BUT it sounds like you're happy with the current set-up...and thats all that matters.
Also, the Bilstein's use a different size nut, so when ordering camber plates make sure you specify...Cusco has the different nut available for a couple bucks extra.
I did use wheel spacers front and rear. I also did a small file job on the rear trailing arms because I was getting some rubbing there. I didn't measure the spacers. I had several sizes in the spare parts bin and I just kept going wider until they cleared. But I would guess I used 1/8th inch rear, 1/2 inch front.
Evolving Member
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 232
Likes: 0
From: South Africa
Originally Posted by termsheet
I spent the weekend at Pahrump/Spring Mountain Raceway. First, it was a minor pain to get the Tein camber plates to work with the Bilsteins. You either have to machine the spring shaft or use a spacer. I didn't have time to get them machined so I cut some spacers. They actually worked fine. Just a heads up if you are considering buying these.
I set them to 9 (9 being the firmest) and they only have one adjuster for both compression and rebound. I used the stock sway bars, Enkei RPF1 17X9.5 with Toyo RA1s. Camber set to -3 front, -1.5 rear.
The quick summary is this. These coils are soft. The car was well balanced and composed with only a little understeer in turn 4 (slow, tight corner). It certainly had less body roll and more lateral grip than stock. However, the PSS9 just doesn't have enough spring for hardcore track driving. There were 4 Evos and I drove 2 of them back to back. One had Mueller JICs, one had the high end Teins with remote reserviors and one had Tein springs on stock shocks. The extra spring rate makes a pretty big difference, especially in the rear. The only upside of having such a soft set up is that I could hit the alligators hard and they didn't upset the car at all.
I'm OK with this. The Bilsteins are so comfy on the street where I spend way more time than the track that I'm willing to sacrifice some track performance.
So if you're looking for significant ride improvement on the street and a mild performance improvement over stock on the track these might be for you. If you're a track animal you will want something more aggressive.
I set them to 9 (9 being the firmest) and they only have one adjuster for both compression and rebound. I used the stock sway bars, Enkei RPF1 17X9.5 with Toyo RA1s. Camber set to -3 front, -1.5 rear.
The quick summary is this. These coils are soft. The car was well balanced and composed with only a little understeer in turn 4 (slow, tight corner). It certainly had less body roll and more lateral grip than stock. However, the PSS9 just doesn't have enough spring for hardcore track driving. There were 4 Evos and I drove 2 of them back to back. One had Mueller JICs, one had the high end Teins with remote reserviors and one had Tein springs on stock shocks. The extra spring rate makes a pretty big difference, especially in the rear. The only upside of having such a soft set up is that I could hit the alligators hard and they didn't upset the car at all.
I'm OK with this. The Bilsteins are so comfy on the street where I spend way more time than the track that I'm willing to sacrifice some track performance.
So if you're looking for significant ride improvement on the street and a mild performance improvement over stock on the track these might be for you. If you're a track animal you will want something more aggressive.
As I am thinking of purchasing a set for the evo Good write up, thanks dude.
mike
Mike
Originally Posted by termsheet
I did use wheel spacers front and rear. I also did a small file job on the rear trailing arms because I was getting some rubbing there. I didn't measure the spacers. I had several sizes in the spare parts bin and I just kept going wider until they cleared. But I would guess I used 1/8th inch rear, 1/2 inch front.
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=174243
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Subscribed, I would like to hear more info and details as you try different setups .... please keep this thread updated as you try different configurations ....
As GTWORX suggested maybe you could try larger front and rear sway bars and let us know what happens ...
As GTWORX suggested maybe you could try larger front and rear sway bars and let us know what happens ...
I thought about aftermarket sway bars but I stayed with the stock bars for a few reasons. First, the car is balanced. It was totally fun to drive. I had zero frustration. All the corners that required early rotation were handled with left foot braking. The Evo rotates nicely with a little left foot. It certainly has less understeer than stock. Second, a bigger rear bar would decrease understeer but that really isn't the right way to solve that issue. More rear bar = less traction. The exit of turn 3 left me wanting a Quaife LSD. The proper way to reduce the understeer would be to increase the rear spring rate. I don't know how much spring the Bilsteins can take but I bet their valved pretty soft. Last, I've been told that the Bilsteins don't like big bars. I was told the ride quality goes down pretty quick with big bars. The reason why I bought these in the first place was so my car would stop bouncing down the highway. It was so bad that at night on bad roads my headlights would bobble like a Honda Civico with cut springs.
Originally Posted by Boosted GP
Are you sure? I have a set of pss9 (on a vw) and they have the compression on the bottom of the strut and the rebound on the top of the strut. are you not maybe talking about the PSS Bilsteins?
As I am thinking of purchasing a set for the evo Good write up, thanks dude.
mike
Mike
As I am thinking of purchasing a set for the evo Good write up, thanks dude.
mike
Mike
Ya, you have them on the softest setting. check the 3rd or 4rth post here.
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...highlight=pss9
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...highlight=pss9
Evolving Member
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 232
Likes: 0
From: South Africa
Originally Posted by wingless
Well I have a set of pss9s on my Evo and I think "1" is the hardest and "9" is the softest.
no no, you miss understood me, what I was refering to was that he said there was only ONE knob to ajust the compression and rebound. My PSS9's have TWO adjusters (one on the top of the strut and the other under it)
I was just wanting to clarify whether he had the PSS or the PSS9's
Mike
Originally Posted by Boosted GP
no no, you miss understood me, what I was refering to was that he said there was only ONE knob to ajust the compression and rebound. My PSS9's have TWO adjusters (one on the top of the strut and the other under it)
I was just wanting to clarify whether he had the PSS or the PSS9's
Mike
I was just wanting to clarify whether he had the PSS or the PSS9's
Mike
No, i get you. The Evo version only has one adjustment on the bottom on the fronts and on the top in the rear for both rebound/compression. I have seen the VW version as well.