Which coilovers? Street, upper midwest - FA500, FA510 or Ohlins DFV
 

Anybody have experience with any of these coilovers DDing or street driving in the upper midwest (WI)? My car came with Koni Orange and Eibach Pro springs which I think is near perfect for aesthetics but really doesn't have enough travel for our horrible roads and I'm tired of riding the bumpstops and bouncing everywhere. Ready to move on to some coils.

From my research I'm coming around to these options. Car is mainly a road car so I'm leaning towards the FA500 but the FA510 has more travel (?) and less likely to touch the bumpstops. I figure if I'm considering going up to the FA510s I should consider the Ohlins as well but while the Ohlins have great reviews they supposedly have less travel than the FAs?

Would love to hear reviews of both, street driven on horrible upper midwest roads. How do these hold up on our roads? How often do you feel you're hitting the bumpstops? Do you feel they handle our roads well?

No offense but if you are in a fair weather state please try to hold your opinions, your experiences with potholes are not comparable.

The 500s are geared towards spirited street driving. They're mostly a street coil that can handle the track. They are digressive linear hybrid and can help absorb those bumps in the road. The 510s, however, are like super duper ultra digressive. That basically means they control body roll very well, but it's much more harsh on the street. So right away, I would say the 510s are out for your application. That means you're looking at the 500s or the Ohlins. The Ohlins handle great and feel amazing, especially when you bump up the spring rates a bit. However, the 500s can feel great too and save you probably $900+. From my experience, the Ohlins do feel a bit better around town on harsh roads (including our horrible roads here in Detroit), but the 500s are really solid, too, depending on your spring rate and valving. If you're gonna look into FA, I'd def check out Will Long at @THMotorsports . I think he can get you deals on Ohlins too if you wanna go that route, too.

I can't compare to FA however I am running a set of Ohlins with 10k/8k springs. In my opinion on the street they feel about 90% as good as my OEM shocks which had about 70K on them. They do feel firmer and I'd describe it as more like the stroke of the shock is shorter and more brisk than usual for the bumps i'm used to however its not uncomfortable. I'd assume that this is because of the spring rates but the force is decelerated in a way that they're not too harsh or jarring. They soak up big pot holes well and feel fairly supple at the same time; I barely feel my head and neck bobble with potholes and really you hear it more as a thunk than feel it in your butt.

The only ride quality problem I have found is that they seem them to be fairly bad on certain back roads in my area that have really poorly maintained surfaces. These surfaces don't have the run of the mill pot holes and I'd describe them as extremely uneven in such a way that they're continuously undulating without any real smooth patches. The irregularities are just the right amount of suck. Not too small that you'd just fly over it and not too big or scattered that that the car could just roll in and out. It's the prefect combination of continuous irregularity where I think the shock is doing its job but it's "interpreting" the bumps really literally instead of smoothing them out. Driving these roads it feels like the car is riding directly over the bumps and dips instead of compressing enough; so I'm not sure if I'm necessarily riding the bump stops. The undulations will cause the car to rise and fall but I never get the sudden deceleration feeling I'd expect with bump stops. The car isn't unsettled over these bumps, I still feel like I have full control of the car and its direction and there's no hesitation in the body transitions. But at the same time it's difficult to manage because it feels like all four corners are constantly moving in different directions. IDK if this is a product of the spring rates vs I need to dial down my rebound settings vs I need to add more preload but it's not a fun experience. For what it's worth, my stock shocks were also pretty bad over these areas and perhaps I'm just feeling more of the irregularities with stiffer springs. I think part of it was my alignment as well. I had a decent amount of toe in at that point and it may have been bump steer I was feeling. I know you're concerned about pot holes and I'd say your safe in that regard but if you have roads like I described then I'm not sure.

In regards to performance driving I'm very happy with them. I haven't been able to drive them hard yet at any events due to Covid 19 and my work schedule however I can say that on more regular back roads these shocks have felt like cheat codes. Turn in and mid corner adjustments feel much more confident. I think some of this is due to the spring rates however its control over bumps also helps with irregularities in corner entry, mid corner and exit. I'm on 255 non staggered and the 10k/8k springs did initially feel just a bit pushy on corner entry and mid corner steering with throttle was slightly muted. It feels slightly better now after adding more front camber and reducing front rebound stiffness + adding more rear however I am still considering slightly stiffer springs in the back.

@hatsubai - Thanks for the review. I think I am definitely going to be on the softer side of things. As much as a stiffer setup would be nice for more enthusiastic driving, the roads around here are just too much teh suck.

