NEW Öhlins coilovers

[M4T VW]

I really think they are OTT for a road car. Some KW V3's would be just as good on the road with change left over!

[colesey]

Awesome are running a KW promo just now with £300 off v3.

[Shoduchi]

@Pudding Have you looked into AST? They make coilovers with adjustable top mounts and from what I was told they perform just as good as Öhlins.

[pudding]

I've had V3s and I'm not a fan.  Pretty crap for the money if I want to be perfectly frank about it

Cheers mate, I saw Awesome's promotion but I still wouldn't buy them if they were £1000 cheaper.....except maybe to sell on after they'd gone back to full price 

@Shoduchi  Yeah I looked at the 5100 1 way (~ £1500) and the 5200 2 ways (~£3k+) and the Ohlins are certainly better value than the 5200!  Ideally I'd like some 3 ways to tune the high speed compression to my local roads, but they are stupid money and take several weeks to get after raising the order.  Ohlins DFV strikes the perfect balance between a very good 1 way and a competition spec 3 way.....in theory.  Just need to try a car with them fitted to see if my 'man calcs' a born out in reality.

[Shoduchi]

@Pudding Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I was told that AST has the same internals as Ohlins, so I thought the DFV would also be present.

[pudding]

There's no mention of it on their website.  Maybe they only have that on the more expensive race units.

Edit - just seen it's an extra cost option.  AST call it DDP, Double Digressive Pistons.  You only get it on the undriven axle as well apparently, so not sure how that would work on 4WD cars!

[Bernhard30]

I know it's an old thread, but other than fab5freddy, has anyone else recently taken the Ohlins plunge?

Trying to get technical details and advice on the upper rung coilovers is quite tricky as so few people use them.

My queries are:

Do they REALLY need 30K rebuilds?  It's a road car only, so this would be annoying.  I know some people say you don't need coilovers on a road car, but I disagree.  It's just a method of attaching a spring/damper to a car.....the DFV dampers are still a benefit on the road.

Where can I get 1" longer springs for them?  I want to run them at factory ride height.  Even -20mm is causing me clearance problems on the road with stock wheels (no spacers).

Can these be used with the Race spec Ground control top mounts?

Basically, I'm aiming to get the flattest cornering without using ARBs.  I'd rather do it with springs, dampers and geometry.

Thanks!

@Bernhard30 and @fuscobal might be able to weigh in with the rebuild scenario. Mark uses his for road use only i believe, whereas Fuscobal would do a lot of track days, so might be varied results there, both are probably around that mileage now possibly??

These just landed today  Finally getting them fitted on Wednesday


This was the missing piece of the puzzle to mate them with the ground control camber plates.

Alex @ AKS would be the best person to talk to regards getting a custom longer spring id say

Guys just seen my name mentioned in this thread.. sorry I hadn't noticed it before.
Just by way of info for this topic...

Yes my Ohlins R&T coil overs that Alex fitted for me in 2013 are still in use and have now done 36K miles. Road use only.  They are not making any noticeable noise. And still damp the car exceptional well.
In terms of any required rebuilds I have spoke to Mick Gardner Racing at Barnsley (Ohlins North distributors/experts) a couple of times over the course of owning and running these and a rebuild requirement has never been mentioned in any conversation. [I will mention if not already outlined in this thread..that my set had a build issue after about 6 months on the car..the initial batch of coilovers were not welded enough and so the ARB/link attachment bracket came away..so after a few months my fronts were actually rebuilt at MGR at Barnsley with 'beefier outer casings' (not a technical term but you'll get the gist).

But I have never directly asked MGR if these do need a rebuild..so when I get chance I will ask them.

Honestly these are still the best mod I have fitted..well worth the money IMO. But they were and are a big wad of cash..but as I've said before it was cheaper than a Mk7 R at the time. And still makes my Ed30 a car that does all I need it to do..even though the car is now 10 years old.

In my experience Ohlins and MGR at Barnsley are both tremendous firms big on customer satisfaction and I think you get a first class product and back up.

Once I speak to them about rebuild requirements  (if any) I will post up.

Cheers. Mark

[splashalot]

But I have never directly asked MGR if these do need a rebuild..so when I get chance I will ask them.

Honestly these are still the best mod I have fitted..well worth the money IMO. But they were and are a big wad of cash..but as I've said before it was cheaper than a Mk7 R at the time. And still makes my Ed30 a car that does all I need it to do..even though the car is now 10 years old.

Once I speak to them about rebuild requirements  (if any) I will post up.

Cheers. Mark

Please do.  If I could be assured of a solid 50k+ miles I would jump at a set of Ohlins.  Would mean I would be happy to keep my GTI for another 10 years.

[pudding]

That sounds encouraging.  36K in and no rebuilds yet.   What top mounts and spring rates did you go with Bernhard?   There seems to be a feeling the supplied 70nm, 60nm springs are a bit on the soft side?

[Bernhard30]

That sounds encouraging.  36K in and no rebuilds yet.   What top mounts and spring rates did you go with Bernhard?   There seems to be a feeling the supplied 70nm, 60nm springs are a bit on the soft side?

So I rang MGR at Barnsley today as I was curious.
Their view is that like all suspension components extreme or punishing use will obviously affect ultimate lifespan between any rebuilds that may be required. They also tell me that whilst the official Ohlins word is that they recommend regular rebuilds are done - the reality is that unless it''s a racing damper they never touch these R&T units unless seals have gone and fluid is leaking.
But if that is the case then about £200 rebuilds the damper to 'as new'.
I'd say their knowledge of Ohlins products and suspension in general is really exceptional and they are always super helpful. Drop them a mail/call if you need anything else.

And with regard to my spring rates..couldn't say exact spec. I just use the springs as supplied in the box in 2013. But I certainly wouldn't think you'd need firmer springs..but as mentioned before mine so far has only been used on road. But I intend to try it on track 'sometime'..

As said - still very happy with what ride quality and damping these give me.

[pudding]

Thanks for that, very useful and helpful info 

I'm a lot more convinced now than I was a couple of weeks ago!

[splashalot]

.....Where can I get 1" longer springs for them?  I want to run them at factory ride height.  Even -20mm is causing me clearance problems on the road with stock wheels (no spacers).

Thanks!

Reading through the Ohlins fitment guide https://www.ohlins.com/app/uploads/world/2016/10/MI_VWSMI10.pdf today I noticed this: (excuse the formating)

Front:

The adjustment range is the standard position
-7 to +15 mm.

The actual vehicle height
With both the preload and height adjustments in
their standard positions, the vehicle is lowered
approximately 20mm when compared to the
original suspension. As the height adjuster is
turned one rotation, the position moves 2.0 mm.
Before driving, always make sure that the
basic settings made by Öhlins are according
to recommended Set-up Data. Read about
adjustments and setting up in the Öhlins
Owner's Manual before you make any
adjustments. Contact an Öhlins dealer if you
have any questions about setting up the
shock absorber.
Recommended set-up
Rebound setting
Track 0-7 clicks
Winding road 5-10 clicks
Street 10-20 clicks
Spring preload 2 mm
Shock absorber length 497mm
Spring
Spec H180, ID65,70 N/mm
The standard preload is 2 mm from a free
length of 180 mm, giving 178 mm installed
length, see fig ③.

Rear:
The adjustment range is the standard position
±15 mm. If the bracket is moved outside the
adjustment range, it may come loose.

The actual vehicle height
With both the preload and height adjustments in
their standard positions, the vehicle is lowered
approximately 20 mm when compared to the
original suspension. As the height adjuster is
turned one rotation, the position moves 1.5 mm.
Before driving, always make sure that the
basic settings made by Öhlins are according to
recommended Set-up Data. Read about
adjustments and setting up in the Öhlins
Owner's Manual before you make any
adjustments. Contact an Öhlins dealer if you
have any questions about setting up the shock
absorber.
Recommended set-up
Rebound setting
Track 0-7 clicks
Winding road 5-10 clicks
Street 10-20 clicks
Spring preload adjuster height 35 mm
Shock absorber length 541 mm
Spring
Spec H200, ID65, 60 N/mm


Now I'm no rocket scientist, but I take that ^ to mean that the recommended setting for the Ohlins R&T is -20mm from standard ride height.  But.....both front and rear can be raised +15mm from the recommended (-20mm) setting.  Which would mean a -5mm drop from standard ride height, no?

Close enough for me, if this is the case. 

[pudding]

Yeah I saw that cheers Steven, but from my understanding of it, to get the standard height you'd need to pre-load the spring quite a lot, which isn't good for ride quality....and the spring could potentially go coil bound sooner.   Therefore the best solution is to leave the threaded collars in their default position and go for longer springs.  230mm rear and 200mm front would do it     It adds about £250 to the bill though 

[splashalot]

Yeah I saw that cheers Steven, but from my understanding of it, to get the standard height you'd need to pre-load the spring quite a lot, which isn't good for ride quality....and the spring could potentially go coil bound sooner.   Therefore the best solution is to leave the threaded collars in their default position and go for longer springs.  230mm rear and 200mm front would do it     It adds about £250 to the bill though 

Cheers. 

Bugger - that's just getting too $$$$ for me.  Leaves me with the FSDs....or VWR dampers with new OE springs, if I'm feeling brave 

[pudding]

Yeah I saw that cheers Steven, but from my understanding of it, to get the standard height you'd need to pre-load the spring quite a lot, which isn't good for ride quality....and the spring could potentially go coil bound sooner.   Therefore the best solution is to leave the threaded collars in their default position and go for longer springs.  230mm rear and 200mm front would do it     It adds about £250 to the bill though 

Cheers. 

Bugger - that's just getting too $$$$ for me.  Leaves me with the FSDs....or VWR dampers with new OE springs, if I'm feeling brave 

Kind of feeling like giving up on this as well.  Too many caveats and gotchas to deal with for a daily car.   Apparently these 'cheap' Ohlins (pronounced 'erlins' ??) are made in the far east.  I wonder if that's why they need rebuilding every 30K? 

Not a fan of Koni.  Appalling reliability/quality.  The reputation they had in the 90s for quality is long gone.  They went all cheap on manufacture like everyone else, but still charged the same prices.  Lifetime warranty is handy though, and you will need it!