Ohlins DFV track review
There are numerous review with install photos for this coil over so I'm not going to do it here. I do want to say the install was very straight forward and I did it myself with basic tools in about 4 hours. I purchased the system from Patrick at Urge racing earlier this year. He was very good to deal with and answered all the questions I had. He even called me while going to a wedding to make sure all my questions were answered. I highly recommend Patrick for anyone looking into purchasing a set of these.
I did my install according to the recommended specs from the manual. The ride was slightly harsher then OEM from the base setting of 10 click from full stiff. I backed the setting to 11 turns F/R from full stiff and this setting was very comfortable for the street. It absorbed bumps better then stock while providing improve stability and response. I was amazed at how noticeable of a difference 1 click has on the feel of the car. I had other coilovers for other cars which needed at lease 5 clicks of the adjustment knob to make any noticeable difference. This weekend I finally had a chance to test the new set up at Thunderhill raceway in northern California. I have done 5 events on the OEM suspension last year so I have some good data on what that setup is capable of with my driving abilities. My car is pretty much stock with the exception of the following mods. 245 RS3 square megan racing rollcenter/camber adjuster eibach front sway bar carbotech Xp10 Front and XP8 Rear custom alignment On the stock suspension with the above mods my personal best is in the mid 2:09 on the bypass layout. I know there guys on this forum capable of much faster times with a similar set up. My time is what I'm capable of while feeling confident behind the wheels. I know I'm no where near the limits of the tires and OEM suspension. The biggest issue I had with the OEM suspension was the lack of confidence it gave me in high speed turns such as T1 and T8 at Thunderhill. I could not push my self any faster then 80mph apex speed for T1 and 85mph for T8 with out feeling too easy. I think part of the reason is because of the soft springs and rebound damping on the OEM setup which caused a lot of body roll and delay in response from the car. This past weekend I did the first session on the Ohlins with the recommend 10 clicks from full stiff F/R to get a feel of the new setup. Immediately the car felt much more composed and response was better then the OEM setup. The car was still leaning and rolling a little too much for my liking so I stiffened up the shocks to 8 clicks F/R and it felt much better with this setting. The biggest difference to me was the car felt more direct and connected to the track. The turn in response was much quicker and the car was more composed in the turns allowing me to push harder without feeling too uncomfortable. I know I'm still not near the limits of the car but with the extra confidents form the new setup I'm able to carry more speed though a few of the turns at TH. My apex speed for T1 improved from 80 Mph to 85MPH and 85mph to 90mph for Turn 8. I also set my new personal best time of 2:08.62 secs. This event was done in near 100 degree heat. My old personal best was set during much cooler weather so I feel there is some room here. I'm also on the same set of RS3s which have 6 track days and are 1 1/2 years old. On top of that my clutch was also slipping really bad at this event. I had to baby every shift to not slip the clutch too much. Given all the circumstances I was still able to beat my own personally best by close to 1 sec. I'm more then happy with the results and can't wait to test my car again with a new clutch, tires and cooler weather. |
Great review! I agree with everything you mentioned. Particularly how much a small adjustment can make on these. Awesome that you were able to improve that much in the high temperatures.
|
Originally Posted by andrewhake
(Post 23177947)
Great review! I agree with everything you mentioned. Particularly how much a small adjustment can make on these. Awesome that you were able to improve that much in the high temperatures.
Once I get my car sorted out I hope to come hang out with you guys sometime. |
Anytime! Hopefully I will make it out to Thunderhill again soon.
|
I'm curious, were you on the bump stops or rubbing fender liners at all? I've rubbed fender liners on stock wheels with 12k/10k rates and I have a hard time accepting how low the rates on the DFV are, especially at the rear where I've heard noise that the DFV may already be travel limited. They're still on my list but only if PSI can valve them for 12k/12k or 12k/14k rates.
|
Originally Posted by thomsbrain
(Post 23179747)
I'm curious, were you on the bump stops or rubbing fender liners at all? I've rubbed fender liners on stock wheels with 12k/10k rates and I have a hard time accepting how low the rates on the DFV are, especially at the rear where I've heard noise that the DFV may already be travel limited. They're still on my list but only if PSI can valve them for 12k/12k or 12k/14k rates.
