I can tell you on the stock Ohlins rates 515F/800R it rides much better than my previous setup on BMR SP083 (250F/980R). I am running them at 15 clicks from full stiff at the moment. So there is more room to run them even softer.
None. The car is completely bone stock. So it’s gonna be a huge upgrade. I’ve been tempted to pick up bilsteins and BMR handling, but a part of me knows I won’t be fully happy. So I just bidded my time until now to pull the trigger. I know myself too well. This 1st mod will trigger me into a rabbit hole (from my ebm days). But fortunately, the car is mine now and I have funds in hand to play.
Mine appear to have 30 clicks range.
What year? Likely you won't see many (or any) more reviews on it apart from mine. There's few on this forum as it is since the S550 came out.
I also own Ohlins but I wouldn't recommend them for daily car. Mostly because the spring rates especially on the front (515 lbs) are a lot for a daily driven car. But also because coilovers and Ohlins are not for daily use. They have a very tide maintenance schedule think 20 000 miles or so which makes them not usable for a daily driver. If you are driving a lot and want a comfortable ride your best bet is to stay stock or get into springs/shocks package preferably softer rates. I honestly think 200/800 springs are the best daily combo you can get. From my driving of different suspension setups the one I like the most is the Mach 1 MR setup it's amazing on the street very compliant and is also good on track. Mach 1 rates are close to 200/800 so this is why I think 200/800 will be the best. Also for a daily driver there is no point in spending 3000$ on coilovers when you are not going to get the maximum out of them.
My daily commute of 35-45 minutes (one-way)and it’s almost always canyon runs. So my goal is comfort but predictable handling. Thank you for pointing about the maintenance! That’s also something I need to consider when owning these COs. Maintenance of these COs every 20k Km or 20k mi will make me want to find a local shop to repetitively rebuild them for me.
Fwiw- the 200/800 springs I know of all drop the car an inch. I don't see a point in dropping the car an inch and only marginally increase the spring rate over stock. It may actually handle worse. You are changing the stock suspension geometry. The Mach1 is designed for the springs it has and has MR. Yours is designed for neither. The MR will help the compliance a lot too.
The part where I agree with you is on the maintenance schedule. That would be a PITA. Although, I do not really think you need to get them rebuilt every 20K miles. I think Ohlins is being a lot conservative on that. And I don't think 200/800 is worth it because you'll be dropping the car an inch and changing the geometry- reducing roll resistance and worsening the front camber curve. So in effect, you're going backwards and then trying to gain it back. Better dampers and bigger anti-roll bars may make up for that, though. It's just not what I would do, personally.
Then ohlins is your answer. There are dozens of ohlins service centers in Cali
I'm willing to compromise comfort versus handling. At the end of the day, these are sports cars meant to be enthusiastically driven. The purpose of my inquiries were how reliable Ohlin are when it comes to performance over the period of tme (years). And by performance, I mean the feeling of confident and predictable handling on different types of curves, turns, and uphill/downhill responses. Some would say "driving like it's on rails." That's what I'm after without the sacrifice of poor dampening or recoil from road conditions. I've read a lot of people lauded FP and Bilstein dampeners. But still changed their suspension into Ohlin or other coil overs over the years for adjustability and adaptability because they've realized it was better in their opinion and have paved the way for people like me.
Thank you for this! That's a relief.
I'm trying to keep the wheel suspension geometry to 27.3 inch diameter from factory as much as possible. I have the 18x9 +40 or 44 (24lb per wheel 5-spoke OEM) at the moment.
Dude, it's about bloody time! I overhauled the suspension on my car within 6 months of buying it, it's deficiency was that obvious.
Haha, i think remember talking to you about Bilstein a year or two ago. I almost bought it, but what stopped me was the idea of trading my car in for a 2023 BMW Supra M/T (er i mean Toyota)... But the deal went sour, dealer wanted me to pay $10K more. Car inflation happened this year, so i just decided to just stick with my beloved reliable V8 mustang.