I have x73 on mine....takes a bit to get used to... Amazing balance and handling...however...live in downtown Chicago - pothole heaven...The ride is very rough.

 

I agree, Bill.

The ability for some of us to fully adjust our car's suspension is extremely important. Especially those of us that have lightened our cars and/or converted them to RWD and need to have them properly corner balanced.

Also, you don't get much of a drop with the X73, and it does ride rough...while only slightly improving overall handling (based on my impression of driving a TT with X73 installed).

For someone that has not significantly changed the weight of their car, only wants a small drop in height, and prefers a "plug and play" coil-over...the X73 will be fine.

For everyone else, I believe a quality aftermarket setup that is tuned by a professional is the better choice.

 

Could you enlighten me - What does car weight have to do with it?

Spring rate is balanced by damper valving.

 

When you remove weight from a car, the majority of the weight is removed from either the front, or the rear (typically the front on our cars).

Because of this, the factory weight distribution has now been changed (sometimes by a vast amount)...thus requiring corner balancing to bring it back to specs.

 

What does the factory use as driver weight for calculating the suspension setup. Imagine how much that must vary between the US and Europe I personally can not see a one size fits all for my needs. Although as others have said if it's not properly setup it could be worse than stock! I have had many sets of coilovers and I have always had a major improvement in handling and some times over factory ride height.

 

Given the stock weight - and what you can get it down to.Which is what 63r/37f?
The cross balance is affected not at all - and cross is much more noticable. We are talking about the characteristic tail heavy 911.

And was that all sprung weight rather than unsprung weight?

You are a very well respected member and moderator, but, I've been an engineer for about 35 years: In my opinion, You are changing a small percentage of the total grip you have, and moving it around a bit. Not significantly at all.

 

I'm not trying to change your mind.

What it really comes down to is how particular one is about their car's handling. If someone is more particular (i.e., the kind of driver that would bother to have their car corner balanced), a professionally installed aftermarket coil-over is the only choice.

If someone isn't that particular, and would rather have a simple bolt-on OEM setup that's allows for a noticeable improvement over stock (and doesn't mind the rough ride), the X73 is the ticket.

Either choice is good one, depending on one's needs. Different strokes....

 

Totally agree - To get to the N-th level you need to adjust to it.

But there's the rub - If you aren't good at this stuff - or if you're casual about it - you will not improve much over the Porsche tuned solution. In fact it's really easy to go backwards

 

I am planning to have the X73 package installed in the coming months, however the Porsche trained tech I plan to use has not installed a X73 package before. I understand the steering angle sensors require realignment after installation. Firstly, what a steering angle sensor? What is the procedure in adjusting?

Australian delivered P-cars are based on the Euro spec, how much can I expect the car to be lowered. Currently it is in standard form.

Comments / direction appreciated

 

See posting #20 this thread:

30 mm front and rear US
10 mm lower front and 20 mm rear. for ROW

Don't know about the steering angle sensor...

 

Thank-you. My 996TT sits higher at the front, yet the front is only 10mm lower.

 

Hmmm - that doesn't sound right.. But I guess it can happen:

Turbo RoW: 138 +/- 10mm Front. 153 +/- 10mm Rear.
worst case 138 +10 = 148 Front 153 - 10 = 143 Rear

Dietz.

 

Was doing a little googling on X73 suspension and came up with this thread...I am looking at X73 as an option, considering my prospect car has a RoW setup.

I think that the X73 offeres a good matching setup for the car, and was designed and tuned by Porsche which is hard to beat...now on the concept of adjustable setups they can be better (BUT) here's the deal you have to have a lot of time in dialing them in, at the track and for hours and laps in various conditions and ussually with an expert and with data logging to get the adjustments dialed in. Having an engineering background myself and having raced and instructed for several years, I think that although an adjustable suspension is superior, it takes time, money, dedication, and talent = much more resources to get it optimized. Whereas a factory matched performance setup (like the X73) Porsche has done the work for you and can get you 90% of the way there...

just some thoughts

 

It would be nice to hear from someone who has experienced both the X73 and PSS9's!! I too am trying to decide which way to go. Wonder how much the motor mounts add to the equation.

 

How much can you get the X73 set up for?

Thanks