The Webb plates I saw are installed on an 05 MCS here in Dallas. Its a dedicated track MINI with nearly a complete Dinan S3 kit. Owner started out with the Dinan suspension and camber plates and changed all of it out for the PSS9s and the Webb plates. He's still adjusting to the new ride and trying to figure out the best combination of shock and rear sway settings. This past weekend was his first track event on the new setup.

Is the requirement to "notch" the strut tower for bolt access common to a lot of the different camber plates? or is it something that seems to be more specific to the Webb plates? Does anyone know how the ride-height changes/differs between the Webb and the RDR plates (as well as the ride)? Seems the RDR will raise the nose about 8mm.

 

I set 5 in the rear 3 up front. Front sway bar - soft and rear in the middle. can't remember the camber settings but they are not aggressive.

This set up allows for pretty neutral under/oversteer qualities and I just leave it there for the street......I have not tracked the car yet. I am supposed to do a Mini driving school this weekend but the dealer has the car with a crank sensor problem that causes the engine to shut down . I'm hoping they cover it under warranty but I somehow have my doubts.

Thanks for the feedback

 

Looking back at my alignment records I see that the caster is not equal from LF to RF but close. 4/04 LF 4.5 RF 4.4 (RDR Plates), 6/03, LF 3.7 RF 3.6, (P&D Plates) -- these were from shop alignments. I have a longacre "bubble gauge" I use for quickly checking camber and caster -- it is not as accurate as a shop alignment, but measuring with this gauge I have found LF 3.9 to 4.0 RF 4.5.
THis weekend, I will dig up my actual shop alignment printout which (I think) gives ranges for LF and RF caster as well as allowed variance range between left and right.

David

 

Thanks Minihune, I called Turner and they are out and they told me that there were none to be found in the us and they are on back order. I will call Helix on Tuesday and see if they have any.

Cheers,

MeanGRN

 

Sorry to hear about the "low stock".
When I talk to Eric from Helix13 tomorrow I will ask him about PSS9 stock and let you know. Otherwise when I look at Webbmotorsports.com I see there is one set of PSS9s in stock at $1769.
http://store.webbmotorsports.com/ind...products_id=57

And if that is out then I would check at shox.com but they may be out as well.

You just have to do some heavy duty shopping. And yes back in March I heard the prices for the PSS9s were jumping up a few $100.

Happy hunting

 

Does anyone know the best place either store or online to purchase a set of PSS9s?

Thanks

 

There is an old thread, mentions shox.com I believe, 1500$

 

Turner Motorsport.. I think is the best price also....

 

Read the posts above-
Turner Motorsport is out of stock for the PSS9s
Helix13 is out of stock.
Their supplier is out of stock.

I see one in stock at $1769
http://store.webbmotorsports.com/ind...products_id=57

But I am not sure if that is up to date.

 

While we are talking about coilovers does anyone know the price on the JCW coilover set?

 

Looks like Ireland Engineering also carries the PSS9s for MINIs https://secure3.nexternal.com/shared...unt2=168082833

 

Try this link cheapest I have ever seen.

http://www.shox.com/appguide/shoxsho...ctsdisplay.php

 

Finally, after 10 or so months of the Leda blues, Randy Webb replaced them with the PSS9s at the MMW on Sunday; after he got best time in the auto-x, of course . And with Ledas, as he reminded me . On zero sleep (did installs until sunrise), and after losing a contact lens prior to the competition, his control of the mule was exceptional...

After looking in the box when I got home (we were somewhat rushed), I didn't find any instructions. I'm on 9's all the way around during break-in, but for how many miles? I've done nearly 200 already, so hopefully soon...

Oh, these have internal bump stops? With the blue shaft covers, if they are there, they are not easily visible.... Thanks much!

EDIT/ADD - I just got a confirmation that the bump stops are indeed internal on the PSS9's as with many Bilsteins...

 

TonyB
Welcome to the baby blue coilover club. I'm waiting for your impressions and typically thorough analysis.
David

 

Thanks David. On 9's, the ride is quite cushy, a bit too much for my preferences. I really look forward to turning those dials to some lower numbers, and soon!

