The awesome day has finally come where I can now start modding my Evo9 and figured I'd start with the suspension and power mods first, leaving the exterior mods for afterwards.

This pretty well known shop that I'm going to for the suspension upgrades is very set on me getting the Ohlins Coilovers over the Bilstein HD & Swift Sport combo set up. I'm not too familiar with Ohlins nor have I heard or seen anyone use them on an Evo before so I can't get any input or reviews about them.

Has anyone used/familiar with them that could provide some insight for me? Or even suggest a better set up?

Thanks and I appreciate all the help
-Rocco

 

First question. What are your plans for the car?

 

AFAIK they are quite expensive...that could be the reason your shop is encouraging you to get them.

Also, I see you live in socal so stiffness and such shouldn't be an issue but if you're going for very high end coilovers then you better be at least tracking your car to an extent, or else you're better of saving money and getting something not as expensive and all round good performing and saving the money for other stuff!

 

Yea that's why I'm not sure about them mainly b/c they're expensive as hell, there about $3,200 out the box and come disassembled so they charge a bit to put them together as well as installing them (that I'm fine with).

This is my DD for the time being so I want it to be like a weekend warrior, I don't do autoX but maybe I'll track it a couple times a year. The main thing for the suspension is lowering it a bit, definitely nowhere near being slammed, but also keeping the performance of it so it still controls and rides great. I'll probably be putting a lot more into the power mods and really getting the most out of the stock turbo.

 

IMO you don't need something like Ohlins. I would go with either GTWorx or Swift R's. I have the Bilstein/GTWorx on my car and the ride is great, its also still capable of getting around a track very quickly with this set-up.

 

get springs. the shop just wants to make money off you. no daily driver needs a $3200 suspension setup

 

Oh my...shop wants to make a killing off of you. They either are ripping you off or don't have a clue about suspensions. Go with your gut here and a different shop.

 

^^ This. Get some good springs (Swift R's or GTWorx) and the bilstien HD struts. You get a reasonable lowering of the car, good ride quality and solid handling. Add an adjustable rear bar and you have a very nice setup.

You can spend a lot more but this setup (around $1300-$1400 for all of it new including the sway) is a huge bang for the buck performance point.

 

So glad I asked all of you and yeah my gut from the beginning was just to go with the Bilsteins HD & Swift Sport combo (is there any big difference between the Swift Sport an Spec-R?) I too found it ridiculous that me being a DD an maybe just maybe tracking it once or twice a year and they offer me that, IMO I didn't think the Ohlins are in any way necessary for me or for what I'm going for and spending $3200 just to buy them, not including assembly and installing them, seems like a big waste to me.

I live in the SoCal LA area and for those of you that live near me, where would/do you go to get suspension work done on your car?

Also, thanks for all of your input, just another reason why I'm glad to be a member of EvoM and you guys say it like it is, I truly think that shop was trying to pull a fast one on me and I'm not down with that.

 

you can go to robispec to get your suspension work done. his shop isn't exactly that close to LA, but it's not that bad. it's in hesperia

 

Stick w/the shop youre at. He's your best bet in So.Cal

As noted, the Ohlins maybe more suspension than you need based on the fact you have not even tracked your EVO yet

The shop youre at is a Swift Spring dealer, so maybe that would be best to start off with

My .02 / Joe

 

get spec R's

the only difference between sports and spec r's is that the spec r's are a bit stiffer

make sure you get the MR variant of the springs, they have different rates than the GSR's

 

Its kind of sad the "best" shop in So.Cal can't recommend parts based on customer needs, and not what they want to sell him!

 

Devils advocate here.
If you are planning to track the car in the future you won't regret buying the Ohlins now. And only spending the money once.
That said. With the 8/10K springs the Ohlins provided a much nicer ride on the street than my OE bilstien setup.

It only hurt when I paid.....never looked back.

 

If this is that "best shop" that requires a non-disclosure waiver...then its the same one that doesn't have a clue. Run, not walk, away.

And I 100% disagree from an instructor standpoint about going to a $3000 suspension before learning the car and how to drive it to 11/10ths. You shouldn't be touching it if you really want to learn how to drive.

If you want to spend money to impress friends and show off to the local lappers...well...carry on.