Ohlins supposedly available for 986 / 987 in May

[Slippydiff]

Rocket. said:

Gents, relax, I was merely informing those interested of my choice for spring rates based on some assumptions and hopefully some expert advice.

Also the fact that these have finally made it to market, time will tell if I should have gone tried and tested, if not it won't be the first time I've jumped in early on a new product/modification and had to rethink but for me it's part of the fun, it's a project car so it won't all be great out of the box.

I'll do my best at giving a honest subjective non biased view when it's done as will others who try it I'm sure, hopefully it'll be worth it, if not you can say I told you so

Hope it's going/gone alright for you today Charlie. There seem to be very mixed reviews about the R&T Ohlins on P9, but one wonders whether that's just the Yanks being Yanks, or whether they've fitted them wrong/used the highest rate springs possible.

FWIW, the Ohlins 3 ways I used on the Mk1 GT3 utilised the softest springs I could get away with (both front and rear were linear and as close to the standard rates as we could get). They were superb on the road (albeit a little choppy until warmed up). They subsequently went on a 3.9 450hp Mk1 GT3, the new owner described them as "perfect for the road".

The new owner also ventured on track with them (and I experienced them from the passenger seat), I knew they were they good, but the way the car rode the kerbs at Oulton had to be felt to be believed. Even running slicks, the softly sprung Ohlins weren't out of their depth, though the owner of the car said the rear felt a little soft. I was adamant that tweaking the rear dampers (a slight increase in compression damping) would have cured the issue, but the owner stated he knew and understood what the car was doing and was happy to live with the slight compromise.

The huge spring rates the Yanks run on their trackday GT3's never cease to amaze me. The racer I bought the Ohlins off told me to "always run the softest spring you can get away with, and with decent dampers you'll be able to". "With good dampers you CAN prop the car up with the dampers and tweak the handling characteristics further with the anti-roll bars and geo."

I'm sure Iwan Evans :

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?h=...

can explain what is required when it comes to spring rates and the necessary damping .

[Rocket.]

Slippydiff said:

Hope it's going/gone alright for you today Charlie. There seem to be very mixed reviews about the R&T Ohlins on P9, but one wonders whether that's just the Yanks being Yanks, or whether they've fitted them wrong/used the highest rate springs possible.

FWIW, the Ohlins 3 ways I used on the Mk1 GT3 utilised the softest springs I could get away with (both front and rear were linear and as close to the standard rates as we could get). They were superb on the road (albeit a little choppy until warmed up). They subsequently went on a 3.9 450hp Mk1 GT3, the new owner described them as "perfect for the road".

The new owner also ventured on track with them (and I experienced them from the passenger seat), I knew they were they good, but the way the car rode the kerbs at Oulton had to be felt to be believed. Even running slicks, the softly sprung Ohlins weren't out of their depth, though the owner of the car said the rear felt a little soft. I was adamant that tweaking the rear dampers (a slight increase in compression damping) would have cured the issue, but the owner stated he knew and understood what the car was doing and was happy to live with the slight compromise.

The huge spring rates the Yanks run on their trackday GT3's never cease to amaze me. The racer I bought the Ohlins off told me to "always run the softest spring you can get away with, and with decent dampers you'll be able to". "With good dampers you CAN prop the car up with the dampers and tweak the handling characteristics further with the anti-roll bars and geo."

I'm sure Iwan Evans :

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?h=...

can explain what is required when it comes to spring rates and the necessary damping .

Thanks Henry, yes I've been reading a little on Planet 9 also and some mixed reviews for sure, some of which I think is due to installers as much as anything else, hopefully with GC doing mine I won't have those issues at least.

My last car (SC Honda'd Elise) came with a set of Nitron 2 way adjustables which were pretty stiff and lots of adjustment for damping and I hardly tinkered with those at all, truth is suspension and it's make up is still a bit over my head but I'm learning, I do not expect this car to be perfect straight away as I've had to compromise a little on ARB's and other parts mainly due to cost but it will be fun to evolve it and learn.

Interesting about the softer springs as I had thought the opposite tbh with a better damper you could run stiffer spring and get away with it, and less ARB's. My old LCC Rocket had no ARB's at all and bespoke Bilsteins but it only weighed in at 400kilos, it was amazing over bumpy roads but rolled a fair bit on track, always compromises I guess but the other way round would have rendered it useless on the road.

