vandersmith

I know this has been asked many times before, just looking for a fresh 2015 poll now that a lot of owners have had them for a few years. I've read all of the reviews here and still can't decide. I'd like to hear from some of you in similar situations that use this as a second car and get out to at least 5 PCA or other track sessions in Group A or B.

For C4S Owners, I've collected the best prices I could find:

PSS10s for $3000
Adjustment:
Height - Yes
Damping - Yes/No - Adjustable presets with Rebound
Rebound - Yes/No - Adjustable presets with Dampening

Spring Rates:
Front: 260 lbs
Rear: 540 lbs

Pros:
Proven for many street applications.
High quality struts
Lowest Spring Rates - Street

Cons:
Lowest Spring Rates - Track

KW V3s for $3300

Adjustment:
Height - Yes
Damping - Yes - individually
Rebound - Yes - individually

Spring Rates:
Front: 230 lbs/Progressive
Rear: 630 lbs

Pros:
Complete adjustability
High Spring Rates - Track

Cons:
High Spring Rates - street

Ohlins DFV for $3500

Spring Rates:
Front: 400 lbs
Rear: 686 lbs

Adjustment:
Height - Yes
Damping - No
Rebound - Yes

Pros:
Dual Flow Valving - Arguably the best shocks out of the group

Cons:
Non-adjustable compression damping - DFV is preset with rebound

Thanks all for your input!

robbieracer

Contact Leo at Vivid Racing, he'll give you a great price on Ohlins. He quoted me about a month ago and it's a lot less than you listed.

vandersmith

Just left him my number.

I'm really leaning towards the Ohlins. The spring rates do not appear to be high enough without rebuilding on the others. Ohlins can handle 30% more before revalving however higher rate springs direct won't be available until later this summer. Revalving is $120 a corner if needed. Contacting Eibach direct might be able to provide higher rate springs faster/for less.

Hardback

Ohlins. No 996 experience but installed on my Ducati and Aprilia. Wish they were available when I did coil overs. My 4S has H&R with tarret camber plates. What use is priority? Track or street?

robbieracer

I just purchased the Ohlins, can't wait to get them installed before my next DE session. I did an DE on Friday and want to be able to stiffen it up a bit.
Turns out Leo is no longer with Vivid Racing, but spoke to Sean on the phone and he honored the great price that Leo gave me 2 months ago.

white out

At that price point, Ohlins.

Loved them on my STi.

vandersmith

Went with a set of KW V3s. You might have seen these on eBay with unmarked numbers. I called the owner and KW - they were valved and sprung for the C4S. Got lucky.

Final Suspension Setup:
PowerFlex Bushings - All front and rear bushings
KW V3s
Tarret Monoballs
Eibach Sway Bars
Custom Endlinks
Torque Solutions Dogbones
Torque Solutions Toe Links

Track videos and reviews coming soon.

alpine003

It's interesting that KW's remote reservoir are welded on directly instead of having a line. Wonder if cost savings on their behalf factored into it.

Did you go with the old or new version of the Eibach sway bars?

Also no engine mounts?

vandersmith

I think they do this purposely for autocross. Remote reservoirs are not allowed in certain classes.

I wasn't aware there was a difference between the Eibachs. Just ordered the front and rear set. They were noticeably thicker and stronger than stock.

Engine mounts were a vast improvement. I went with Function Firsts in red. My old ones were cracked causing rough idle and from looking at the rear, both exhausts were hanging about an inch too low. New mounts solved both.

alpine003

Interesting about the autox. Does this apply to SCCA?

Older Eibachs were smaller and non adjustable. See if your bars have multiple holes on the ends to see if it's the newer ones.

Oooh...you got the high hp versions which are the racing red TypeRAMGSMGTRGT3RSR versions.

vandersmith

I'm don't think this matters in most SCCA qualification groups except for Touring- The production classes and GT classes are fairly open, focus on safety first with few restrictions. Touring and Stock would matter as its almost a spec class in that it limits mods across all car brands.

The Eibachs are adjustable. There are 3 endlink points (firm, neutral, soft). The H&Rs have 5 and are also about twice the price.

LOL on the engine mounts. You can pick any color, I'm partial to red racing thingies