NEW Öhlins coilovers

[the bruce]

 

A forum mate is running the Road & Track coilovers on his Octavia RS for a few weeks now.
From what I remember he paid about 3000 €. I will try to get some report from him.

[fuscobal]

I'd really like to hear his opinion on them and a comparison if he had other coild on the car before !

[the bruce]

A forum mate is running the Road & Track coilovers on his Octavia RS for a few weeks now.
From what I remember he paid about 3000 €. I will try to get some report from him.

I'll try to translate his reply:

"Handling is awesome, adjustability is quite easy, damping currently is adjusted -10 + -15 klicks
from 20.
It feels reasonably stiffer compared to both stock and KW V1. Consider I'm running 19" wheels.
However, dampers seem show a smooth response on quick/hard imperfections. I'm going to
try a softer damper setting this weekend and see how it feels.

The R&T variant in my Octavia RS is the same as in the Golf with 70 N/mm and 60 N/mm spring
rates. With the current lowering by 40 mm, there is very little pre load. For this reason Öhlins
will supply helper springs and retrofit them to my car with no additional charge."
 

He had KW V1 coilovers before, some suspension tweaks like Whiteline ALK, TT strut mounts,
sway bars, Yokohama AD08 tyres and Wavetrac LSD.

[fuscobal]

I was hoping for a track review...if he spend those money, I suppose he doesn't only drive on the streets :)

[vRSAlex]

I fitted some a couple of months back.  Best coilovers I've ever used.

[fuscobal]

What else have you used and can you be more specific about the differences ?

[vRSAlex]

Used basically everything on many different cars.  All the bilsteins (not clubsports), all kw, Ast, nitron, eibach and a few others.

The Ohlins just absorb all the bumps with ease with the dual valve setup, but are perfectly stiff in the corners.

I'm hoping my customer comes on and gives some feedback.

[Bernhard30]

Used basically everything on many different cars.  All the bilsteins (not clubsports), all kw, Ast, nitron, eibach and a few others.

The Ohlins just absorb all the bumps with ease with the dual valve setup, but are perfectly stiff in the corners.

I'm hoping my customer comes on and gives some feedback.

Only took me three weeks to notice this. The customer that Alex (AKS) fitted Ohlins RT coilovers for was me.

Not got any experience myself of other coilovers on my Ed30. I went from standard suspension which I found too crashy over bumps.
To a Bilstein B12 set up. Firstly with the supplied H&R springs and then got them changed to Eibach sportline springs with the Bilstein dampers.
While the B12 handled much better than stock I personally felt the car was still too stiff for UK roads. Might just be me getting old!!
The car just bounced across every road imperfection and for me it was getting to the thought of nearly changing the car.
I didn't want a Citroen ride quality. But just wanted the car to feel 'damped' and not feel every inch of the road in a jarring vertical jolt up through the car.
From doing much research and after a very informative chat with Chris Witter (at the time head of Ohlins UK) I ended up ordering their 4x damper package in Feb '13 from GNJ Motorsport on here.
After a few weeks we were told that the 4x damper package ordered for the Mk5 Golf had been discontinued. But by way of a goodwill gesture was offered a good deal on the new coilover set up. So decided to take that option.
Now spending £2400 on coilovers and fitting them to a 2007 Ed30 is probably madness and not for everyone.
But for me pound for pound it's been the best mod ever done on my car. And cheaper than a new car.
The ride quality is now just what I wanted/searched/hoped for.
The whole car has been transformed (we also did further mods to optimise the Ohlins - Supapro bushes/adjustable ball joints etc etc).
But for UK roads with the car set on 15 clicks all road. 5 from the softest setting. It's very stable and lumps and bumps are just dealt with without massive jolts up through the car.
So you end up not noticing the extra speed the car easily builds/carries on bumpy roads.
The DFV dual flow valving makes the damper effectively 'surf' off bumps and it really works.
Expensive but truly exceptional.
Will post up a full review when I get more time.
But as a quick summary...my best ever mod.
And sometime fully intend to track the car as well to try the new diff/Ohlins together.

So even though this Road & Track Ohlins set up is the cheapest product they make. It's still a quality product and most definitely uses their suspension expertise.
Can you tell I'm pleased with this suspension???

[fuscobal]

Thanks for the review..if you ever to track the car please share with us again :) What do you mean by "to try the new diff/Ohlins together" ?

[Bernhard30]

Thanks for the review..if you ever to track the car please share with us again :) What do you mean by "to try the new diff/Ohlins together" ?

While it was in getting the Ohlins fitted at AKS. Took Alex's advice and had a Peloquin High Torque lsd installed to my Golf.
Uprated clutch and new dmf too. The car had quite an update. The results are simply superb on road.
Hence I want to see how the diff/Ohlins work on track sometime when damper stiffness is raised.

[fuscobal]

Cool, I have a Peloquin too but for suspension I'm using a Bilstein B16. Since the car is mostly for track use I'm still trying to convince myself if it's worth the upgrade from an already very good coilover to a linear spring suspension like Ohlins or Bilstein Clubsport !

[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.

[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.




 

[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.

[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.