So I've had these on a week now and done 500 or so miles, so time to share my thoughts. Yeah I know, another Pudding essay
Ohlins? Never heard of them. Who are they?Ohlins are a Swedish shock absorber manufacturer and are more well known in the motorbike and motorsport world. They've only recently ventured into the road car market.
https://www.ohlins.com/products/automotiveSynonymous with quality and unrivalled damping performance, they have earned a reputation of being up there with the best for dampers. A couple of videos to have a snout at if you're bored:-
Yawn, more coilovers, there's billions already. What makes these so special?5 reasons that I can think of.
1) The DFV (Dual Flow Valve). It's basically a blow off valve for high speed damper movements (fast damper piston movements, not high road speeds). When you hit a sharp bump, some regular dampers can become momentarily solid because the valving is too restrictive in that condition, which transmits a loud thunk into the cabin along with an unpleasant feel to the car, jolting it off course in extreme cases. The DFV relieves that pressure so that the spring can compress and also return to it's natural state a lot faster, meaning the tyre hits the ground faster and the shock is less severe. Win win. These diagrams probably explain it better.
2) Inverted 'upside down' damper design. Not a new design. Both Bilstein and Ohlins have used this design for decades. So what's good about it? Strength in short. When you drive into a corner hard or hit harsh bumps, you'd be surprised how much regular dampers bend. They are essentially another control arm. The stronger, the better. You really can feel the benefits of this design. I'll let these images from Tein's website do the talking.
3) Build quality. I've been fortunate enough to have tried numerous sets of coilovers and regular struts over the years, from assorted brands, but Ohlins and KW are the best I've personally experienced. The look and feel, the engineering precision and the consistency of production are all there with the Ohlins, which is very reassuring. Exactly what you want to see given the chunky investment. It just looks the part. No nonsense and no flashy marketing frippery. They just shout 'bring on the B roads and the track please'.
4) Installation. Ohlins ship the coilovers with preset ride height and spring preload that they feel is optimal for the application. It makes for much a much easier installation with no guess work and no tweaking of the C spanners for days afterwards. Installation was dead easy and ready to hit the streets in 4 hours for a handy DIYer.
5) Development. Ohlins spend a minimum of 6 months development work on each R&T kit, and it shows. Most of their competitors simply take X damper length with X spring rates and bash them out the door in days/weeks, hence the vast fitment range compared to Ohlins' 20 or so car range. Sounds insignificant and 'what ever' on the face of it, but this stuff matters when you've been through numerous suspension kits and can't quite find the sweet spot.
Anyway, onto the unboxing, installation and review!
You get quite a comprehensive bunch o' bits which is extremely well packaged, in 2 boxes, not 1
Made in Japan, which is no bad thing. I'm guessing because Yamaha have a share in Ohlins and have the production facilities to already in place, rather than Ohlins having to sort that themselves, which is expensive.
A noticeable weight saving vs a regular strut. OEM 8P RS3 top mounts & Audi/Polo 6N bearings used.
There are numerous guides for installing struts onto MK5s online, but suffice to say it was dead easy. Remember to buy in new TTY (torque to yield) bolts in preparation
One piece of advice if you have alloy front hubs, don't whack it with a hammer to detach the tie rod end, buy a proper BJ separator.
Adjustments and setup.No adjustments required for the ride height because as already mentioned, it comes preset to -20mm. Just enough preload to take up the slack when the car is off the ground, and that's it. You don't want too much preload as it can mess up the handling and ride quality. You can go up +15mm and -7mm if so desired. These are not coilovers for slamming I'm afraid. The dampers are shipped 7 clicks open (from fully closed, max stiffness). I wound them out to 10 clicks open front, 10 clicks open rear. Adjustment range is 20 clicks. 20 being fully soft and flacid.
Default ride height.Absolutley spot on for my tastes and the fuel tank is full in this pic. Uniform arch gaps all round, plenty of belly clearance and and plenty of damper travel. Exactly what you need for handling
So then, what are they like?In short, epic! With the 10 clicks open settings, the feel of the car is very firm and very glue to the road. Steering self centering improves, turn-in is sharp and the cornering is very flat (standard ARBs on my car). Body control over undulating, varying cambered and rough B roads is incredible. The damping speed is very fast and tight. The closest thing I've felt to this is a Porsche 911, but minus the front end bobbing up and down, for those of you familiar with 911s. Absolutely nailed down and the shape of the road is fed back to the driver like brail. Probably the most remarkable thing is minor surface lumps and bumps are filtered out and barely felt in the cabin. All of the silly little obstacles that had the OEM setup twitching and fiddling about unnecessarily. Bigger bumps and compressions are very noticeable like they are with other suspensions, but the car does not flinch or veer off course. The steering wheel remains resolutely on target and twitch free. It's actually quite surreal for a Golf to feel like this. This setup is by far the best suspension I have ever tried in 27 years of VW modifying. Finally, you can have your cake, cut a bloody big slice and eat it
Ohlins are not miracle workers. If your local roads are diabolical, then don't expect this kit to turn the surface of the moon into a billiard table. You will certainly feel it more than the OEM suspension, but in a way which is far more controlled and planted. You can cover ground way faster and with less drama, going into corners way faster and flatter than you thought possible in a humble little Golf.
Hmmm, sounds intriguing, but the most important question, how much?£2,200, or thereabouts. Come again??
You seriously think that is good value??! If you love your Golf and derive pleasure from fast road and track driving, then absolutely it's good value. If anything puts a smile on your face then it's worth every penny. Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten - to quote Rolls Royce, and its very true.
On this car I've come from OEM and RacingLine suspensions. Both have their merits but this setup is seriously next level. It's not for everyone and 90% won't entertain the price, but if you're in it for the long game, you can do a lot worse