Will be interesting to see what you and J make of it when it's done and you've had a go as it's so long since driving any other pork I don't have much of a benchmark.

[Rocket.]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Yep me too, roll on Saturday. The other upside to this is it might start to resemble a sports car as opposed to a Cayman allroad, no doubt i'll then be moaning shortly about my bad back having to get in and out of it being 20mm lower.

[ATM]

I thought these 2. whatever inch springs are relatively cheap for coil overs so you can switch easily and cheaply IF you can do it yourself.

[Slippydiff]

Rocket. said:

Yep me too, roll on Saturday. The other upside to this is it might start to resemble a sports car as opposed to a Cayman allroad, no doubt i'll then be moaning shortly about my bad back having to get in and out of it being 20mm lower.

Said in jest, but as they "many a true word spoken ....."
To get the seating position right (ie not make my back ache) on the R, I removed the drivers seat base cushion, and along with the lowered side mounts, it's a long way down when you're trying to get up out of those buckets.....

[Rocket.]

From this



To this



2nd pic looks a bit stretched after I reduced size but you get the idea... Proper write up to follow, but in brief ride height 4-6mm lower than R spec but 10mm higher than Ohlins recommend! (clears speed bumps no problem) dampers 12 clicks from full firm on front and 10 clicks on rear, I think for 'B' road it needs to be less and will try tomorrow, it's firm but not uncomfortable, deflects bumps well and very planted, has the feel of a Porsche GT product now as opposed to out of the box standard set up, early signs are very encouraging but needs some adjustment.

Edited by Rocket. on Saturday 1st July 22:25

[Slippydiff]

Rocket. said:

From this



To this



2nd pic looks a bit stretched after I reduced size but you get the idea... Proper write up to follow, but in brief ride height 4-6mm lower than R spec but 10mm higher than Ohlins recommend! (clears speed bumps no problem) dampers 12 clicks from full firm on front and 10 clicks on rear, I think for 'B' road it needs to be less and will try tomorrow, it's firm but not uncomfortable, deflects bumps well and very planted, has the feel of a Porsche GT product now as opposed to out of the box standard set up, early signs are very encouraging but needs some adjustment.

Looks good Charlie. I really liked the R's ride heigh. So 4-6mm lower (which is nowt) looks good and should still leave you with plenty of travel.
Interesting Ohlins specifies lower ride heights still ... No wonder the US guys are running into "issues" ,,,,,,

[Rocket.]

Cheers Henry, just reduced the dampers another 4 clicks and had a 'proper' drive on roads I know well with a real mixed bag of crests, mid corner bumps, compressions etc. All I can say is the Ohlins are the real deal, the 4 clicks off allowed he car to really flow, the rebound stroke on these DFV dampers is impressive and very well judged, the faster you go the better it seems to get.

The Ohlins manual says 20 clicks available from full firm, and suggest track 2-7, Winding road 5-10, Street 10-20, I'm currently on front 16 and rear 14, next time out I'll add 2 clicks back on, spring rates seem about right, glad GC suggested the lower front spring rate.

[Rocket.]

Quick update for those interested in how the Ohlins can also perform on track. Went to Snetterton today and started off with the dampers set to 6 clicks from full hard on front and 4 on rear, im still running PS2's, regular Cayman S ARB's and about -1.2 camber front and -1.53 rear, and 7mm spacers on front only, so not optimised for track, but in theory for 3 tracks days a year I'd hoped it would work. It did, the PS2's took a bit of a hammering on the outside edge as expected but the car was nicely balanced and had half decent grip but also could be 4 wheel drifted quite happily, not too much roll, also the inside rear occasionally span up a little (no lsd) but not so much that it affected the car too much and for the most part traction out of corners was decent.

On the to do list however is a stiffer engine mount and decent brake pads, EBC yellows do not work on this car and I could feel the engine moving a bit too much. Would also be nice if the ESP could be switched off completely and a LSD at some point but so far the Ohlins are a win / win and really do work on road and track.

Edited by Rocket. on Tuesday 25th July 22:08

[edc]

Ohlins Road and Track for 987 and seemingly 986 are out now. No top mounts or springs included. About £2.2k.