NEW Öhlins coilovers

[Bernhard30]

I'm sure on track the Bilsteins work brilliantly.
My desire was to principally improve my car on road.
And the dual flow valving in the Ohlins dampers was for me the major design element to hopefully give road compliance. And it does.
The extra adjustability for track use is for me an extra bonus.
I think the fact they call these coilovers Road and Track in that order probably says it all. Their design aim is to produce a compliant and smooth riding damper. The ride feels quality damped.

~


Bernhard30 where are you based.....we will have to get together at sometime as I am interested in comparing this set with mine. I am running KW Clubsports which is the second set up. I was seriously considering the B16 set up but I couldn't try before I bought as there was noone local who had this set up. Another factor was that I wanted the adjustable camber set up for track. I had experienced KW V3's which are a nice set up but are less orientated for track.
I run a Eibach Race Coilover on my MK2 and have previously run Leda and a more road biased set up using Koni / Eibach. Trouble with many track only dampers are just too stiff for road use.
My experience of Clubsports is that they have good road compliance and soaks up imperfections nicely and are very absorbent. They can also be wound up super stiff when needed.
I initially went with 2 degrees -ve but have gone back to 1.5 degrees -ve as it was too aggressive for road use (Too twitch on the front on motorway) .

I would have liked to try the Bilstein B16 set up I agree that it seems the more expensive suspension set ups are in a class of their own.




 

Based in the North East mate. No probs for a hook up.
Your Mk 2 sounds like fun.

You're a bit of way for me....I'm based in Somerset.

Here's a link to my previous Vee dubs including my MK2 16V which is dry stored for winter.....it does more miles around Castle Combe in the summer than on the road!!
http://www.clubgti.com/showthread.php?219049-My-2-Litre-MK2-16V-Toy-my-other-tasty-Vee-Dubs!

I normally run this on Dunlop Inters for track. It's so competent on track the MK5 struggles against it's pure raw speed and light weight and that bhp/ton sublime feeling you get with a well set up 16V. I used to race MK2's in the early 90's and hill climbed a few. The MK5 is great but you have to spend serious amounts to get it into a super track orientated set up.....much more than the valver. I have been down this road before.  

I'm popping up to Awesome I suspect very soon or maybe after Xmas for a full stage APR stage 2+ set up with RSC and VWR intake. Getting some VWR brakes at end of month hopefully then it will be a diff clutch and sticky rubber. Should be flyer...not that it isn't already.

The link to your MK2 Golf looks pretty cool. Might have to try and get to Castle Combe next season for a passenger ride in it.
You could try the Ohlins perhaps.
As said in previous posts my aim was to improve the road ride. And I'd noticed more tuned cars mainly in Evo mag running Ohlins stuff. Some 997's and the Polestar Volvo V60? for example. It got me onto exploring high end suspension/damping.
There is some stuff on You Tube for the RT Ohlins range. One video has Tim Harvey trying this suspension on an Evo X.
I think (guess) there are probably equally good suspension set ups for track use. But feel that on road the Ohlins compliance is their stand out feature.
Had the image on McGuiness going full tonk across the TT Mountain and his Ohlins bike suspension taking the punishment while he gets a smooth ride. Know my Ed30 is not gonna handle like his race Fireblade but some of the damping control on road is what I was after achieving. As stated earlier it's probably my best mod to my Mk5.

Have you still got Ed30 number 30 then? I've seen it in Volkswagen driver magazine etc.

[Msportman]

I'm sure on track the Bilsteins work brilliantly.
My desire was to principally improve my car on road.
And the dual flow valving in the Ohlins dampers was for me the major design element to hopefully give road compliance. And it does.
The extra adjustability for track use is for me an extra bonus.
I think the fact they call these coilovers Road and Track in that order probably says it all. Their design aim is to produce a compliant and smooth riding damper. The ride feels quality damped.

