SpeedFreaksUSA Race valved Ohlin DFV Review and Road Atlanta NASA TTC track Record
 

Introduction:
My name is Joel Morrison and I have been on the boards ever since my first s2000 in 2010. I usually kept posting to a minimum unless I was researching parts and trying to make my car faster on track. I have been tracking my current car since 2011 on and off and slowly making modifications along the way. Long story short I have been in time trials with NASA SE since 2014 and my closest home track is Road Atlanta. My best time at Road Atlanta in 2015 was 1:40.915 and I had been struggling to drop that time without blaming it all on the hoosier purple crack that many of my competitors were racing on. I had several weekends on some take off Hoosier R6's but never sticker tires and never R7's but I felt other things like my coilovers were holding me back more considering most the TTB and TTC top finishers had run below 1:40's. My car is typically used 90% for track events now but was my daily driver for years. Mods of switched around for a while to accommodate daily driving but the Tein Flex were the last creature comfort to go to make it a more track only setup.

My setup for 2015: (for sake of simplicity I only listed performance related mods and left interior and non track related mods out)
AP2 2005 sits at around 2650lbs with the interior gutted from the seats back and harddog roll bar installed.

Suspension:
Tein Flex coilovers w/ edfc. - 5+ years old with greater then 20k freeway miles. (8k front and 10k rear standard spring rates)
Forgestar 17x10 square wheels
Stoptech front BBK w/ hawk htc-60 pads, htc-60 rear pads on oem rotors
3" front brake ducts
OEM sway bars
SPC upper adjustable ball joints

Tires:
Hoosier R6 245/40/17 Square
or
Maxxis RC-1 255/40/17 Square (seemed to be around 0.5-1 second slower then the Hoosier R6 above)

Aero/exterior
APR GTC-200 rear wing
Forbidden USA oem replica hardtop, softop removed

Engine: Dyno retuned to 222whp @ 8.5k redline
AEM cold air intake
PLM header
Berk test pipe
HKS hi-flow single exhaust
AEM EMS
Setrab oil cooler
All emissions removed


I reached out to Matt @ Speedfreaksusa as I have been a long time customer for brake pads and other various track consumables. I wanted a budget reasonable track prepared coilover to replace my current worn out tein flex. I had already read multiple reviews and success stories from others here on the boards on the Ohlin DFV and was pretty set on purchasing a set forr myself. I knew I would want stiffer spring rates then the standard valving could handle and Speedfreaksusa informed me they wanted to build a race valved DFV able to handle higher spring rates for the track only oriented setup. Perfect, that sounded just like what I needed so I placed an order right away with 13k front and 11k rear swift springs. They have always provided me with exceptional customer service and prompt responses to my many question in the past and my experience this time was no different when I was communicating with Matt so I knew I was in good hands.


2016 Setup:
Only change to the car was swap out the old tein flex coilovers for the Speedfreaksusa race valved Ohlin DFV's with swift springs.

I also changed to some used Hoosier R7's 225/45/17 with around 6-8 prior heat cycles to replace my worn out R6's

I set the DFV's to the recommended 7 clicks from stiff also ride height approx 20-25mm lower then the standard setup recommendation.


Road Atlanta on 3/12/16 and 3/13/16 with NASA Southeast, Mid Atlantic, and Florida region members.
This ended up being a huge event with a great turnout of spectators and many cars on track. The paddock was jam packed with no extra room for trailers and little room for spectators to squeeze in. This also meant a lot of cars on track in every group track all weekend. We had over 10 s2000's represented in various race groups from TTC, TTB, TT3, TTU, and Honda Challenge. I didnt even count those participating in HPDE

Of note: there were 52 cars registered total in Time Trials Saturday morning and similar on Sunday, 6 cars classed in TTC, 3 of which were S2000's. NASA Southeast is notorious for not having many in TTC and I was use to having to run in TTB with E36 and E46 M3's often struggling to catch the higher powered cars in the back straight only to catch them in the turnes. But we had plenty for contingency in both classes this weekend and had 6 also classed in TTB running similar times.


Impressions on track:
First several sessions were insane with so much traffic and a fight to the front for open track I was initially gridded 47th out of 52 in practice and had to work my way up all day from there. The first 3 sessions I never really get a open hot lap to get the full feel of the coilovers but I could tell almost immediately a difference in how "smooth" my car felt even though it was somewhat stiffer all around then I was use to. I could now utilize curbing like never before without loosing as much speed or unsettling the car. I made some minor rebound adjustments as I felt a little loose in the first few session till I got to where it felt more planted. Finally by 4th session I had moved up from my starting grid position and was able to start the session in 12th. I made several more passes around some very fast TT3 corvettes and mustangs and finally had some open track to let fly. I pulled of a 1:38.337 and definitely felt the car was capable if more but that was my first opportunity at open track.