I spoke with kmickey last night, and he referred me to a very reputable suspension shop here in the Bay Area. I can't wait to finally have the suspension dialed-in!!! I've been in need of new tires, but have been prolonging the purchase as I didn't want to strap on fresh rubber with a goofy alignment...

Onasled's PM inbox was full, but I going to try him again as I would love to know his track PSS9 settings, as well as his alignment specs. He also has Randy's plates, and similar mods...

Is it highly advisable to get adjustable drop or end links prior to my alignment, or is it ok for me to get those afterwards? I'm guessing the later... Thanks.

 

Not having the ajustable end links will mean that (unless you are REAL LUCKY during corner balencing)) that you will have a bit of pre-load on the sway bars. And to make matters worse, turning one way will DECREASE the coupling, then increase it...... Not perfect, a bit assymetrical, but the car will still drive!

I did my Ledas without the ajustable links. Haven't done the full aligment yet, as my used end-links are at the post office, waiting for me to get them tomorrow. Did kmicky send you to Custom Allignment in mountain view as well? Or is there another great allignement shop that I don't know about.....

Matt

 

TonyB,

For PSS9s you can use all 9s or all 8s for street use and it IS cushy but that is OK. Street performance is still OK at that setting.

For autocross I have seen others use settings like
4-6 front and 5-8 in the rear
I have used 1 front and rear, 2 front and rear and 1 front 2 rear with good results. But you just have to try things out for your given driving style and course and see how you do. There is no one formula for settings.

For alignment if you have front camber plates and rear lower control arms you can choose more camber like:
Front camber -2.0 to -2.2 degrees
Front toe 1/16 to 1/8" toe out
Rear camber -1.5 to -1.6 degrees
Rear toe zero toe
This combination will work for street use and autocross and track.

More negative camber doesn't always work for the better since it does help with cornering but isn't optimal for straight line speed or braking. Don't overdo it. Also more negative camber wears out the inner edges of your tires esp on the street.

If you are going to do corner balancing you will be setting the ride height for each corner to the best you can then putting your car with you in it on computer scales to see how the weight is distributed on each of the four corners. At this time you disconnect front and rear sway bars to unload them from affecting the weights on each corner. Next adjust ride heights to even out the sum of the diagonals (right front plus left rear= left front plus right rear). Finally use adjustable end links (only one side needed for front and rear swaybars) to allow for the length to be just the right height for no load on both swaybars. If you have stock endlinks you cannot attach the endlink to the swaybar easily and you will disturb the corner balancing you just did.

Corner balancing is not needed for street use but is crucial for autocross and track if you own PSS9s and seek the most benefit of coil overs.

Always keep your blue rubber caps on your PSS9s in the front- this helps to keep dirt from the adjusting discs at the bottom of the shocks but also keeps the discs from coming off.

 

minihune, thanks for wonderful advice! I'm not totally sure what you mean by the above... The blue rubber caps that you are referring to are the ones that cover the adjustment dials, right? I don't know what you mean by keeping them in the front though... I guess I need to crawl under and take a look to figure-out what you are saying. And it keeps the discs from coming off? I really need those instructions .

As far as alignment goes, 20 minutes of my one-way commute is beautiful canyon driving, and the remaing 30 or so minutes is freeway. I'd love to go aggressive on the negative camber, but with a fair amount of straights, common sense dictates a compromise. I'm thinking -2.0 in the front, and -1.6 in the rear...

Matt, thanks for chiming-in also! Before I forget, the shop is in Castro Valley, but the name escapes me now. The guy's name is Brandon, and he has done kmickey's car a few times. They are a family owned race shop with a very rich history here... Ah, I just got it! http://www.rogerkrausracing.com/index.html Custom Alignment would be closer though... Do they have much experience with MINI's? I really want to be very much part of the alignment process, and at Roger Kraus, I can be right there with Brandon while he's working his magic...

Oh, I wasn't planning on a corner balance just yet as I'm hoping to get new seats in a few months. I can certainly see how adjustable links would be very much desired for the rising and lowering needed... Heck, if the price is right, maybe I will get her corner-balanced...

I guess the Alta ones are the way to go. Randy's look very nice, but his are only for the rears...