I will probably move to 12k/12k rates once mine need a rebuild just because I am interested in trying out different setups. From what I have been told it should be no problem at all to revalve them. Honestly I think you could get away with running 12k/12k without a revalve, but you might be limiting your usable adjustability range slightly. I think the only situation I have come across that I wish there was more rear travel and I can say for sure that I am on the bumpstops in the rear is one particular high speed bump in the mountains where I can get the rear of the car to hop slightly. Not even through a corner just a big bump on a straight. The car would do this even at stock ride height though. Softening the rear slightly helps, but I would guess something with rear travel like the TTX this could be eliminated. |
Originally Posted by andrewhake
(Post 23179844)
Originally Posted by thomsbrain' timestamp='1401322307' post='23179747
I'm curious, were you on the bump stops or rubbing fender liners at all? I've rubbed fender liners on stock wheels with 12k/10k rates and I have a hard time accepting how low the rates on the DFV are, especially at the rear where I've heard noise that the DFV may already be travel limited. They're still on my list but only if PSI can valve them for 12k/12k or 12k/14k rates.
I will probably move to 12k/12k rates once mine need a rebuild just because I am interested in trying out different setups. From what I have been told it should be no problem at all to revalve them. Honestly I think you could get away with running 12k/12k without a revalve, but you might be limiting your usable adjustability range slightly. I think the only situation I have come across that I wish there was more rear travel and I can say for sure that I am on the bumpstops in the rear is one particular high speed bump in the mountains where I can get the rear of the car to hop slightly. Not even through a corner just a big bump on a straight. The car would do this even at stock ride height though. Softening the rear slightly helps, but I would guess something with rear travel like the TTX this could be eliminated. |
Originally Posted by thomsbrain
(Post 23179747)
I'm curious, were you on the bump stops or rubbing fender liners at all? I've rubbed fender liners on stock wheels with 12k/10k rates and I have a hard time accepting how low the rates on the DFV are, especially at the rear where I've heard noise that the DFV may already be travel limited. They're still on my list but only if PSI can valve them for 12k/12k or 12k/14k rates.
I installed my Ohlins to the recommended settings from the user manual. Front ends up about 5-8 mm lower then the rear. During my first session at TH with the dampers set to 10 clicks from full stiff I did experience some rubbing in the front. I'm on 245 tires and stock fenders. After that session I inspected the fenders and plastic liners under the fenders and everything looked ok. I increased the damping to 8 click from full stiff for the next session and only heard a few very minor rubbing sound at the apex of turn 8 where the car gets a bit unsettled from the bump. I'm still not sure where the sound is coming from but the fenders are perfectly fine. I will probably increase the front end ride height about 5mm for my next outing. I think this will fit my driving style better too since the current setup is a bit too tail happy for my liking. |
Originally Posted by andrewhake
(Post 23179844)
Originally Posted by thomsbrain' timestamp='1401322307' post='23179747
I'm curious, were you on the bump stops or rubbing fender liners at all? I've rubbed fender liners on stock wheels with 12k/10k rates and I have a hard time accepting how low the rates on the DFV are, especially at the rear where I've heard noise that the DFV may already be travel limited. They're still on my list but only if PSI can valve them for 12k/12k or 12k/14k rates.
I will probably move to 12k/12k rates once mine need a rebuild just because I am interested in trying out different setups. From what I have been told it should be no problem at all to revalve them. Honestly I think you could get away with running 12k/12k without a revalve, but you might be limiting your usable adjustability range slightly. I think the only situation I have come across that I wish there was more rear travel and I can say for sure that I am on the bumpstops in the rear is one particular high speed bump in the mountains where I can get the rear of the car to hop slightly. Not even through a corner just a big bump on a straight. The car would do this even at stock ride height though. Softening the rear slightly helps, but I would guess something with rear travel like the TTX this could be eliminated. |
Originally Posted by Atlasm
(Post 23181234)
Have you driven your setup with and without the roll center adjuster? I'm curious to hear if you felt any differences. I have the Megan racing version and have not added the roll center plates at the moment. I'm still looking for a slightly more positive turn in response so in theory adding the plates to increase the front roll centers might help.
If I didn't have roll center correction in the rear I would use 12mm of correction in the front. So with the S1 joint (that includes 9mm of correction) I would use the additional 4mm plate that J's offers. |
All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:09 AM. |
© 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands