Originally Posted by createluck
Purchased a set of Ohlins for my BRZ after quite a bit of research and availability issues with previous choice. Ohlins were not available when that choice was made and out of my price point. Desperation for a suspension, ultimately opened my wallet. Tristan, at Circuit Motorsports, was helpful, informative, and found a set for me. Ordered Monday, received Wednesday, and installed Friday, at West End Alignment. I can not express how joyful this short five day process made me feel, after over two months of waiting and waiting.
Darin and Chris took incredible care installing coilovers and Whiteline bushings. I never felt rushed during alignment and slow process of corner balancing. There was quite a bit of communication prior to installation, updates during process, and while fine tuning balance. This has always been my experience with Darin, in my past racing life. Chris is carrying on the same tradition of excellence!
The set-up was simply -3 front, -2.5 back, 0 toe front, 3/32 toe rear, 6.5 degree front caster. The car was lowered the maximum allowed by Ohlin, without compromising suspension geometry. This turned out to be just over an inch, which was my original goal.
We set up the rebound for the track. This made the slow drive home a bit bumpy. However, the first laps, at Chuckwalla, were fantastic! Body roll was severely minimized, car settled quickly, and turn-in was increased. I was able to immediately gain confidence with higher entrance and exit speed due to increased contact patches and balance of car. My third timed lap was one of my fastest for the day. I increased rebound stiffness twice, in rear, but now believe the original guess was the best for now. These were five from full stiff front and seven from full stiff rear.
I will be at Streets of Willow this Saturday to dial in settings. Now that I have softened up rebound for street driving, they are awesome! I do not feel that I am driving a race car. It is slightly stiffer than factory, but very compliant and enjoyable. I was worried about lower spring rates for track and will have to make the final determination, over time. Initial impressions are very favorable. Now, I just need to become a better driver and learn the new limits of the car.
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