Comfortable street-only winter-only dampers

[cdrazic93]

Or....just throwing this out there....get an old forester. A winter beater >$5,000 shouldnt be too hard to come by, especially since you bought the Ohlins...Im thinking you wouldn't hesitate to buy a winter beater either.

Edit: within 250 miles of me (WA) I found a lot of legacy wagons and outbacks for >5k with roughly between 140-180k miles. Nothing too serious but you won't find a winner either lol. Point is, there out there. And this way; you'll get the benefit of AWD and the safety of knowing your Öhlins will be kept fine during winter storage.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by dp1

Thanks, with which springs for street comfort?

Emailed you back, but stock or RCE Yellows are a good choice. Maybe Eibach Prokit.

- Andy

[STV3]

What about using the stock suspension and getting 15 or 16 inch wheels with a 50-60 series snow tire? The increased tire profile will soften up your ride a good deal while giving you better deep snow traction

[dp1]

Somebody just told me that Bilsteins probably won't feel that different than stock and that I should just swap to stock dampers during the winter. Price they offered to do the swap and alignment is very fair. Unless somebody confirms there is that unicorn set of dampers that's at comparable height (or slight drop) and more comfortable for street/highway than stock, I might just put on stock dampers for winter.

Much appreciate everyone's comments

[Racecomp Engineering]

If it's just for the winter, sticking with stock dampers makes sense for you.

- Andy

[Turdinator]

Originally Posted by dp1

Somebody just told me that Bilsteins probably won't feel that different than stock...

You could always have the bilsteins re-valved for a more comfy ride on the stock springs

[dp1]

Originally Posted by Turdinator

You could always have the bilsteins re-valved for a more comfy ride on the stock springs

Good point, thank you...I was hoping to leave the stock dampers alone, either use them as is or take a different route altogether. At the moment, it seems like choices are either stock as is, or B6 with RCE Yellows or B14, either of the Bilsteins with Raceseng camber plates and Bilstein-compatible Raceseng adapters.

I don't mind spending the money for a more comfortable ride, but if the difference with Bilsteins is so small from stock, I'd rather just use stock.

I know that this is an unusual request as most people upgrade dampers for better performance on track/AX...just wish that people who upgraded for street comfort would chime in with their experience (with all due respect to all who offered other options)

[dp1]

Originally Posted by jvincent

Just throwing this out there, but wouldn't the cost of twice a year alignments + new dampers equal the cost of a new set of Ohlins assuming the Ohlins last 3 years?

Thanks, I run -3f/-2.5r (will go back to -3.4f/-2.7r) during summer/track/AX months, so I will change alignment every winter to about -1.5 all around. Got a very favorable quote for swapping dampers and alignment so will take that route.

[dp1]

Originally Posted by STV3

What about using the stock suspension and getting 15 or 16 inch wheels with a 50-60 series snow tire? The increased tire profile will soften up your ride a good deal while giving you better deep snow traction

Thanks, good option. I already have winter tires on stock rims so looking at swapping dampers for optimal street comfort.

[dp1]

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

Or....just throwing this out there....get an old forester. A winter beater >$5,000 shouldnt be too hard to come by, especially since you bought the Ohlins...Im thinking you wouldn't hesitate to buy a winter beater either.

Edit: within 250 miles of me (WA) I found a lot of legacy wagons and outbacks for >5k with roughly between 140-180k miles. Nothing too serious but you won't find a winner either lol. Point is, there out there. And this way; you'll get the benefit of AWD and the safety of knowing your Öhlins will be kept fine during winter storage.

Thanks, thought about that too but have two cars in a two car garage and like it that way

Used to have a Lotus Elise as 3rd fun/track car. Upgraded frs and sold Elise to have two cars. Very happy with upgraded frs.

Frs is very good with winter tires during cold months, didn't feel the need for awd.

[dp1]

As it stands now, unless there is a better setup to consider for what I am looking for, leaning towards Bilsteins B6 with RCE Yellow and Raceseng camber plates and Raceseng B6 adapters.

[dp1]

I ended up purchasing Bilstein B16 adjustable dampers with Raceseng camber plates and Raceseng B16-specific adapters. About $900 more than B6 + RCE Yellow + Raceseng camber plates and B6-specific adapters but after spending over $20k on mods, it seemed like the wrong place to save and compromise. I want to have two sets of very good dampers in case either one acts up during the track/AX season. B16 for winter driving but will leave them on for the 2015 track/AX season to try out.

For those of you with Bilstein B16 set up, please share your front and back street/AX/track settings (number of clicks off from fully tightened).