peteb3

Coilovers installed
Playing with height settings and letting it settle a bit prior to alignment

5CHN3LL

This thread:

jetskied

Hi I don't check in often so sorry. To answer the question is that I run the car probably more track than most people would. I run the car with NT01 on 18". My street tires are Hankook and on 19. I would describe the ride as firm. The sharpness is mostly in big bumps the smaller ones don't affect it as much, but you'll still feel them slightly more than the M030. As far as the turbo vs the C4S weight should not be a factor as the rear springs are awfully stiff on this system so I doubt there would be much difference.

jetskied

FWIW I set the system at 10 from full stiff at the front and 7 from full on the rear. The height I use is about 30mm lower than factory height. My car is a 996.1 C2.

robbieracer

I just received my Ohlins on Tuesday, so on Monday I removed all my old suspension to get ready for my new coilovers. This is what I received, one 997 rear, one 996 turbo front and possible one correct front & rear for my C2. Unfortunately, Ohlins doesn't have any more 996's in the states so they needed to order from Sweden and they won't receive them in N. Carolina till next Tuesday... Now my car sits on jackstands.... Not happy, since I have a autocross on the 11th and track day on the 17th.

robbieracer

What is the distance from the fender to the ground? I believe they come from the factory at 20mm lower than stock. I'd like you use your reference as I want it sitting approx. 25.25" - 25.5". My stock height is 26" and I don't want it too low so I can still get my jack & puck under the car to lift it up and also avoid some speed bumps...

Also, have you looked into the camber for your alignment? I was thinking a GT3 alignment, -1 front & -1.5 rear.

alpine003

Are you serious? You ordered a complete "996" set and this is what they piece mealed and sent to you?

robbieracer

They were very apologetic and said they didn't look in the box, only looked at the outside label. I noticed the tape was already cut before I opened the box, but didn't think too much about it until I saw they were different. He thought they were used for a product display show and had the various models in a same box, but they didn't label the box and was put back on the shelf...

alpine003

That would make the most sense but still shouldn't have been put back on the shelf for sale. Hope you don't have to wait too long.

Spyerx

Just a point... I've had these on my 997 GT3RS for over a year and they are really good dampers - especially for the $, and much better than the OEM coil overs. I have much stiffer springs, 700 rear and 600 front with tenders. I think I had one of the first 997 kits in the US, which my shop worked with Ohlins to put together along with custom spring rates. I keep mine dialed up very stiff, but if you dial it down they are firm but compliant. They make jumping the curbs on track very confidence inspiring.

The next step up is the TTX doubles and they are about 9k for my car... until I'm driving at the limit of these dampers I see no reason to change.

Another friend of mine has these on his 997 RS and another on his E92 M3. Both are very happy.

jetskied

I was using what the factory US set up was and that was about 26.25 inches from the ground. The Ohlins has a begining set up height which is about 25-30mm lower. My car sits at 25-25.25 from the ground due to the corner balance. As far as alignment it will depend on the tires you are using and the amount of wear you are willing to give up on the street. I use NT01 so I have it relatively agressive at -2.5 Camber all around. I probably would recomend -1.5 for the street with .2 toe in all around. Hope this helps.

rs10

Jetskied - and others who are now installing these - do you notice changes to the handling balance? E.g. to turn in, understeer, oversteer, throttle adjustability, etc?

Thanks again!

jetskied

Hard to say as I have always tended to set up the car for more oversteer as I'm more focused on track day driving. I do feel that the turn in improved and the car turned more neutral than factory set up.

robbieracer

I finally got my Ohlins installed. I thought I'd post it here instead of creating a new Ohlins post, I hope the OP doesn't mind.
I only have about a week on them and it'll take more time for a good evaluation. After finally getting the correct shocks, I had to install them with the OEM rubber mounts becuz I had a AX that I wanted to run. I was still waiting for the Elephant Racing top mounts to arrive. They did great on the track, but I think they were still missing something since I had the rubber mounts. I never got the rear Elephant racing mounts to work, becuz they have the bearing above the mounts and had to drop it 20mm and my drop would have been 1.5" and I was looking for around .75". So I ended up buying Tarrett for the rear and used the Elephant Racing for the fronts; these were installed last Friday, so only have a few rides on them. Right now my ride height is about 25 1/8" at rear and 25 1/4 up front; I'll readjust it after it settles in a little.
They'd very firm, almost too stiff for my liking at low speeds, they get smoother the faster you run. I may swap to softer springs after AX/DE season is over. Firm suspensions were fine when I was in my 20's, but now I don't enjoy them much on the road, but I have a 335i for a DD, so that's my plush mobile... With the non-rubber top mounts the steering is very precise now, it doesn't
sway as much and the front end doesn't nose dive like it did prior. I was supposed to do a DE last Friday, but signed up late due to not getting the top mounts installed, so I'll see how the setup performs later in the year.
I do think these will be better suited for the track than the Bilsteins as others have said, the springs are 60 Nm/mm fronts and 120 Nm/mm rears (342 lb/in front, 685 ft/lb rear). They are significantly stiffer than our OEM stock springs at 146 ft/lb front & 225 ft/lbs rear. They're even stiffer springs than 996 GT3 setups:
Front: 40 N/mm (228.44 lbs/in --> 225 lbs/in)
Rear: 95 N/mm (542.55 lbs/in --> 550 lbs/in)

Overall, I 'm pleased with the handling at the AX and I knew it would be a bit harsh on the road, but I wanted a better handling car for the track and that is what I have now. I'm glad I made the purchase, but may go with softer springs in the winter months when I'm not racing. For DD I have it set at 17 clicks from full stiff and the AX was 5 clicks.

rs10

Thanks for sharing your findings!

To avoid any uncertainty, were they "almost too stiff for [your] liking" before you installed the top mounts and the Tarretts in the rear?

Also, can you let us know what suspension you started with (standard suspension, M030, X74 ... ), and what tire model and size?

And what are the roads like near you compared to other parts of the US (or Europe, if you're in Europe, or ... )?

Thanks again!