Unfortunately I was not able to catch video of my open laps as I had trouble with my gopro all day shutting off and/or stop recording mid session. Also lots of random records while sitting in the paddock or grid which I never even started from the gopro remote so not sure how the gopro got a mind of its own. I was more concerned with optimizing the suspension and adding weight to the car throughout the day so I would not get disqualified in impound during weigh ins so never really got the gopro problem resolved.

More impressions of the coilovers after use on track include: I cant get over how "smooth" the car felt on track during transitions. Instead of battling my car to keep it stable through turns and at the end of every brake zone, the coilovers along with the "minimal increase" in grip from the R7 VS R6 Hoosier gave me a new sense of confidence in the car I did not have before and allowed me to push it faster and faster. I could do so throughout every turn as well as utilize some of the rough rumble strips and girders on corner apexes, entry, and exits that I use to avoid to keep the car stable.

Would I recommend the Speedfreaksusa Race valved Ohlin DFV coilover for a budget minded but seriously track oriented coilover for someone that is not allowed external reservoirs due to class points? Absolutely. I have driven them on street and highway to get the car to the alignment shop and experienced the same "smoothness" I did not have before however I would note they are a little stiff for someone wanting more of a road oriented setup. I would say if you are wanting to dual purpose the standard DFV with standard spring rates (10k front 8k rear possibly) would likely fill that role better.

All in all I am very happy with my choice. I am planning to use these heavily this season mostly in Time Trials with NASA (Southeast, Mid South, Great-Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, and Florida regions) and will update with further results the the events roll by. I was not expecting a track record this weekend and definitely have to give most the credit to the exception coilover performance. I was consistently running 1:40s and 1:41s last year so quite the substantial improvement to be able to drop that to a 1:38.337 with minimal change to my car.

Credit:
Thanks again SpeedFreaksUSA for help with the product choice and selection as well as outstanding customer service and support. Matt even texted me on weekends when I had questions on setup. What a great service they provide and I will definitely be in touch for more parts as always!

Some photos since I sucked at getting gopro video:
https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/uploads/g...6941_96349.jpg

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/uploads/g...6941_77092.jpg

The car looked really good out there. We got a good laugh when you were about to eat that white Ferrari on the front straight.

Are you running those r7 over the 10" wheel?

Thanks, yes was running a 225/45/17 Hoosier R7 on 17x10

Job well done Joel, congrats. :thumbup:

Why so much stretch?

Good Job :thumbup:

I'm friends with the NASA FL s2000 guys, was cool to hear there was another TTC s2000 being built and run competitively. Hopefully there will be some more good battles with all of you guys! I'm the slow guy now in the FL region, but it's huge fun to watch you guys kick butt!

Why so much stretch?
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A 225 Hoosier R7 is about the size of a 255 Nitto NT01 on a 17x9, so on a 17x10 it's not very stretched.

I congratulate you on the time, and I'm always glad to hear of suppliers making good products to make our car faster.

Please take this comment as constructive, it's really meant this way. Unless you have changed some other things, your car is actually over points for TTC. And, the points that are making you over, are not likely helping you at all.

I think we'd agree on the following assessments:
Tires 3, shocks 3, springs 2, ball joints 2, big brake 2, rear wing 4=16

However that OEM lip is 5 points because it has vertical and horizontal elements, and the rear side strake are 2. Those mods are 7 points of no help. You prob should yank those off.

This in no way diminishes your excellent time, cause those aren't really helping

Dude Joel that's freaking awesome! Dan's lap record has been there since 2012 so that's pretty sweet you were able to reset it.

That's a hell of an improvement in time for just a coilover swap. I saw your time on racehero and I was thinking 'he must have had some crazy tune or something to drop 2 seconds'. I wish I could have been out there with you guys, I also made the move to ohlins and I'm interested to see the car's attitude over T3.

Anyways man congrats. When you are you guys going back, June Jam?

I'm doing summit main with nasa mid-a April 15-17th, you should come up if you're able man.

Cooper, what was your sense of those spring rates with the Hoosiers? Were they enough?

Matt, care to share who you have valving these and whether there's any particular secret sauce other than the natural adjustment in bump/rebound for the spring rates?