that is right Andrew
;0
you cant compare the V3 's to the Ohlins .
I honestly believe Ohlins and the AST is the two best coils out there today in the states.
One thing is the AST is not as good as the ohlins, but doesn't cost as much either. I think well worth the money for the AST over the KW.
Rob


ps: you make me feel comfortable, before i though, i was lost when some one told me the Ohlins from Japan... i was what ? i thought Swedish ....
The best coils all ways come from Eu, and guess what why? == RALLY== the best testing and proving ground hands down, nothing compares to that sport for experimenting and developing for cars

i had to say it.

 

Stock for stock I would say that Ohlins likely is better.

That said, the advantage of the Robi Spec's coilovers is that he does a ton of testing with the KWs and mates them with his sway and other parts. This is one of the few setups proven to be faster than the already very good stock suspension. I think that is worth thinking about. His KWs are also cheaper and he will usually be traveling around some where close to where you live and install them himself with alignment, corner balance, and install his entire suspension setup.

The good news is that Robi also works with ASTs so you can have him set those up as well (although he seem to prefer the twin tube for race conditions). Also, GTWorx also works with all three mentioned here (KWs, ASTs and Ohlins) so could guide you as well.

I have run Robi's KW Clubsports on a X against Ohlins on a X and it was very very close.

 

have you looked into the Muellerized Suspension setups? They make custom spec and valved Ohlins Road & Track Coilovers and with there sway bar set up should make a pretty sweet setup. I really do think im going to go this route when im going to make the switch to coilovers. I have also been playing around with the AST 5100 or 5200, I had AST 4100 custom spec by TiC on my STi and i LOVED them. DD+Tracking they were always spot on so those are not out of the question.


AST:
http://www.worksevo.com/store/produc...roducts_id=627

Muellerized:
http://www.muellerized.com/products_evox.html

Matt

 

It's important to clarify when/if the vendor is using custom spring rates AND custom valving. "Customized" coilovers may just mean they are using they're own spring rates and that's it.

I've even seen shops (not in the EVO market so far, BMW actually) say their shocks use custom valving, but what they meant was they turned the knob to a certain click and that's it. And put a sticker on the shock.

Not saying that custom valving is always necessary....the standard Ohlins valving for example is actually awesome and I might prefer it over other's "improvements"

With regards to Robi's KWs, those are definitely custom valved and definitely an improvement over the standard KW. No question there. TIC's AST for Impreza were custom valved and custom sprung....and really really nice too.

Just wanted people to be aware of what they are getting and to clarify from vendors what makes their shocks special. I don't like secret sauce, I want to know whats in it.

- Andrew

 

InSlowOutFast,

Please see a short piece of the message I was referring to.

I did do a lot of research, a heck of a lot. I wasn't guessing why the shock needed a rebuild as you suggest. The coil over didn't have a dust shield and it needed a rebuild as a direct result. I was un-aware the Ohlin's had been replaced by a new version with dust shields. That is fantastic and I will most likely choose Ohlins now, they seem to be the better quality coil over although somewhat more expensive. I consider that information valuable for people researching themselves, and bringing up the fact that they have been replaced with a newer version that has dust shields is a good thing. After all we are here to share and learn. And Ohlins now has at least one extra customer for it.

Andrew thanks for the information

 

Wish I could afford either of these setups

 

I've had the Ohlins DFV coilovers (10k front/10k rear) since Jan and they've been a night and day difference compared to my previous BC Racing coilovers. I've tracked my X about 4-5 times at Fontana auto speedway on my old BC coilovers and last month on my new Ohlins. The Ohlins are soo worth the $$ if you can save up for it, these coilovers are great for DD and the track!

 

With your statement that the use is "mainly for SoCal tracks" I'll assume that this is a car that'll spend 80% or more of it's time on a track versus the streets. I'll also assume that you're an experienced driver with a bunch of track time under your belt and using my 1-10 scale (1 being commuter and 10 being professional racer) you're between 7 and 10. If so, then I'd consider saving up more money for a more race oriented set up like Motons or something else on that level.


If my assumptions above are correct then please stop reading my post right now.


However, if my assumptions above are incorrect, then the following may apply. I may not be the best person to answer your question as my X has stock suspension (good enough for my low driving skill level) but I thought I might be of some help in your decision making process regardless. Here are some points to consider:

1) What is your driving skill level on a scale of 1 - 10 (1 being commuter and 10 being professional racer)? Hint, if you're not in the 7 - 10 level, you probably won't be able to tell the difference between the 2 set ups you're considering.

2) Is this a track only car? If not, what is the percentage split between track vs. daily driving? If you're only doing 6 - 12 track days a year and not racing, I'd go with the cheaper set up and spend the rest of the money on driving schools and tires.

Just my (almost) worthless $0.02...

Cheers...

 

This section of your post caught my eye and I don't think you are correct about it! I have had a pretty good setup on the car (2G DSM with triple adjustable Penske shocks) which was working pretty good for several years - basically proven setup capable of wining National Championship in Solo2 (aka autoX). A co-driver was added to the equation, which was just an average guy with OK skills, but nothing special at that time - more experienced novice! With a chance to drive a pretty well setup car, he was able to get pretty close to the times of the car owner (my setup was moved to the other car) who is pretty fast and on a good day could win the jacket. If he (younger driver) was not running good setup he would not be able to improve as much as he did in such a short time. The point being here is that even drivers that are not that good could have benefits form the good setup they have. They might not understand what is going on with it, but they would definitely see the difference!

Fedja

 

Fedja,

With all due respect and no intent to be condecending, I think you're missing the point entirely. My response was to the OP's question as to whether or not the Ohlin's are worth the extra cost. They're both very good set ups and if you're not a very good driver, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. It's like asking the Average Joe if he can tell the difference between an Ardbeg Uigeadail and the Airigh Nam Beist. Both excellent single malts but only a true connoisseur could tell you which is better.

If the OP had asked for a comparison of the stock suspension versus either the Ohlins or the KWs (assuming they were properly set up and sprung), then my response would have been similar to what you typed above.

Cheers.

 

No problem at all! I just wanted to point out that an really average driver excels when got a chance to drive a car with a great setup. I bet you in anything that he would take as long as others are taking if he was driving a car with average suspension instead of top of the line setup. So, I still don't think he didn't know why he was that fast that soon, I do think that it played a very important rule in his driving improvements and results!

So, what I was trying to say, get the best setup you could afford at that time and make sure you have someone who knows what is going on to set it up and just leave it at that until driver can figure out what is actually going on in there (in a year or two at least). The worst thing that could happen otherwise is that driver gets bitten by the modify-bug and keeps playing with settings at every event or even worse for every run he/she takes.

Of course if driver is not inclined to go even semi serious about racing and it would mostly do daily driving activities, simpler/cheaper setup is definitely a way to go!

Fedja

 

Just wondering.do they make noise after like a year a or so?If daily drive the most(the KW and the Ohlins)

 

I'm still in the 'research' phase but strongly leaning (pun?) towards the Ohlins.
Here is a video I found today worth sharing, not sure if it's a repost, apologize if it is!

X MR with the new R&T setup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1DH6ZJNSMI

 

nice video! keep it going...

 

Have Robis clubsports. Had them on the car for almost 3 winters, no noise at all.