Hello,
This was my first time ordering coilovers for a car so I'm lacking a bit of experience in this department and I have some questions about the situation I'm in.
I ordered some Ohlins for my 86 because it was from my understanding that all gen 1 coils swap right over to the gen 2. There were no red flags I came across when researching prior to this purchase but of course after they shipped out. I learned that Ohlins is telling GR owners not to put the gen 1 specific sets on our cars. I also learned that their isn't much height adjustability with these and I may not be able to lower the car enough to my liking. So here's my questions.
Is there anyone here who is running Ohlins on their car who can give me some feedback?
I was thinking about sending these back and ordering KW V3's instead, how is the ride feel on those and how is the height adjustability on them?
Is there a better set of coilovers that I should be looking at to fit my needs? I daily my 86.... a lot. Currently sitting at 21.5k miles. I understand the cons of lowering an already low car so I don't need that whole lecture. My goal is to get a somewhat comfortable ride still which is why I originally went with Ohlins. I'm going to be running a pretty aggressive wheel setup, 18x9.5 +40 with 245/35/18 tires. I want to lower the car enough to get rid of most of the wheel gap. I know people are running Ohlins fine on our gen 2's but it seems like they don't go much lower than maybe an inch lower than stock. Is there anyway around this? I haven't been able to find much info on this. Please help lol.
Its not a fitment issue, its just springrates and minor valving changes theyre making. Im sure it will be mostly fine, especially for a daily... but it may be worth waiting to see what they come up with.
I cannot speak to Ohlins personally but the owner of the shop that does my installs ‘and has raced 86s for years, amongst other things’ and I had a pretty lengthy discussion on this and both our consensus is Gen1 coilovers are fine on Gen2, this is just tinkering that isn’t hugely impactful. SS1’s are great but if you’re mostly street I’d be half tempted to steer you more to Flex A. They are very good dealing with poor street conditions as I had to deal with on a recent trip to Indiana. They are close both good either way.
Keep in mind, both of those need rebuilt/serviced. Believe both are 36k recommended but your usage can impact service intervals.
Ohlins are one the best regarded coilovers brands on the market. They're likely saying to hold off on buying their product for Gen2 right now because there will be some spring tuning for Ohlins meant for Gen2. I wouldn't sweat your Ohlins order, they really are a phenomenal coilover.
I’ve heard nothing but good things about them, never had them in a build before. You know the service intervals for them? My only worry with any coilover he gets is it sounds like he drives a LOT. It could turn into a problem with him if they are more frequent than 36k.
Holy crap, just re-read his post and he said he’s at 21.5k already! That’s when I send mine in for a rebuild.