Ok, I think I've made up my mind that I want to get a set of Bilstein Damptronics coilovers when the time comes for my 997.1S. For you guys that made the switch from stock PASM, how would you rate the ride harshness? With stock PASM as a benchmark, "0" being normal mode and "10" being sport mode, how would you rate the Bilstein Damptronics on PASM normal and PASM sport?

I'm trying to get a feel of what to expect. Right now PASM normal is really comfortable to me, PASM Sport is pretty harsh I really don't like to use it unless I'm out on smooth roads or on twisty backroads.

 

I have them on both my Turbo and C2S and love them. They are not far off from stock in terms of harshness and what they offer in performance improvement makes it a great upgrade . On the 0 to 10 scale where 0 is cushion like it's like a 2 .

Before I opted for the damptronics on the Turbo I placed some Techart springs which i still feel are excellent quality springs . They were more harsh but still very nice. I feel the car drives better with the Bilstreins where the main difference that I feel is the suspension refines the body control wheras the springs placed more effort on the tires .

I do notice a difference in both comfort and handling with the lighter 2S car compared to the heavier AWD Turbo . In all fairness though I added Gt2 sway bar to the Turbo and the systems are not identical.

The C2S will out corner the Turbo but not by much and the Turbo is more street comfy for some reason (not by much as well).

 

Thanks good info there. So you would rate Damptronics a "2" in normal mode, but how about once you flip the switch to sport mode (let's say PASM sport is a "10" for reference)?

I've heard it isn't as harsh as stock PASM sport mode, is that true?

 

Well a rating of 2 was between 0 -10 on a scale where 10 is the limit.

Since the damptronic is more harsh and your scale only goes up to 10 (using stock suspension) the rating would be above a 10 --But not that much .

Sidenote --it was hard to place a number using a rating scale . It's really not a drastic ride change so I am splitting hairs and if I had to re write the scale with sport mode it adds a new twist to it . Keep in mind I have riden in Porsches with harder rides than both .

Lastly -- This thread might be very helpful as it offers so many opinions with the Turbo setup. https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...red-turbo.html

 

Yeah, sorry, I guess I wasn't really clear on my scale. I didn't mean for it to be only from 0 - 10. With harshness being quantified, I wanted to set the following as reference marks: PASM Normal = "0" and PASM Sport = "10". So, if it is softer than 0 you can use -2 or whatever, and also if it is harder than 10 you can say its a 12. But, I can understand what you're saying from your post.

I have seen the link you referenced, but I wasn't too sure if that guys comments about the 997tt with Damptronics was an accurate comparison to my 997S since the weight of the cars are different and the spring rates may also be slightly different as well. In that thread, he did mention that PASM "firm" mode (as he calls it) was less jittery than stock PASM "firm" mode, which is where I think I got the idea that it was a little less harsh compared to stock.

Thanks

 

The cars are different but in terms of ride harshness and bump management I wanted you to see that the Turbo thread pretty much labeled it as very comfortable .

I think what he meant by less jittery was that the car was more controllable . The Turbo (stock) almost feels floaty -even in "sport" --even though the ride itself is harder . So does the 997S but not as much .
What the damptronics do is offer more confidence inspiring manuverability without drastic comfort change. This is true of both cars .

The comfort will be acceptable . The drive will be phenominal.

 

I was looking through the carnewal site this morning and saw that Bilstein apparently makes two versions of the damptronics for the 997-2 with pasm. One is called the comfort version. What version do you have?

Although I grew up in so. Florida it has been a while since I have driven the streets so I am unable to compare your road/ride quality to the impossibly bad SF Bay Area roads. I am looking for a ride quality that is better (softer) than stock in non-sport mode but improved handling in sport mode.

thoughts?

 

solidst8 - I am in exactly the same boat as you. I'd like to go lower both for performance and aesthetics, but my main concern is ride quality. I live in Chicago, where the roads are far from perfect. I like the way the car rides in PASM normal, and I feel I could live with a slightly firmer ride. I could not, however, live with PASM sport on a daily basis. I turn it on fairly often when I am on the highway, but rarely around town.

fortunately, I found someone in Chicago with Damptronics that is willing to let me take his car for ride tomorrow. He daily drives his car, and says that he's looking to switch back to stock because it's too firm for him. I will post my impressions after the ride.

Btw, does anyone know what the stock PASM setup is worth? Would it be a fair trade to straight up swap stock setup for the bilstein damptronics?

 

I have different question - on those damptronics by itself, what does power socket have?
Is it simply logical true/false input for 12V or does its voltage fluctuate to alter shocks sensitivity?

Does anybody know how it works mechanically?

 

I have often said that the normal mode is about 1/2 way between the OEM shock normal mode and sport mode, and the the sport mode on the Damptronics, is about the same difference above the sport mode of the OEM shocks. In other words, 1 is normal for the OEM, and 10 is Sport on the OEM, the Damptronic normal mode is a 5 and the sport mode is a 15 on the same scale. I feel that the way that the suspension feels on the city streets although firmer, has a much nicer ride overall. I use my car for the street and track about 50/50 (based on milage) and have had lowered springs on my first 997. This is one of the best mods that you can do to your car and still make it very livable for those that use it every day.

 

Nice, looking forward to your thoughts after the ride!

 

Thanks, I'm getting a much better picture of how it will be. So far, what I've heard sounds promising. My main concern was that I didn't want it to be intolerable as I still enjoy taking the wife and kiddies on weekend trips, and the last thing I want is for them to start hating the ride.

 

I too have the Damptronics on an 06 C2S with PASM. I would agree with NorthVan. The ride is firmer in both normal and sport mode....about the same numerical scale as NorthVan pointed out. It's a price worth paying as the car feels more planted; especially with the front end.

 

I think that you will find it is very easy to live with the normal setting, and if you decide that you want to go for some nice twisty roads at highway speeds, hit the sport button, and you have a totally different car.

 

As promised, here are my impressions of the 997.1 C2S with damptronics that I drove this morning. As I mentioned in my previous post, I am in the same position as the OP - I am contemplating switching to damptronics for the improved handling and lowered ride height, but my main concern is compromising comfort.

I went into today thinking that the car would ride a bit closer to the stock sport setting than the stock normal setting. I have to say the car was far smoother and more livable than I had guessed. On the scale of 1 to 10 (PASM normal to PASM sport, respectively), I would say that the damptronics are close to a 3 or 4 in the normal setting. I was even more surprised that I found the damptronics sport setting to be around a 7 or 8 – it didn’t seem too different. I find the PASM sport setting to be very harsh, and I would never be able to drive in that setting on a daily basis. The damptronics, however, I would consider to be very liveable. It is only over certain bumps that you can discern a difference in ride quality between the stock PASM setup and the bilsteins. So if ride quality is your concern, I wouldn't worry.

With regards to handling, I have to say it is a significant difference. The car handled noticeably better with the damptronics. It's difficult to describe, especially since I still regard the stock handling as fantastic, but it felt like the car was strapped to the road, with noticeably less body roll. It is a big inprovement over stock, and the best way I’ve heard it described is confidence inspiring. You really have to experience it to appreciate it.

To the OP – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I know I’ll be upgrading as soon as I can free up some cash.