 

Hey Tony,

I had an interesting experience this last weekend at the track. Being relatively new to this stuff, I still have a lot to learn. I've received a lot of PMs lately inquiring about my cay and my setup that i have not answered because I don't know that I'm really qualified to do so yet as I'm still trying to get it down just right myself.
Coming from Watkins Glen, wich is a very fast, smooth and flowing track, I had my Pss9s set on 1 front and 2 rear. This proved to be the completely wrong setup at NHIS this last weekend and it took me four runs to figure that out. I ended up setting the fronts to 3 and rears to 5 and the car went from crap to great with just those few clicks. It was truly my first experience with feeling just how poor the car can perform with the wrong rebound settings.
So, I can only say now that there is NO magic place for these settings. On the street I still use 9 9 , but I don't really push it on the street much at all. It will take time, but just play with your settings and in time you'll start to find what works for your car. Firmer is certainly not better.
Adjustable end links are a must with coilovers. If you don't use them then your not getting the benefits of the pss9s. The altas are OK. Rears are fine, but their fronts may have some issues with lowered cars being that the lower hiem joint bends. It seems that the angles when turning the car may be to great for the that lower end to handle. Mine are bent, but are still functioning OK. Maybe this is why Webb has no fronts yet (which I was unaware of).
In talking with alta about this problem, it seems that it may be curable by lengthening the links as long as the sway bay at full drop will let you. This may help those angles. .

 

Onasled,

I cannot quite remember if what I'm writing is absolutley correct; if the swaybar end is parallel with the road, it will perform its function as design with the stock suspension. If these ends are angled up, the swaybar will perform its function quicker. If these ends are angled down, the swaybar will perform its function slower - I'm trying to keep the terms simple. Actually, I beleive this is also complicated by the length of the link and a given suspension layout. I gotta go dig up some crap from my sorted past and I'll confirm.

I'm trying to picutre your last comment regarding the front swaybar links; I'm concerned - and thank you for pointing out the link's deficiency up front - because I will replace the front links even if the stock bar remains.

Or, do I not understand the problem at hand here???

Good luck with your PSS9s Tony!

 

Take a look at this picture-

The front shocks are on the left and at the bottom of each is a small rubber blue cap which you can remove to reveal the dial to set the level of dampening you want.

If you leave the blue rubber cap off you might loose a dial adjuster that works free (the retaining screw is small and you can locktite it in place)

Not corner balancing is fine for the short term- you have the adjustability and can set ride height to your advantage when you are ready. Never corner balancing is not taking full advantage of your upgrades. Your choice.

The settings that will work for each of us will vary with our driving styles and with the track or course we are on. Just try out different settings and note the difference.

For general driving you will have to pick a level of compromise when you do some canyon driving and some highway commuting all in the same trip. Try 9 in the front and back do it again with 5 or 6 in the front and 8 or 9 in the rear. You don't need to go too stiff since you are just doing street driving.

I'll have to try front 3 and rear 5 at the track. One of the reasons I use 9 front and rear for street is that it's easy to roll the dial all the way to one end. Later for autocross I roll it all the way to the other end for the front (1) then in the rear back it off to 2 (the first click). Very easy to adjust when changing wheels.

-2.0 degrees in the front and -1.6 in the rear is fine. Maybe 1/16" toe out in the front and zero toe in the rear would be good as well. Works for me. Best way to check is to measure tire temperatures when doing track work or when cornering hard. You want the temperatures to be fairly even from one edge to the other side and in the middle. It won't be perfect but should be close- within 10 degrees maybe. The actual temperature will vary with road surfaces, driving style, and what you are doing.

 

Thanks minihune. I'll pop those two caps off, and Loctite those screws this weekend...

onasled, thanks for your input, and I understand your position, and truly appreciate it. It's time for a pyrometer, and a multitude of canyon runs! I wish we had more options on drop links though. I'm going to check further with Alta... Interesting that you are more firm up front, as compared to the rear. When I had the Ledas, I ran the opposite. I need some time apparently...

 

i have called almost the whole country who carries the PSS9. no one has them

i call the distributors and they say they might have ONE coming next month.
i thought this should be a market item, not private item.

it is harder to find PSS9 than finding national treasures now!

 

When I got mine last week, there was still one more set, according to Randy Webb. And I had found one more, gave them my cc to secure them, but cancelled it when Randy confirmed that he had a set for me already. Try shox.com!

 

try electrodyne or racindynamics.........racdyn.com