Ohlins TTX/TPX rally adapted for BRZ

[grumpysnapper]

Originally Posted by jah29

I like your kind of crazy!!

This is what I want in an 86. I would have to sell some stuff and not tell the wife. Would your builder make me the exact same setup? Or is there secret information between the two of you that he can’t share.

Can you have them rebuilt closer to home or do you have to send them back to Holland!

I’m sure the Leo, the Dutch suspension man would be more than than happy to replicate these units...when I commissioned them I told him that I was happy for him to use this development process to be able to supply other enthusiasts with identical/similar dampers.
The dampers can be serviced by Ohlins service centres fairly easily (I’m told)...

[bcj]

Like the Hot Lava / Creamsicle bar colorway.

[solidONE]

Originally Posted by grumpysnapper

Ive always sort of thought this picture of my car pretty much sums up my thoughts about driving and cars.

Of course the car is also a sleeper... barely distinguishable from a 'standard' 86/brz.

Well done, mate!

With similar goals, I've taken a different approach due to obvious budget constraints. Thankfully I'm not too uncomfortable with taking things apart and half decent with a wrench and micrometer.

One of the most interesting piston design from ohlins is the high frequency piston. The design is pretty ingenious how damping pressure can go limp only at high frequencies or when the shaft is changing direction of motion. It's produces "negative-stiction". But the cost of just the pistons, you can probably get a pretty decent set of off the shelf pre-built complete coilover damper kit for similar price. That only makes me wonder about them more. lol I can respect that they want to keep he information confidential, but my guess is that they utilized this high frequency piston inside your shocks.

[Code Monkey]

Given crazy high Australian import duties on car parts, folks in the US could get these Ohlins for maybe $10k-12k?

[churchx]

No. While cost very probably similar to one you quoted, but not due reason of cheaper importing, rather price itself being such, if there is no extra R&D cost, that grumpysnapper already paid for.
IIRC most common rally coilover sets cost somewhere in 7-15K range, be it built from Ohlins or Reiger or whatever parts bin. Actually don't most top vendors built-to-order custom sets cost at least 7K?
What would put me off most though, are very short maintenance/rehaul intervals that i've heard on real rally shocks. Like every 1K miles or after each heavy race and such. Though of course if one won't actually abuse it to rally-ish multi meter jumps, cutting across ditch, going at 150-200kmh over rocky road, that should keep wear less .. still probably expected mileage less then that of OE like shocks. Yes, rally suspension allows to do wonders and seems magic like .. but not sure it's that good for long mileage daily driving role (even price aside).
With no budget limits for top-notch suspension for daily driving (or "normal" track) i'd rather think something like CSG Penskes (which also each is custom made/valved/sprung IIRC).

[soundman98]

that's a good point. i'm curious to hear about what the road-going service intervals would be

[grumpysnapper]

Originally Posted by churchx

What would put me off most though, are very short maintenance/rehaul intervals that i've heard on real rally shocks. Like every 1K miles or after each heavy race and such. Though of course if one won't actually abuse it to rally-ish multi meter jumps, cutting across ditch, going at 150-200kmh over rocky road, that should keep wear less .. still probably expected mileage less then that of OE like shocks. Yes, rally suspension allows to do wonders and seems magic like .. but not sure it's that good for long mileage daily driving role (even price aside).
With no budget limits for top-notch suspension for daily driving (or "normal" track) i'd rather think something like CSG Penskes (which also each is custom made/valved/sprung IIRC).

I’m going to use Ohlins dirt covers, and simply give them a general clean every now and again, with these measures my builder is confident of 1 to 2 years of (my) driving between ‘checking’, not necessarily full servicing. This should be about 15000km hard road use (including lots of dirt) per year.
The reality of stress and wear in even hard road use has almost no real equivalence with high end competition rallying... where a rebuild is advised at around 350km for an extremely rough dirt rally up to about 1000km on ok tarmac.
It’s also good to bare in mind that these dampers already have a much higher quality of sealing against internal damage than is ‘ normal’.
As Leo explained to me, they should effectively last a lifetime... but it’s maintaining them at their %100 peak which is what takes commitment.... which is relevant to any discussion about dampers cheap or expensive, custom or off the shelf. I suspect most dampers are actually way less than ‘fresh’ after 2 years.

We don’t have salt on our roads, so I don’t know of the normal effects of salt on any dampers.

[churchx]

I'm just passing what i've been told in one local shop that services several local rallyist (and rallycross) cars. Of course i was interested to chat about the goodies like ohlins rally dampers or APR radical brakes and other car porn that i saw on those installed .
Otherwise, if anything, rally dampers should be of much stronger construction. Heck, one can see it even in your pics vs R&T ones, much thicker bodies, attachment points of heavy welded plates with extra ribs and such. If Leo told that they will last for you, then i guess indeed that those short servicing intervals that surprised me, attributes to real hardcore competition rallying, and they should last well if not abused to THAT extent. Then again, rally race tires also are worth only for one race too.
Such driving & wear differs slightly from "normal"

[grumpysnapper]

Originally Posted by churchx

If Leo told that they will last for you, then i guess indeed that those short servicing intervals that surprised me, attributes to real hardcore competition rallying, and they should last well if not abused to THAT extent.

Your basic point is right though! Unless you are very committed, these dampers are not realistic for a daily commute type life, essentially because it is very expensive 'overkill'.

The other thing to really keep in mind is that these dampers are only a Group N type standard (but without the full travel they should have!).... the proper WRC grades of damper suspension would make my dampers look and feel like toys.

Group N had/has a semblance of road car reality... WRC has almost zero.

Real top level WRC suspension can run to 40K per corner (!!)...and replaced a couple of times per day...

Daily use of WRC suspension would be a challenge, to say the least.

I cant begin to image the abilities of legit WRC suspension....

[Capt Spaulding]

Damn - now I'll have to lysol my keyboard and monitor again.

My hope is the Xida option the folks at 949 are marinating will get close to this. I can't really afford those, much less these, but you have channeled my exact thinking in your goals and execution.

A little more travel, precision wheel control, good ride quality. These are this real world driver's holy trinity.

[grumpysnapper]

Rears fitted, showing position of canister, and clearances.

[grumpysnapper]

Fronts complete and fitted.

[scottman]

My pants got tighter

[solidONE]

I'm trying very hard not to ask about the specs...

I would see if I can do some kind of clear heat shrink or wrap on the canisters and shock socks, at least for the front strut. Gotta protect that beautiful finish.