~


Bernhard30 where are you based.....we will have to get together at sometime as I am interested in comparing this set with mine. I am running KW Clubsports which is the second set up. I was seriously considering the B16 set up but I couldn't try before I bought as there was noone local who had this set up. Another factor was that I wanted the adjustable camber set up for track. I had experienced KW V3's which are a nice set up but are less orientated for track.
I run a Eibach Race Coilover on my MK2 and have previously run Leda and a more road biased set up using Koni / Eibach. Trouble with many track only dampers are just too stiff for road use.
My experience of Clubsports is that they have good road compliance and soaks up imperfections nicely and are very absorbent. They can also be wound up super stiff when needed.
I initially went with 2 degrees -ve but have gone back to 1.5 degrees -ve as it was too aggressive for road use (Too twitch on the front on motorway) .

I would have liked to try the Bilstein B16 set up I agree that it seems the more expensive suspension set ups are in a class of their own.




 

Based in the North East mate. No probs for a hook up.
Your Mk 2 sounds like fun.

You're a bit of way for me....I'm based in Somerset.

Here's a link to my previous Vee dubs including my MK2 16V which is dry stored for winter.....it does more miles around Castle Combe in the summer than on the road!!
http://www.clubgti.com/showthread.php?219049-My-2-Litre-MK2-16V-Toy-my-other-tasty-Vee-Dubs!

I normally run this on Dunlop Inters for track. It's so competent on track the MK5 struggles against it's pure raw speed and light weight and that bhp/ton sublime feeling you get with a well set up 16V. I used to race MK2's in the early 90's and hill climbed a few. The MK5 is great but you have to spend serious amounts to get it into a super track orientated set up.....much more than the valver. I have been down this road before.  

I'm popping up to Awesome I suspect very soon or maybe after Xmas for a full stage APR stage 2+ set up with RSC and VWR intake. Getting some VWR brakes at end of month hopefully then it will be a diff clutch and sticky rubber. Should be flyer...not that it isn't already.

The link to your MK2 Golf looks pretty cool. Might have to try and get to Castle Combe next season for a passenger ride in it.
You could try the Ohlins perhaps.
As said in previous posts my aim was to improve the road ride. And I'd noticed more tuned cars mainly in Evo mag running Ohlins stuff. Some 997's and the Polestar Volvo V60? for example. It got me onto exploring high end suspension/damping.
There is some stuff on You Tube for the RT Ohlins range. One video has Tim Harvey trying this suspension on an Evo X.
I think (guess) there are probably equally good suspension set ups for track use. But feel that on road the Ohlins compliance is their stand out feature.
Had the image on McGuiness going full tonk across the TT Mountain and his Ohlins bike suspension taking the punishment while he gets a smooth ride. Know my Ed30 is not gonna handle like his race Fireblade but some of the damping control on road is what I was after achieving. As stated earlier it's probably my best mod to my Mk5.

Have you still got Ed30 number 30 then? I've seen it in Volkswagen driver magazine etc.

No that was my first Edition.

It was a great package but I sold it and bought another car in between.

My MK2 is tucked up for the winter.

This Edition is still low miles....done a few bits but having the dilema of do I chuck thousands at it or buy an RS4 or E90 M3!

Was considering APR stage 2+ diff, clutch intake FMIC brake kit ....there goes £7-8k!!

Tried M3 recently....very very nice except bland inside....just like any other 3 series....VEL not nice at £490 and sub 17mpg!!

[Bernhard30]

Sub 17 mpg...blimey that would put me off.

A guy over the road has a DCT M3 with foldey roof. White on black alloys. Always sounds pretty cool when he guns it away.
In our 20mph limit housing estate..!!

Anyway back to Ohlins. Drove a new GTi with Perf.Pack today. Brand new suspension felt like driving a washing machine compared to my nearly 7 year old Ed30. A graphic illustration of expensive damping.

