After plenty of research I decided that for MY needs, a set of the bilstein Pss10's along with some Rss bits would be a great upgrade to the current x73 kit which is on the car.

I got in touch with Chris at Centre Gravity as I've heard he is one of the best out there when it comes to setting up these cars & doing all the work needed to make the transformation happen.

I must first thank Chris, Peter & chris's wife Jane, Chris & Pete were fantastic to deal with from start to finish & encouraged me to watch every step of what was going on right there along side them. These guys have a wealth of knowledge and were mertickuless with their work & I would highly recommend them for the services that they offer.

So after discussing a few options with Chris I decided that I wanted a car that was going to be at its best on the twisty uneven back country roads that I mainly take the car out on, along with fast street use when needed.

I was also looking to remove the understeer from the car so the front track was widened 12mm each side by making use of the adjustable rss lower control arms.

The parts list that we decided on is as follows:
Bilstein Pss10's
Front & rear Rss Tarmac series lower control arms
12mm front driveshaft spacers
7mm rss rear wheel spacers (purely for that wider rear look)
Rss engine mounts
Rss top mounts (front only)
Front carbon strut brace
Chris's fabricated dust covers to keep the English weather out of all the mono ball joints
The car will be lowered to the 996 gt3 ride heights.

So the work was carried out over 2 days. The first day it was spent getting all the old parts off & then putting all the new bits on the car & the second day was spent getting the whole setup just how Chris & i wanted it.

The steering column was also removed and re- greased which was done to sort out a slight click kind of noise when you were going slow and turning the wheel past 90 degrees. Luckily Chris had scratched his head on this one before so he knew exactly what to do to sort it out on my car.

And the results?
Basically what feels like a brand new car underneath me, the ride & handling have been absolutely transformed.
The car feels so much more planted and super stable even on very uneven roads.
The cars turn in is just perfect now, it's so precise and so much more direct than what it was before. It's seems like you need a lot less input to achieve the same amount of turn in a corner.
The steering feels a little heavier, almost less assisted, which feels so much better than before.
The car does not Waller anymore when hitting small bumps in high speeds corners & just handles all types of bumps so much better than before.
You really feel what the car is doing underneath you & the car seems so much tighter. It gives you so much more confidence when pushing on in the car.

I have only covered about 400 miles in the car since its been fitted & even though it was a pretty costly upgrade, already I feel that it was worth every penny & more.

Also bilstein offer a 10 year warranty on the shocks & Chris backs up the whole package with a "any problems on all the kit" he will get the problem fixed with the labour being done at his own expense for the life of me owning the car! That's true piece of mind in my eyes!

Below are some pictures of the parts, and in some ways it's such a shame you cannot see them once the car is on the ground as they are almost pieces of art.

 

Hey mate
Could you let me know how much Chris charged you for the fitting and alignment, etc.....

I'm only 30-40 minutes from him and I've heard a few times that he's got a good reputation

Thanks
Ant

 

Sounds like a great set up for sure. Do you ever plan to track the car? I pretty much had the same set up on my 996tt that was my track car but now is my dd and all the rss bits are on another car but left the tarret ft/camber plates, HR sways ft and rear and pss10's.

My only concern is when you mention 996 GT3 ride height. Seems pretty low for the pss10's unless they have a new system from mine purchased in 2008? When I went any where near that gt2/gt3 height, I found myself riding on the bump stops and the ride was very bouncy. Granted, I had the ft set at 7-8 and rear at 10 but once I raised the car to pss10 specs the coilovers became much more user friendly.

I also had the rss toe steer kit and linkage(dog bones) rear in addition to your set up. On another note, I once road in a 996tt with X73 and though it was a tad bouncy as well, the car felt like it was on rails, then again he was on slicks.

Enjoy in good health and let me know how the ride feels with the 10's down so low.

 

Excuse my lack of knowledge, but curious about the strut bar for front. I have not heard of many doing this mod for a 996tt and would like to know what it is supposed to do that a ft/rear adj sway bar does not do?

 

The shop and parts look awesome. Congrats on the upgrades.

 

Very nice did mine about 3 months ago. Also very nice TTS. Black on black?

 

Nice work!!

 

I am a firm believer in the front strut bar on the 996tt. I have the RUF bar which is very similar to the OPs bar and it makes a noticeable difference especially if you are running monoballs and a stiff suspension. I run JRZ with 600/800 rates and had some suspension work done in the past and they forgot to tighten the front strut bar. There was all sorts of squeeking and creaking when going over uneven pavement and it drove me nuts. I finally tracked it down to loose jam nuts on the strut bar. I put some preload on it and tightened it down and all noise was gone. Obviously the noise was a result of the flex in the strut towers, however minor. The strut bars are a cheap mod and they work... The strut bar has nothing in common with sway bars. The sole function of strut bars in the eliminate any flex in the strut towers as a result of suspension load.

 

Heard nothing but good things abou Chris's work, if I get another 996 it will be going to him.

 

I am confused, you put 12mm spacer on the lower control arm in front and installed some top mount, were those top mount considered camber kit like other vendors sell or only a stock repalcement? How were you able to achieve only -1,3 degree of camber in front with those parts in place?

 

parts looks great. RSS stuff looks top notch

 

Congrats looks great!
Just had mine upgraded with GT3 lowers and track alignment (more camber/toe/corner balanced..) feels much more precise with incredible turn in.

I have pss9s set at 4/4. Love the feel dd and at track.

 

A full geo is £250 & his labour rate is £60ph. With his knowledge, skills & reputation i think this is real value for money. My Indi specialist that looks after the servicing charges £80ph!

Im looking to do a couple of driver training days next year to really get a feel for & understand the dynamics of the car now & maybe 1 or 2 track days but the main use for me will be on my local back country roads.

The guy that did all the work is very knowledgeable when it comes to the Bilstein kits. The Bilstein head office & factory here in the UK is only 15 mins up the road from him & he has a very close relationship with the tech guys there.
He has setup many cars this way and has not experienced any problems as you have suggested.

Also on the day of fitting the Chief Tech Guru from Bilstien Germany was in the shop with a few of his colleges having a look & chris's setup and the extent of the work that he carries out. They were pleased to see all the kit laid out & when we explained the setup including ride height's, cambers & types of road that it was going to be used on they assured me that it would suit the bill perfectly. Now im sure if there was a problem running Gt3 heights then he would have said so?

I have also read the bit in the Bilstien papers that mentions the tolerance that is allowed when setting the ride heights. I will ask chris how far in or out of this range we are at with these heights.

Thanks & Yes Basalt Black with Black Interior & some carbon

To be honest I'm not to sure! I think the Rss top mounts are just solid replacements of the stock rubber ones.
Yes there is a 12mm shim in each of the front Adjustable lower control arms & a 12mm spacer on each side of the front driveshaft, thus widening the whole front track by 24mm overall.
Im guessing this would affect the range of camber that can be achieved? & maybe thats how come he has managed to get the -1.3 at the front?

I will ask him to have a look at this thread & post a more knowledgeable reply.

Thanks for all the interest & comments on my setup, i know this is a key area when modding these cars so hopefully we are putting out even more info for the person that is looking to to suspension work & get their cars set up correctly.