@Shift9303 - Great review, and yes, I know exactly what type of road you are talking about, I have a similar old blacktop county road that I have to regularly drive through less than 5 blocks from where I live. Not necessarily large potholes but just lots of road undulations, cracks, chunks missing and raised bumps through heaving from years of heat cycling and low to no maintenance. It's gotten so bad, the county finally decided to shut down 10 miles of it for repair later this summer. This road is one of the main reasons why I want to change, lol.

Anybody have reviews of the FA500s on a similar road?

If you're looking for a nice ride on our shitty midwest roads, check out the Bilstein PSS/PSS9 setup. They ride better than stock and still handle good for what they are. FA500s are technically better, but just figured I'd throw out another option that may fit the bill.

I just got a set of HKS hypermax gt coilovers here in WV with our crappy roads. I would say at 20 of the available 30 clicks off hard the ride is close to stock. A bit smoother over mild bumps and ribs across the road but perhaps a tad harsher on the really bad stuff. Overall I am really happy with them but during my research the Billstien PSS9 seemed to be most consistently praised for being more comfy than stock. Though I’m very happy with my HKS I sometimes wonder what the Bilsteins are like.

This person has FA500 on one S2000 and Ohlins on another S2000...AND lives in the upper MW.

wow. lucky for you, I exist.

The FA500 is unbeatable at the price point. Are they as good as the Ohlins? lol no. But are the Ohlins 2X better? Also no.

FA's are custom valve-able and you can choose your spring rates. I think springs in the 10K/8K region are good for street cars that are enthusiastically driven. It keeps a lot of the "sport" aspect without killing the ride for no reason. A digressive shock can also be dialed up to slow down body roll so it becomes less perceptible for the user.

My recommendation is to over valve the shock. Use a 12/10 valving for 10/8 springs kinda thing.

FA's also come with a 5 year warranty, pass thru lower cups, etc. They're built well and they look nice.

They are, however, a long lead time part. You wont get them until the summer is almost over.

The Ohlins do everything really well. The price vs equipment ratio kinda shows that pretty clearly. You get what you get. The shocks can handle a lot more spring than they come with. They're incredibly well built and the ride is amazing. Its hard to explain, but its like driving in HD. The fine thread kinda makes the adjusters "stick", and their wrench-to-collar interface sucks.

No pass thru lower cups...so don't plan on being low.

Bilstein are more simple than either, will probably out last either, but they aren't meant to go low and they are MASSIVELY softly sprung. Like marshmallows.

@B serious I couldn't find a "giddy like a school girl" emoji, but I'm all like :cheer: :LOL:.

So how do the FAs ride on the choppy roads like described? Do you feel like there's enough travel to keep off the bumpstops most of the time? How do they handle our sucky roads? Versus the Ohlins?

From a performance aspect do you feel like they handle body motions well for occasional track days?

Thanks!

My FA500 is configured thusly:
Valved for 14K
With 14K/12K springs.

You know...idiot spec.

This idiot spec'ing was done deliberately by me. This is in no way a dig at FA.

I got them in said spec because I am building a "budget but effective" track car and documenting it as I go. So for me, the ride quality was a secondary concern.

Mine are not (IMO) daily drivable, but that was due to my prioritizations.

If I stuck some 10/8 or 12/10 springs under there, they'd ride REALLY well.

FA500 have about 2.63" of travel before bumpstop for front and rear.

I'm not sure if FA short stroked them because of my spring rates? The FA510 I measured had like 3.X" front and rear travel.

My Ohlins have ~3.25 front and 2.13" rear. I believe they've since added more, however?

In short, yeah, the FA have enough travel.

The Ohlins bumpstops are progressive, though. The FA uses an economical rubber donut that seems like 1 hard rate.

The issue that the FA500 will have is the inability to accomodate a huge rate of springs (theoretically) at the same valving. The FA510 is better at that.

So whatever you valve your FA500 for, you'll need to stick closely to it. Like...if you valve 12/12, you'll want springs ranging from 10K to 12K.

But this is theoretical. I personally think if you got a much softer spring than it was valved for, you could just lower the damping force all the way down and they'd be OK.

The body motions are controlled exquisitely due to the FA500 big low speed damping force. So if you crank them up, the car will feel totally locked in. They're still forgiving over cracked up bumps.

Again, in their price point, they're tough to beat.

My bwoy Will doesn't work at THM anymore. But I'm sure he can point you correctly. I'll alert him to this thread.

Thanks B! If Will drops by the post great, in the meantime I'll get in touch with THM and see if I can get some more concrete dimensions.

Thanks again for the reviews all!