Ohlins: Road and Track Coilovers - Porsche Experience ?

[wfarrell]

Hi all,

Anybody here got experience of Ohlins Road and Track coilovers on either 996 or 997 ?

These have been out for a couple of years now, and get a lot of praise for their on-road compliance and ride quality from non-porsche users.

Any views from a Porsche point-of-view much appreciated - thanks !


Regards, Will

[Trev450]

I'm sure someone like Neil (forian0) or Steve Rance will have experience of these on a 911, however, as a point of interest, over on the Mitsubishi Evo forum these are rated as among the best available.

Edited to add: I'm assuming that the Road and Track versions are also known as DFV's. This being the case, the Evo guys that have fitted them are without question over the moon with their performance, however, some have stated that they are just a tad soft for outright track use. If you intend to use the car for road and track, however, they could be ideal.

Edited by Trev450 on Tuesday 6th January 13:52

[hondansx]

Ohlins are a top manufacturer, but ultimately it's all in the setup. There are 'cheap' setups from the likes of Gaz that outperform cars in various race series with much fancier suspension because ultimately they have perfect damping rates thanks to extensive R&D.

So, really the important thing is to go to a Porsche specialist who really knows their stuff.

[IMIA]

I'd be interested in hearing about the pros and cons too of Ohlins vs Bilstein B16 on 997/6. Whats the difference between Bilstein 9 and 10 CMoose? I've heard some real horror stories about the damper rods snapping square in half.

[keep it lit]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

The new range of Ohlin DFV are manufactured in the Far East which explains the price. the Ohlin Motorsport TTX range are still made at the Scandanavian factory for a handsome fee.
I recently replaced the KW CS on my 6.1 as they were far to soft for heavy track work. I have replaced them with Nitrons but haven't had chance to run them yet.
My RS came equipped with JRZ's valved for 900/1100lb springs, these are sensational on track, but as you would imagine useless on the road.
The only Bilsteins i've run were the O/E kit which is ok for general road use.
Lastly I have an H&R Cup kit on my dd, very impressed with these at the moment.

[keep it lit]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Indeed this didn't stop me driving to the Ring last July for DN10 in the RS, no air-con & no wind down windows.. lost several kilos each day on track and had to dry out the nomex seat. On the return journey I had to stop on the hard shoulder of the M25 for air in heavy traffic.

edited to add the RS JRZ spring rate of 900/1100 were far to stiff for the Ring.

Edited by keep it lit on Tuesday 6th January 14:30

[LaSource]

keep it lit said:

The new range of Ohlin DFV are manufactured in the Far East which explains the price. the Ohlin Motorsport TTX range are still made at the Scandanavian factory for a handsome fee.
I recently replaced the KW CS on my 6.1 as they were far to soft for heavy track work. I have replaced them with Nitrons but haven't had chance to run them yet.
My RS came equipped with JRZ's valved for 900/1100lb springs, these are sensational on track, but as you would imagine useless on the road.
The only Bilsteins i've run were the O/E kit which is ok for general road use.
Lastly I have an H&R Cup kit on my dd, very impressed with these at the moment.

That's very interesting. Which Nitron kit did you go for? And do you know what spring rates you are running?

On my 6.2GT3 I have the Nitron Race R3 kit with springs: 460/230 front (dual springs) and 800/340 rear

Be good to hear your thoughts once you've had time to use them in anger

[fioran0]

Yeah, the Road and Track range is an aftermarket level product aimed at competing in that segment and should not be confused with the full blown TTX motorsport stuff.

The DFV tech itself is available across the Ohlins range (though on the Motorsport stuff it is available if requested rather than by default. I don't know what uptake is)

I havent driven them, only the motorsport product line so cannot comment on how they are relative to the other options.
My view, and take that for what its worth, is that the Bilsten PSS9/10 was the best option in that particular aftermarket segment based purely on performance. This is especially true with a revalve and custom spring rate if you track your car.
Whether the Ohlins stuff has raised the bar above the Bilstein is the million dollar question. I don't know anyone running them yet that I would trust in terms of relative merits and feedback.

[Harris_I]

fioran0 said:

ns.
My view, and take that for what its worth, is that the Bilsten PSS9/10 was the best option in that particular aftermarket segment based purely on performance. This is especially with a revalve and custom spring rate if you track your car.

My experience of PSS9s on correctly set up geo and tyre pressures is they felt weirdly unresolved and slightly unpredictable - worse in fact than the stock dampers. Not a revalve and custom spring rate, nor have I tried the 10s which I'm told by the owner of the same car (owns a Porsche workshop and runs several Cup cars) seemed to be better.

[fioran0]

Harris_I said:

My experience of PSS9s on correctly set up geo and tyre pressures is they felt weirdly unresolved and slightly unpredictable - worse in fact than the stock dampers. Not a revalve and custom spring rate, nor have I tried the 10s which I'm told by the owner of the same car (owns a Porsche workshop and runs several Cup cars) seemed to be better.

