Bilstein Pss9 review
 

Bilstein Pss9 Review.

On the softest settings, they nail the term "ride quality" with superior valving and control, overall the ride and drive experience is beyond reproach, outstanding is another term that comes to mind. As a mildly sprung product the setups contribution to the performance bottom line is also mild (DO NOT attempt to run stiffer springs without revalving) So, I will only say that overall performance is mildly better then oem.

Damping settings are best kept at or below the half way point from full soft, especially in the rear. Past half way and things begin to go down hill as damper stiffness levels become unproductive (overdampned) to the point that adheasion is compromised because the suspension isn't allowed to move as freely as it should, this also impacts ride quality in a negitive way, again especially in the rear past the half way point. Yes, they have a wide control range, but no that doesn't mean the product fullfills Bilstein's promise of comfort AND track ready performance.

Things that might be of interest to some,

You can adjust rear damping from just above the lower shock mount.

The front dampers damping adjustment system must be disassembled and reassembled on installation at the top. Take your time to figure out exactly how you do this, you will be rewarded with greater tactile feel in the adjustment system as a result.

Damper piston length and body lengths are shorter then oem.

On the rear of the car, Nissan has compression clips that hold the oem upper spring seat in place. Bilstein makes use of those clips in the design of it's rear coilover seat to prevent the seat from spinning in place when you try and adjust rear hight.

Mild complaints?

Rubber pad that sit's above the rear spring seat is rather thin, going thicker would help impact harshness/noise transmission.

On the rear dampers, I have no idea what lower shock mount bolt Bilstein thinks I'm supposed to use. Using the oem bolts caused both of them to become crossed threaded. I'm sure Bilstein would replace them, in my case I simply sliced the welded on nuts off and used new oem bolts and nuts.


Disclaimer: You should take this sort of first-hand experience with a grain of salt. I don't have a sponcer to repay, nor did get a better price on the product then anyone else here can get. Howver, everyone will say that their car "handles like its on rails" and "takes corners much more quickly" and "has almost no body roll" after they put in stiffer springs, because that’s exactly what a stiffer spring will do for you. What these statements often don't take into account is how the setup handles other things like extended use in high-stress situations (the oil's loss of efficiency due to heat buildup), low and high speed damping, long term durability of components and overall construction (aeration of oil, breakdown of bushings, sagging of springs or how much hysteresis is or is not present). That being said, there are other ways to find the approximate answers to these questions without listening to others' experiences or trying the product yourself. This includes asking the manufacturer questions about design and materials used. And their is no reason why you shouldn't include asking for shock dyno plots. (After they show you the chart they want you to see, you need to see the other charts that will actually tell you something, not just the one that averages everything together). The former will give you a rough idea of how much the manufacturer knows about their product and its research and design, and the latter how the coilover should perform under given situations. If your not comfortable reading the dyno plots, find someone that can. This is not to say that first-hand experience is useless or should be disregarded, but it should not be taken as fact and should not be solely relied on for answers

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. I always did hear that the bilsteins are the best choice if your looking for good ride quality. I do like the accessibility of the rear damping on these. Beats drilling a hole in the strut tower.

Great review, your description sounds like what I have experienced with these on BMW's.
Can you comment on the progressive nature of the springs? From the pictures I have seen, the progressive coils looked much like a 'helper spring' at most.

awesome review!

I really appreciate your taking your time and effort to educate those of us considering this product.

The front helper springs are 50lbs in rate and once I started to drop the car off the jack stands they compressed flat quickly, though I cannot say for certain that at no point during roll do they ever uncompress.

On the rear springs they do coilbind once the full weight of the car is on them. So at the very least a steady state or compressed rear wheel is already at the higher rate. Does mean however that during cornering the rear inside wheel is on a different rate then the outside rear wheel. I did not want to run the rear progressive springs, but felt for the purpose of writting a review I should run them. I did consider installing oem revised rear springs on cut down oem upper mounts, but never found the time.

Gsedan, do you track your car at all?

Gsedan, is it safe to assume you are running these on a G?

Also wondering what other suspension tidbits you have installed?

Pics?

Thanks for the review.

So, is there still considerable body roll compared to stock? At the track, if the front dampening rate was dialed to 3/4 and the rear at 1/2, would that be ok? I just picked up a set of PSS9's to replace my stiffer Silk Road coils and still wanted to take them to the track once in a while.

That's been on my to do list for awhile now, as a family man something always comes up so I can't and it's ok well next time then. I am working with a shop whose owner does track his car and he specializes in modifying Bilstein products. I want the car setup so it would perform well, though for the real world that isn't frozen lake smooth.

Nothng special, Cusco front arms, SPL front end links, Hotchkis front bar (considering replacing it with the H&R front bar), 350EVO rear bar, SPL rear arms, SPC toe bolts. I try to keep my purchases to things that will deliver what they promise, I'm far to doubting of aftermarket braces to have them.

I am running the Pss9, but keep in mind that was always my plan to rework the setup, different valving and to install different springs, 560/425 (I'd like to run 616lbs in the front, but Swift doesn't make a 11Kg 70mm ID spring

Of course roll onset is reduced as you turn up the damping, your still going to end up with what the springs and sways allow. I would not call the roll considerable, but it certainly more then the Truechoice/Koni setup I came off of which I ran with 560/427 spring rates. Just to mention it, I kept my sway bar settings the same (med/med) no matter what setup I was on. I think you should be ok with the damper settings you mention. One thing to add related to sway bar settings, I would liked to have tried out full stiff in the front and soft in the rear.

I was afraid someone would ask, sorry I don't have any.

Oh ok gotcha. Well thanks for the write up. You seem to be very knowledgeable with coilovers. What is your opinion on the BC racing coilovers? Pros and cons?