My Ohlins review
 

So you guys might remember that group buy on the KW Clubsports that happened a few years back. I opted in and bought them, and after investing a nice chunk of change, unboxing them once, I ended up selling them. At the time, I just couldn't mod the S...it deserved only the best I could afford. Fast forward a few more years (to the present) and I have a little bit stashed away, and broke my modding cherry on a berk headerback exhaust after my catalytic converter detonated on me for the 3rd time (won't have to worry about that shit again)! "Only the best" meant now Ohlins, and after investing many hours investigating the top suspension choices for mixed street/track coilovers, I found that the Ohlins were the best pick and the best bang for the buck.

I remember Billman having a convo with another S owner at the dragon that I overheard:

"What coilover would you recommend, Bill?"
Billman's response was: "Tell me what's wrong with the stock suspension."

:LOL: I laughed at that one, but it was a good question. What IS wrong with the stock suspension? It's served me well both on street and on track, so I really had to think about this one. A lot of folks on this forum mention how good the stock suspension really is, and how to really improve upon it you're gonna need to spend north of $1600. But my answer came in the form of two issues: center of gravity and roll. Now, roll can be controlled via sway bars, but to take care of both while also improving the utilization of extreme performance tires, a good set of coilovers was a good place to start. Also, who the hell REALLY (in their heart of hearts) LIKES fender well gap. :p

I also chose Ohlins because I am lazy and don't want to be worrying about uber-tuning a suspension. I want to set and forget and the Ohlins had a one adjustment knob that adjusted both bound and rebound...and I like that feature. Also, Ohlins makes the suspenion for both the Ariel Atom and the Zonda R...so you KNOW they are one of the best in the business.

So I PM Urge and ask them for a quote, they reply and I think it's a fair number. So Im kicking the idea around a bit, talked to the wife about it, and got a follow-up PM from Patrick just doing his job and checking in. Well I got a wild hair up my ass and asked for an invoice, gave him my contact info, and made my way to the bank to move some funds around. Purchase completed, I only waited about 24 hours until UPS notified me that I wasn't at home to sign for the package! DOH! Oh well...so today I went to the UPS store to pick them up. The packaging is remarkable already. Every component has it's own little protected space. I havent opened the box that the shocks are actually in yet, but that'll be later tonight when I get them home. Plan on installing tomorrow and have a corner balance session scheduled with my alignment shop (Performance Chassis in Cary) for Monday.

Teaser pic...more to come:

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EDIT: Friday evening

Well couldnt wait to get these installed and while my buddy's girl and my wife were out shopping me and him decided to tear into the car. Well, of course we have the suspension undone and after about 3 beers we decide it's in our best interests to go ahead and assemble the coilovers and get them at least mounted. Assembly was easy and spring identification was sufficient. I did have to read another thread were another user informed me that the longer spacers go on the front! Would have never known if I hadnt seen the thread [because I dont really read directions...ever.]

Anyway, coilovers are on and tomorrow I will preload and make sure things are torqued to spec. I didn't adjust any ride height settings, so we will see where we're sitting tomorrow. Ill post some better pics in daylight.

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EDIT: Saturday afternoon

Preloaded the shocks and torqued everything down. Got the shocks at 4 clicks from full stuff all around as a baseline. Wonder what I should set them for on the street. Loving the drop. Not too low but not 4 wheeling it either

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And I just want to leave this here b/c it's an awesome pic for my S with Eric's 512whp AP1

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Measured height pre-adjustments are 13" front and 13.5" rear from center hub to fender.

EDIT: Monday


Got the car to Performance Chassis and dropped off for corner balance and alignment. Drop ended up being 13" bore to fender with a 1/4" rake. Alignment is perfect and the car feels awesome. Will report back when we go to VIR for Charity Laps April 3rd. :vtec:

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I'll be watching this. Can't wait to here results/opinions. I am strongly considering these.

Nice teaser pics :)

Can't wait to hear feedback as well.

OP updated. These things so far have been wonderful on the winding roads going home. Much more confidence inspiring. I'll still need to play a little with the shock settings to get the ride quality just for road vs track use.

Crank those suckers back for the street.

Below are the settings I use most often based on my cars setup (255 non staggered, DFVs, Eibach front sway on stiff)

Street - 10-11 clicks off stiff front and rear
AutoX - 2-3 clicks off stiff front / 6-8 clicks off stiff rear
Track/Spirited drive - 4 clicks off stiff front / 6 clicks off stiff rear.

I typically leave them on the street setting and it's even fine for some moderate paced back road driving.

I do intend to up the spring rates a little to 650/550 in the near future and I'm sure most of my settings will go up a click or two on stiffness but I'm not expecting to have to change the adjustments much.

Since you're non-stagger and Im stagger, I think an even front to rear bias (or lack there of) would be in order for me. I'll turn down to 6 clicks from 4 and see how we are :)

Corner balance pictures are in!

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2740 lbs with nearly a full tank too! :thumbup:

Careful going too stiff on the settings. The stock front valving will get into hysteresis on the stiffest settings. I'd have to take a look at my dynos to remember the stiffest you can safely go. 4 is probably still ok, but you definitely can't run them full-stiff. My rears dynos are better for hysteresis but they aren't stock valving so I can't speak to the stock rears.

I almost never try to run anything full stiff or soft.

I think one of the most common issues with cars in general is that stiff makes a car feel like it handles better but doesn't necessarily mean it actual does. I've noticed many times that I can go just as fast with softer settings.

Down to 6 clicks all around

You are doing yourself a disservice with those DWs with such a sophisticated suspension. Tread squirm / sidewalks are not up to par.