[fuscobal]

Hello guys. Been on a trip to Nurburgring for the past 5 days and rented the Swift Sport stage 2 from rent4ring. The car had the Ohlins R&T coilover so it was a perfect way for me to see how it behaves. First of all, had a little chat with the guys there (some of them professional racing drivers). They said they used Bilstein B16 in the past and pulled them out of all cars because of some really bad experiences (crashes on high performance cars with very good drivers). Thjey also said Bilstein clubsport is much better but still not good enough for the money. Their recommendation in terms of a good track suspension went to KW clubsport and Ohlins R&T. Don't know if they were biased, I'm just telling what they've said. On my little Suzuki the Ohlins was set to 12/20 so I took it for a drive. As I was on my 10th lap there I started slow and gradually increased corner speed as I was starting to learn the track. My first impression of this coilover was the butter smooth behavior as compared to my very rough B16 (different cars but don't think that matters that much). Although they were so smooth the damping was amazingly fast on the Nordschleife and the high speed control very good. Where my B16 was very "jumpy" on the track, this one absorbed all the irregularities without the car mooving so much vertically (this also translated into more driving confidence). Thinking seriously of switching to the Ohlins on the future !

[Janner_Sy]

The questions is though have you set your B16s up to their optimum setup?

[fuscobal]

Well, I tried several settings but at least mine is very hard and rough even on the softest setting. On less than ideal roads the car is quite annoying to drive. However, drove several other cars with B16 (more than 10) and all behaved differently with mine being the stiffest (took into account wheels, car weight...)

[fuscobal]

Wondering if this is a real deal or just a price mistake :) > http://www.aktivperformanceparts.co.uk/golf-mk5-2004-2007/ohlins-vw-golf-gti-mk5-coilover-suspension-kit-2003-2008-2211229-381829-823418.php

[edd30]

Ohlins FTW, had Nitrons before. Cost me £750, but worth every penny. Comfortable and handled well. Shame a car needs four of them ! Makes it oh so expensive.

[GS WAX]

Wondering if this is a real deal or just a price mistake :) > http://www.aktivperformanceparts.co.uk/golf-mk5-2004-2007/ohlins-vw-golf-gti-mk5-coilover-suspension-kit-2003-2008-2211229-381829-823418.php

Hopefully just a price mistake
 Or quoting for the previous discontinued version, which are virtually non existent, which i tried to get from all sorts of places all around the globe.

Let us know if you have any success.

[fuscobal]

No success, they didn't even bother to answer emails. As you said the price was probably for the old "damper only" version !

[fuscobal]

Ok, guys. My Ohlins R&T finally arrived. Made some measurements and pics. Will post the pics when the camber plates will be here. Also had a set for the Nissan GT-R in my house which I measured too and will post here for comparison :

Front damper weight :

Bilstein B16 > 3831g
Ohlins R&T GTI > 3451g
Ohlins R&T GT-R > 1901g but also has an aluminium fork and 2 rings that give an extra 1073g. The total weight is still much less than on GTI and it seems to be made of some kind of anodised aluminium instead of brushed stainless steel or whatever they've used for the GTI.

Rear damper weight :

Bilstein B16 > can't find it
Ohlins R&T GTI > 1792g
Ohlins R&T GT-R > 1532g

Front spring weight :

Bilstein B16 > 1444g (39N/mm as posted by Bruce) & 11mm wire diameter
Ohlins R&T GTI > 1061g (70N/mm) & 11mm wire diameter
Ohlins R&T GT-R > 2108 (160N/mm)

Rear spring weight :

Bilstein B16 > can't find it & 12.5mm wire diameter
Ohlins R&T GTI > 1208g (60N/mm) & 11mm wire diameter
Ohlins R&T GT-R > 2185g (90N/mm)

Fully equipped Front coil :

Bilstein B16 > 5275g
Ohlins R&T GTI > 4715g (- 560g from B16) 

Fully equipped Rear coil :

Bilstein B16 > can't find it
Ohlins R&T GTI > 3572g

PS : Measuring of the B16 was done many years ago with a different scale and only for the fronts (when'I've replaced the front springs). Will measure them again with the same scale when I'll take them out and clean them !

