You know how much some of these YT'rs make??? ($$$$)

That Engineering guy could easily buy 1 C/or from the top suppliers & have an outside shock Dyno tuner compare the guts (valves, shims, seals, shafts etc) & then do a Dyno shootout showing the characteristics of each (understanding the basics a shock dyno plot is not that diff)

 

There is one more thing no one mentions and that is the choice of springs.
You can not talk about ride comfort and at the same time run double OE spring rate, lowered car and somewhat smaller bump travel.

To touch on the OP initial question, Ohlins is amazingly comfortable for what it is (relatively stiffly sprung coilover) but under 20-30 mph you can feel the spring stiffness if your roads have potholes and are not smooth. At some speed it deals with bad surfaces quite well even though it doesnt have too much travel. On the other hand, if you drive on track a lot, Ohlins spring rates are on the softer side of what you need... One thing is certain, it is much better than stock damper with lowering spring, and really is the next step from stock bilsteins.. AST is another good option, especially if you do not want to go too low... as they have lots of travel..

On the other had I have had the pleasure of driving with some high spec rally dampers made for bumpy tarmac and mix tarmac/gravel, and those run stock-ish MR spring rates (so quite soft really), but still provide surprising body control, incredible turn in and can do so while you do 100 mph on potholes... Oh yeah, they cost 4x as much as ohlins..

 

there is also machining/build quality, materials quality, engineering quality, serviceability, availability of parts, manufacturer support, warranty. I don't think a shock dyno would necessarily tell you any of those things. You might have brand new shocks that perform a certain way but then you put 10k miles on them and not so much the case anymore. Different qualities will be important to you based on your use case as well. IMO the best kind of info is from people who have experience with the product your looking at and are using it like you plan to use it.

 

Most shock dyno plots shared online are peak velocity plots. Those plots only tell a small part of the story. It's a bit like looking at a 4th gear engine dyno when you really want to know about the turbo transient response from 5000RPM tip-in in 2nd gear on an autocross course. In both cases you can get a general idea from the graphs, but the real-world transient performance can still range from great to terrible for a given dyno plot.

Continuous shock velocity plots can show more of the picture, including hysteresis. When you look at a simplified peak velocity plot you're only seeing just that: The peak damping force for a given velocity. In the real-world, the damping force for a given velocity will be different if the shock is accelerating or decelerating, for example. Bad shocks might have a great-looking peak velocity plot, but in real world transient conditions the low-speed damping might be all over the place due to hysteresis.

KevinD posted some interesting shock data collection a few years ago: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/mo...ta-thread.html One of the most interesting graphs in that post is the histogram of shock velocities in a straight line. The x-axis on that chart is from -0.2 to 0.2 in/sec, but it looks like most of the activity is constrained to +/- 0.1 in/sec or less. Now compare that to the x-axis of a typical shock PVP dyno plot, which commonly ranges from 0 to 10.0 in/sec. The straight-line shock velocities rarely exceed the first 1% of the shock dyno plot. I think the PVP shock dynos are useful for seeing how the car will settle in big transitions and how it will absorb big bumps, but to be honest I don't actually know how well that correlates to what people are talking about when they say "ride quality".

 

^^^Well said

Ive been YT'ng a bit & learning a bit about shock dynos & all the diff parameters that can be measured.

Even our popular Fort Auto guys have a beginners guide on CVP vs PVP here: https://fortune-auto.com/shock-dyno-basics/

The " brand X coilover is so much better than Y coilover" just doesnt do a lot for me anymore

 

You have to call/email them for a quote. Their website lists retail pricing and doesn't reflect the discount they put on quotes.

Revelves aren't "free" exactly. They give you less of a discount on the coilovers if you want them revalved. Still ends up less than retail price though.

Because I've driven Evo's with 10 different coilovers on them on the same roads multiple times, for the price Ohlins c a n n o t be beaten. Dyno plots don't tell you a whole lot, especially so when most people don't know what they're looking.

I've never driven anything that makes potholes feel smooth at 25mph that wasn't my offroad truck.

Having driven two Evo's with Fortune auto's, two Evo's with Ohlins and knowing two guys that went from FA to Ohlins- I can matter of factly say that Ohlin's do a better job.

My statements on Ohlins being the best option for the money is not anecdotal "I bought these coilovers (and have never driven anything else) and they're the ****ing best. I've driven brand O, X, Y, and Z; on track, on good roads, on bad roads, on twisty back roads, you name it. Brand Ohlins is where its at for $2k.

 

I was thinking of ordering the Ohlins combo from Vorschlag with the camber/caster plates, but then I'm reading that will move the wheels and possibly add to the already catastrophic rubbing/lock I'll be dealing with on 285s. This means I could then use the whiteline caster correction kit to recenter the wheels in the wells a bit, is that correct? That's like $700 for some caster. Hooo boy this messageboard and this ******* car, I swear.

Right now on 8/9k KW V3s, if I dial in stiffer settings the car gets pretty scary, bouncy and nervous on faster sweeping turns. Stock sway bar I think. Car is like 80% daily 15% autocross 5% track, so I'm probably sticking to no more than 8/10k.

 

Going the other way, I have PSRS and Vorshlag plates. The plates made hardly any difference in how far forward my wheel is. A few mm at the camber plate translates to very little movement of the wheel. I rub a LOT on the front fender liners with a 255 tire on a +18 wheel. It's really bad. I can't imagine the plates causing much problem by themselves, but I really don't now your clearances. Are you that close to rubbing stuff? Adding offset bushings to the control arm will absolutely correct movement from the plates, and then some.

As for your V3s, it just sounds like you could use some tuning. Without knowing the details, maybe more rebound damping?

 

Depending a bit on some of the variable, but the wheel moves about 1:3 with the top hat off the top of my head. Will have to double check my CAD to verify the spacing from ball joint to hub and hub to strut top. So my caster plates for the ohilins moving the top back 20mm will give about 1.65deg caster and move the wheel back about 7mm. That can be a lot of you are already rubbing or close to it.

The offset bushing in the control arm is great for pushing the wheel forward and adding another ~1-1.5deg of caster depending whos version you have but the major downside is the added stiction you get in the inner control arm bushing as it binds against the bolt. If the goal is to leave that bushing normal rubber or urethane and not a spherical, then I would actually leave the strut top and control arm offset bushing out of it. The stiction is just to high.

 

So you would rather do neither?

FWIW, I want to say my caster is really high.. like 7* or more.

 

Ok, pothole might be a bit of a strong word.. But on our broken up tarmac and crossing over the tram rails in the city the car does shake you up a bit up to 20-25 mph... I might be too old for that on a daily bassis..

Agree on that 100%. I have installed and used Ohlins on two evo X's, evo 9, and a GTR and for the money it is a great all round combo.

 

Your post seems to tip me over to finally switch from OEMs to Ohlins. The fastest grocery getter in town Hopefully I don't crack any eggs on the way back ;p

 

'Cos those would be eggspensive lol

 

Ohlins hands down. Mine has over 80 000 miles in them, they are working - looking perfect. Also the ride quality is just as good as the stock.

If You have unlimited budget, then Reiger Group N Rally Tarmac spec suspension. Nothing beats it.
Otherwise Öhlins R&T DFV
https://www.ohlinsusa.com/parts/2007...6qjGkioEcKm-en

 

Thanks for another data point!! The Ohlins R&T arrived a couple of weeks ago. Getting the garage primed to do the job. Replacing CHRA on the GT3071R + replacing the TiAL waste gate. Setup has already clocked 190k miles and its time for a refresh ;0 .. Timing belt and water pump may be something I might sneak in as I do the job.