I think the Ohlin's DFV is likely a great shock and if you were looking for an easy, out of the box recreational shock that didn't have to be built to class specs and you had a big budget, it would be a good kit.

For your intended purpose, I think you'd be happy with the shock. You also probably wouldn't lose much money in resale if you decided you wanted to go a different way in the future.

 

But it lacks the entry level price. There are many options in this price range, many of which offer better adjustability.

 

+1, seems perfect for you if you've got the cash.

 

Hmmmm...

The R&C forum seems much more heavily auto-x heavy and/or possibly biased with a little bit less for track driving...

Anyway, my list goes more along the lines of:

Track > Auto-x >>> winding road

I figure i'll probably slowly build a TTC car eventually and either end up with AST4200 (or 4150s) or Penske 8300s (or 7500s) - I'd ideally prefer not to go above $3500 after springs (assuming stock tophats work with both). Ohlin's TTX is beyond the budget as are some of the other JRZ and Moton shocks listed. Additionally, i have heard negative comments about the build quality of Motons and that they are overrated. JRZ and Ohlins seem to be on a different level...

Also, I seem to agree with most sentiments on here that the DFVs are a nice Street Coilover that is very track worthy and easier to setup for those that don't have the knowledge/know how.

However, I disagree with the statement that auto-x is the BEST platform for testing and evaluating shocks. I think there's more overall variation on track driving - like, uhhh, the Nurburgring... LOL

Also, there's longevity. Shocks get hot after being used lap after lap after lap - the AST 5300s were tested at the 25 Hours of ThunderHill and at the Nurburgring on an S2000 - I don't think you can setup an auto-x course to mimic those conditions.

Auto-x is good at evaluating a shock that is excellent for... auto-x, and probably good to great at most other performance oriented applications. Definitely not taking away from auto-x here, just not holding as the holy grail for evals...

Anyway, lots of good info here. Anyone have comparisons of the Penske 8300s vs 7500s and or possibly throwing AST4200s into the mix (whether auto-x or track)

 

Are we talking about list of driver ability or setup ability?

I would be very, very, very specific about what you mean by track.

If you mean W2W, fine. If you're talking HPDE, that's a different story.

25 hrs of T-Hill is different than 20 min NASA HPDE groups with limited passing zones and point by's.

 

I think there is also a bias because the the number of drivers we have in each sport.

How many T3 S2000s do we have?
How many TT S2000s?
Vs. STR / BS / RTR S2000s.

 

Part of that is because SoCal T3 is... non-existant. Any T3 S2k would win by default because they'd be all alone. The S2k would get murdered in T2...

As for TT, most SoCal s2k HPDE drivers elect to pass on it because:

1. NASA is insanely anal about offs. How are you supposed to learn without making mistakes?
2. NASA doesn't like people that are faster than the existing crowd, especially established drivers
3. NASA is expensive, about 50% more cost for 25-33% less seat time (net cost is roughly double for a given amount of seat time)

If you look at S2kC times vs NASA TT records, you'll see that the S2kC times shatter most TTC/TTB records, where our cars generally fall. The only time that we can't touch is the ACS time, which by far favors power oriented cars (AKA the Neon SRT4 that holds the current record).

A few SoCal members have tried NASA HPDE/TT and have elected not to go back for more events.

 

This is the point I was trying to make just worded much better, thanks for that.

Like I said already and will continue to say, it is absolutely pointless to measure the performance/quality of a shock by how many competitive drivers use them, unless you have the exact same use as those drivers.

Also I think people need to stop going to "HPDE" and attend proper track days that aren't run by baboons and full of miserably slow drivers Instead of looking at public track days as a benchmark for on track driving, look at something like S2K Challenge instead.

 

Urge:

I tried to send you a PM, but the website said you can't use the PM system (??)

Can you please tell me what the price is, shipped to 75093? Also, What is the delivery wait for them once payment is received?

Finally, you mentioned that you can't discount these (I'm guessing because Ohlins is protecting their dealer network, which is fine), but you can do "other things". Can you share details?

I'll be buying either these or KWs within the next week. Any help or advise you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

PS One last question - what's the rebuild cost? and typically from what you've seen or heard, how many road and track miles do these take before needing a rebuild (on average)

Thanks again

 

We have 4 northern sets of DFVs should be installed and run as soon as the snow melts...