PS2 : Build quality is amazing on thse babies and I just can't wait till the spring to have them installed

[fuscobal]

Ok, it's time for a review after my first track day with this coilover

The road to the track and back > Set it at 7 clicks on front and 10 clicks on rear (0 is hardest) and the ride is just superb. Small bumps, tram rails or small potholes are just hardly noticeable where with my old B16 my breath was literally stopping from the vertical accelerations. Steering is a little bit less responsive than B16 at low speeds (under 60kmh) and similar after that. Roll control is amazing at high speeds (over 140kmh) where you can clearly see Ohlins is superior.

The track > Went 3 times on our recently opened track, 2 times with B16 and now with the Ohlins. Started with the setting mentioned above and the car was understeering pretty bad, knowing the turns are very tight on exit which punsishes FWD cars already. Left the front on 7 and moved the rear from 10 to 7 and felt the car imediately changed behaviour to neutral which led to better corner exit. Afterwards I've tried 5F and 5R and towards the end of the day had my best time with 3F and 3 rear. I must say the steps are very noticeable as compared to B16 where they were  quite vague. For this track, I will next time try 3F and 1 rear to see if I can make the car oversteer a little bit. I must mention that with F & R set equal, I couldn't make the rear loose traction no matter how hard I tried. The car was simply sliding totally neutral. At the end of the day, my time was only 0.5sec faster than with B16 (1min46.2sec) but can't really compare since on one hand I learned the track better at the last visit but on the other hand my R888s were over the thread markers and the track temps were higher on the last visit (40degC as opposed to an optimal of 20-30degC)

[Msportman]

Ok, it's time for a review after my first track day with this coilover

The road to the track and back > Set it at 7 clicks on front and 10 clicks on rear (0 is hardest) and the ride is just superb. Small bumps, tram rails or small potholes are just hardly noticeable where with my old B16 my breath was literally stopping from the vertical accelerations. Steering is a little bit less responsive than B16 at low speeds (under 60kmh) and similar after that. Roll control is amazing at high speeds (over 140kmh) where you can clearly see Ohlins is superior.

The track > Went 3 times on our recently opened track, 2 times with B16 and now with the Ohlins. Started with the setting mentioned above and the car was understeering pretty bad, knowing the turns are very tight on exit which punsishes FWD cars already. Left the front on 7 and moved the rear from 10 to 7 and felt the car imediately changed behaviour to neutral which led to better corner exit. Afterwards I've tried 5F and 5R and towards the end of the day had my best time with 3F and 3 rear. I must say the steps are very noticeable as compared to B16 where they were  quite vague. For this track, I will next time try 3F and 1 rear to see if I can make the car oversteer a little bit. I must mention that with F & R set equal, I couldn't make the rear loose traction no matter how hard I tried. The car was simply sliding totally neutral. At the end of the day, my time was only 0.5sec faster than with B16 (1min46.2sec) but can't really compare since on one hand I learned the track better at the last visit but on the other hand my R888s were over the thread markers and the track temps were higher on the last visit (40degC as opposed to an optimal of 20-30degC)

Great review
Was considering Bilsteins on my new ED30 but Ohlins and KW Clubsports seem like the top notch contenders
Had two sets of Clubsports so I know how good they are
Need to sort brakes out before DSG/ Power / Diff
Slippery slope again!!

[rich83]

I was chatting to alex about his ohlins the other day, he recons the springs on them are softer than the Bilstein PSS10, which would possible lead them to being a bit more compliant.

[fuscobal]

No way, they are much stiffer than PSS10...it's the damper that makes him believe Ihlins is more compliant. PSS10 is progressive 51N rear & 39N front while Ohlins is linear 60N rear & 70N front. I've also compressed them by hand and Ohlins were much stiffer !