Originally Posted by Cheers!

nice review! What wheels and tires were you running? (wheel width/offset) and what width tires?

Originally Posted by B0neSt0ck

Great review! I recently bought a new set as well but haven't installed them yet. Your review is making me look forward to getting mine done! Ohlins may have had Eibach supply their springs in the past,but I was told by them they are using a different supplier for their springs now.

Originally Posted by hecash

FWIW, after a driving season of my Ohlin purchase from Urge and numerous adjustments, I've found that I favor the rear set to 30 clicks and the front set to 20 clicks on the street and on track the front is full to zero with the rear at 15 clicks. This is with a square setup with 245/40/17 rubber on track and a stock stagger with 215/45 front and 245/40 rear on street.

Originally Posted by VilleS2K

Hi
I really value your post/summary of the Ohlin DFV. I own an 03 AP1 and recently bought a mint 2006 AP2 with 80000 miles. I thought for sure I would put on KW3 coils but the price has jumped so much this year. I can get a good price of new Ohlin DFV coils ($2000.00) so am now considering them. My first question-I do not want to drop car more than 1" as I have an OEM front lip and do not want to destroy the lip on speed bumps or steep driveways, etc. Will a one inch drop put me in the "sweet spot"?

question 2 - Is the one-way adjustment knob easy to use to adjust dampening/rebound? I know KW is a two-way adjustable and is difficult to adjust.

Thanks, very much. Please email me at : scott.rovner@gmail.com

Another one? Sure, what the heck.

A little background on my beloved S2000. It's an AP1 (my2000) with 91,000 pampered miles. I've owned it for 7+ years and drive it about 5-6K miles per year. It's lightly modified, but the only mod other than the Ohlins that affect handling are my standard, err... proper fitting Volk TE37s in 17x7.5 +48 and 17x9 +65. And right now I only have moderate performance tires - Sumitumo HTR Z III in 225-45-17 and 255-40-17 (which are pretty darn good besides quicker wearing rears). Sway bars, bushings, control arms, alignment, etc. are all stock. As far as suspension background specifically, I've had several setups prior to the Ohlins: OEM, OEM shocks with Swift Sport Mach springs (slightly stiffer than stock, progressive, .75" lower), OEM shocks with Tein S. Tech springs (slightly stiffer than the Swifts, linear, 1" drop). I've also ridden in S2000s with low-end coilovers (namely Buddy Club N+ I believe), so I do have several points of reference. Again, my car is 100% street driven, with an annual Dragon trip the highlight; I do plan to occasionally autocross eventually.

Now, onto the Ohlins:

Purchase:
I got lucky and found a lightly used (4K miles) set semi-locally for several hundred bucks less than retail from a great seller. And no wait time! They were obviously already assembled and basically looked new besides a slight bit of road grime, which I promptly cleaned off.

Instructions and Owner's Manual
Excellent, concise and well-written. Oh, and you get stickers, although I haven't used any.

Quality
Simply superb, from the anodized aluminum to the welds to the hardware. Gold is the proper color for these... they're damn pretty.

Weight
Per Urge, the original supplier of these, I think they're supposed to be 4 pounds lighter per corner, and compared to an extra set of OEM shocks and springs I have, I'd say that's close. I didn't feel the need to get the bathroom scale for confirmation.

Install
Didn't do it myself. I know, I know, but my car is in a parking garage, and it's a PITA to do something this intense. My mechanic said fitment was spot on. He did have to battle the fuel neck, but that's for any S2000 coilover install.

Ride Height
They were already set up per Ohlins' recommendations, which provides you a 25mm (or .98") drop. Again, no scientific measurements, but they seem 28-29mm (or 1.1") lower to me (they're SLIGHTLY lower than my Tein S. Techs... between a 1 finger and 1.5 finger gap), which looks great. On a side note - I don't see how anyone lowers their S2000 more than 1.5". My proper-fitting wheels and tires already sheared off fender liner clips on both sides from an absurdly bad, cringe-inducing pothole... amazing how loud that was. Luckily, I have spare fender liner clips, and it's only happened once with 300+ miles of aggressive driving.

PS - it's also nice that preload is adjusted separate from ride height.

Adjustments
Solid knob feel when adjusting the valving. Mine seem to have 33 clicks as opposed to 32, but oh well. Full soft is almost luxurious, but way too soft for aggressive driving. I could see going full soft on a road trip, but that's it. Full hard is... you guessed it, way too hard for aggressive street driving. Put it this way, the entire front of the car - like ALL of it - moves up and down with bumps and undulations... it's a weird feeling. I could only see going full hard on a track that's as smooth as a baby's bottom. Ohlins recommends 10 clicks from stiff both front and rear, and that's pretty damn good. It's compliant, soaking up bumps slightly better than completely stock OEM suspension, but stiff at the same time, reducing body roll to a minimum. I suppose striking this balance is due to the dual flow valve technology. I'm not an engineer, but apparently there's a secondary, third valve that opens and closes based on temperature and high vs. low speed damping, allowing shock oil to furiously pass. Whatever it is, it works well. I also think it's more noticeable during rebound, as opposed to compression. It reacts SO quickly, keeping the tires glued to the road and not skipping over it after imperfections. For the range of adjustment they offer, 10K (572 lb/in) front spring rates and 8K (458 lb/in) rear spring rates are ideal (I think Eibach supplies Ohlins' springs, by the way).

Last but Not Least, the Ride (at 9 clicks from stiff in front and 10 clicks from stiff in back)
Yes, I made a one-click stiffer adjustment in front (you can feel one click, although it's subtle). I sort of already explained this above. At this setting, just think the perfect balance. It's soft enough to comfortably drive and stiff enough to tear up the twisty backroads (and I imagine the track). They're certainly versatile. I love the quick, taut turn in, the reduced body roll and the bump soaking (I don't even feel any bump steer... not sure I ever have though). Oh, they also settled the rear end quite a bit. Before, especially in quick switchbacks, my early AP1 would sort of load up and feel like it wanted to "spring" me into oversteer. Now though, it's so composed and easy to control. I guess any softer spring rates and valving in the rear will do that though.

The Verdict
I love these coilovers. I don't regret my purchase at all. You can tell Ohlins studied the stock suspension and car behavior intently, then designed suspension a bit better in almost every way. Having said that, they're certainly a luxury for a primarily street-driven S2000. Luckily, I can easily afford them. However, a few years back, when I couldn't easily afford them, I'd pass. To me, that's what it comes down to. Do you have the budget and want to enhance your car? Buy them. Do you need money to go elsewhere? Don't buy them, because the OEM suspension is pretty darn good.

Hope that helps. Fire away with any questions.

PS - no photos, because for some reason, uploading photos on here is always a PITA for me.