Under what circumstances were you driving? If it was on the track with the speed you normally go I can see that they wouldn't be the most beneficial of things.
I was meaning on the road in a sort of straight up out of the box comparison versus what else is available in that sector.

For serious track work they are about as useless as the the stock stuff thats for sure but a spring rate change and a corresponding re-valve can change that. The ability to do this is a big plus over some of the competitors since it allows one to grow with them if thats what they want.
The ones I have driven have been good but in a relative sense of course. I didnt come away thinking I would run some on my car, nor did I think they were even close to being close but its unfair to judge them in absolute terms based on running something that costs 4 times as much.
Don't get me wrong, anything available from a motorsport quality product would hand them their a$$ but I was trying to restrict comparison to the other options that are in direct competition and that I had driven at the time.

Edited by fioran0 on Tuesday 6th January 16:58

[fioran0]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Indeed.

[Harris_I]

fioran0 said:

If it was on the track with the speed you normally go I can see that they wouldn't be the most beneficial of things.

You're right. This was on track. He was trying to evaluate what would be a reasonable compromise for both road and track.

[wfarrell]

Thanks for the info guys - very interesting and helpful comments !

Spoke to Ohlins today - will meet their guys at Autosport show this weekend. Plan is to get a Road and Track kit manufactured for the late air-cooled cars.

The objective is to install coil-over suspension that offers a compliant ride quality on irregular British tarmac, together with an attractive ride height.

The Ohlins R&T dampers have a good reputation in this regard - good on-road compliance, build quality, at a fairly reasonable price. Nitron etc are excellent but too £steep for my wallet.

My car currently has KW V3 - they are great on smooth continental roads, but basically downright uncomfortable on typical UK tarmac. Especially at low speed with excessive shudder, crashiness etc. I understand from both Jackal and Mario that PSS10 are similar, even with their lower spring rates. Perhaps it's excessive low-speed damping force that's the problem ?

Hopefully Ohlins can produce a kit that works for UK roads - fingers crossed.


Rgds, Will

[parmley]

I have been looking at options (996 C2) and have heard good things about the Ohlins kit.

I have narrowed it down to three options thus far:
M030 (996 sport)
Ohlins
Koni Sports

The Koni Sports appear very uncommon as a 996 upgrade. Though very popular on previous 911's. Koni were OEM on earlier cars also. I'm tempted to go for them and just see what happens. They will no doubt ride better than all mentioned, hopefully a better option than the MO30.

I would feel more confident spending the £2200 on the Ohlins 996 kit if I could passenger in a car fitted with them. Also it would be good to generally hear more from people who have them fitted.

Edited by parmley on Saturday 10th January 16:26

[ATM]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

The 996 I've just bought has the KW clubsport setup. How can I find out what the spring rates are for this?

[s_mcneil]

Had KWV3 on a 996C2 and Ohlins R&T on a 996GT3. Just my opinion but the Ohlins feel far more compliant on the road even with the front stiffer springs.

Edited by s_mcneil on Tuesday 14th February 15:19

[s_mcneil]

996 GT3 part numbers and spring/spec comparisons.

996.2 GT3 PART NUMBER: 996 343 531 95 SPRING RATE: 40N/mm (RS has 45N/mm same rear)
996.2 GT3 PART NUMBER: 996 333 531 95 SPRING RATE: 95N/mm
Height adjustable only

Ohlin DFV Front POS MI10 Front Spring Rate 70N/mm
Ohlin DFV Rear POS MI10 Rear Spring Rate 140N/mm
Height and rebound adjustable

KW V3 Front Spring Rate 40N/mm (230lb/in)
KW V3 Rear Spring Rate 170N/mm (970lb/in)
Height, compression and rebound adjustable

[CarreraLightweightRacing]

Just to clarify, the 996 C2 Ohlins are specced as follows:

Ohlin DFV Front POS MI30 Front Spring Rate 60N/mm Set up height -20mm standard +/- 15mm*
Ohlin DFV Rear POS MI30 Rear Spring Rate 120N/mm Set up height -20mm standard -9.5 / +15mm*

• there is more scope than this as I have setup outside of this range.

Rebound adjustable 0-20Clicks:

-Track 0-7clicks
-Fast road 5-10 Clicks
-Street 10-20 Click

Pre-load 2mm

[Slippydiff]

CarreraLightweightRacing said:

Just to clarify, the 996 C2 Ohlins are specced as follows:

Ohlin DFV Front POS MI30 Front Spring Rate 60N/mm Set up height -20mm standard +/- 15mm*
Ohlin DFV Rear POS MI30 Rear Spring Rate 120N/mm Set up height -20mm standard -9.5 / +15mm*

• there is more scope than this as I have setup outside of this range.

Rebound adjustable 0-20Clicks:

-Track 0-7clicks
-Fast road 5-10 Clicks
-Street 10-20 Click

Pre-load 2mm

Pretty hefty spring rates there R. the fronts are close to double the standard Mk1 996 GT3 items and the rears likewise