Bilstein PSS10 settings
- Thread starter AndyBeech
- Start date
Liverpool
I have them at 2 or 3 for the road (but might go to 4 or 5 when I'm out for a hoon), and then crank them up to 8 when I get to a track...and take them to 10 once I'm comfortable with the track conditions.
I also have Eibach ARBs, strut brace, lighter seats (to offset the fat-bastard driver), 12mm front spacers and run original 224Ms - so my setup might work slightly different to your's.
I also have Eibach ARBs, strut brace, lighter seats (to offset the fat-bastard driver), 12mm front spacers and run original 224Ms - so my setup might work slightly different to your's.
I have AC Schnitzer Racing adjustable suspension which is made by Bilstein to ACS specs and similar to the PSS10s and basically agree with mmm-five's settings. I like the suspension to be very soft and compliant for the roads but very firm on track. The soft settings don't make the car roll-poly, they just considerably reduce the speed of bump and rebound movements and prevent the suspension from being uncomfortable and jarring on our badly surfaced roads. The spring rates on PSS10 are considerably more balanced (front to rear) than the OEM suspension so whatever setting you have the dampers you don't get the squat on acceleration and the pitching under braking. 
Cheers chaps I’ll keep those in mind.
On another note, it feels a bit more ‘floaty’ than it previously did round corners, maybe that’s not the right word but maybe more like it’s following the road a bit more than it used to. I guess this might be a characteristic of having a new setup and having more feeling than the OEM setup which was 90k miles old!
Every bush has been replaced with OEM or Powerflex including RTAB with limiters so not concerned it’s anything that’s worn, possibly a geo issue? Went for a baseline CSL setup to start with but guessing it’ll need a proper alignment in a month or so when it’s settled, possibly could be causing it!
Or maybe it’s just how the car is supposed to handle and I need to get un-used to driving on crappy worn OEM stuff!
Here was my geo, that all seems ok to me...
Geo by A W, on Flickr
On another note, it feels a bit more ‘floaty’ than it previously did round corners, maybe that’s not the right word but maybe more like it’s following the road a bit more than it used to. I guess this might be a characteristic of having a new setup and having more feeling than the OEM setup which was 90k miles old!
Every bush has been replaced with OEM or Powerflex including RTAB with limiters so not concerned it’s anything that’s worn, possibly a geo issue? Went for a baseline CSL setup to start with but guessing it’ll need a proper alignment in a month or so when it’s settled, possibly could be causing it!
Or maybe it’s just how the car is supposed to handle and I need to get un-used to driving on crappy worn OEM stuff!
Here was my geo, that all seems ok to me...
Geo by A W, on FlickrYour geometry looks about ideal.
I think your feeling of "floatiness" might be down to the fact that with stiffer front suspension, the outside front wheel isn't being loaded as much on the entry to a corner, with the resultant effect that there's less bodyroll than you've been used to.
You say: "more like it’s following the road a bit more than it used to", which sounds to me as though you're noticing improved "turn-in" and less understeer because the inside front wheel is now getting more grip on the corners.
I hated the OEM suspension and ditched it when I bought my car with around 25k miles, because the front end lifts on acceleration and the steering is very imprecise with severe pitching under braking.
I think your feeling of "floatiness" might be down to the fact that with stiffer front suspension, the outside front wheel isn't being loaded as much on the entry to a corner, with the resultant effect that there's less bodyroll than you've been used to.
You say: "more like it’s following the road a bit more than it used to", which sounds to me as though you're noticing improved "turn-in" and less understeer because the inside front wheel is now getting more grip on the corners.
I hated the OEM suspension and ditched it when I bought my car with around 25k miles, because the front end lifts on acceleration and the steering is very imprecise with severe pitching under braking.
exdos said:
That sounds about right, and it does drive well no doubt, just feels different which I guess is to be expected!
I do wonder if I'm a bit low with the ride height on the rear and possibly front though, I think we went to max adjustment on the rear as I wanted to keep ride height about the same as the H&R springs I had previous but I'm thinking might need to lift it a bit, don't really want to be outside the adjustment range as given in the manual incase riding on the bump stops...
Reading what you said about the floaty feeling reminded me of this post by franzino who also fitted pss10.
I wonder if the initial rate of the springs, or perhaps the low speed compression, is actually softer than the original setup.
I guess that’s the problem with suspension. Everything is a compromise and everything is interlinked.
I wonder if the initial rate of the springs, or perhaps the low speed compression, is actually softer than the original setup.
I guess that’s the problem with suspension. Everything is a compromise and everything is interlinked.
exdos said:
Will give this a go next week, deffo needs raising a touch regardless. Is it easy to adjust, can't find much on the net about it...Is it as easy as wheels off and enough access to adjust or does more stuff need to come off first? Thinking the rears specifically could be more difficult.
MrPT said:
I will write up a full post on the work I had done and my feelings on it once I've had more of a chance to drive it, only been out twice so far fairly briefly. Pretty extensive refresh though and initial thoughts are very positive but will go into it further maybe next week.
RedUn said:Check your tyre pressures, they'll be much more noticeable with the new suspension. If they are too hard it can give the feeling you describe
Funnily enough I forgot to take the air out from winter storage when they were at 41psi and it obviously felt horrendous until I realised. Very floaty! Got them at 33psi rear and 31psi front at the mo, 19" CSL wheels. Maybe still a touch too high? Any suggestions?
AndyBeech said:RedUn said:Check your tyre pressures, they'll be much more noticeable with the new suspension. If they are too hard it can give the feeling you describe
Funnily enough I forgot to take the air out from winter storage when they were at 41psi and it obviously felt horrendous until I realised. Very floaty! Got them at 33psi rear and 31psi front at the mo, 19" CSL wheels. Maybe still a touch too high? Any suggestions?
I haven't run any lower than that on mine, but it can still be a bit floaty at the rear at times. But I put that down to the Supersports needing some temperature more than psi! That's the psi I also found most people are running on M3s with CSL wheels.
You should have threaded bodies on the front shock, and a couple of c/g-spanners to lock into the rings to loosen/tighten. Make sure you keep track of number of turns.AndyBeech said:
The rears are adjusted by the spring perch, so you may have to disconnect the rear damper to let the wheel drop enough to get the spring & adjustable perch out...again keeping close track of how much adjustment you've made to you do the same on both sides.
You may need to get the alignment checked once you've adjusted the ride height though - so may be simpler getting the ride height & geometry done at the same place at the same time.
Your kit would have looked soemthing like this...notice the fronts are coilovers, the rears are separate springs & dampers.
The spanners are in the bottom of the photo, and the rear height-adjustable perches are th elittle silver & black things in front of the blue rear springs.
