[sti-liger]

its definaely no magic pill like someone else said, but i have the ohlins with pink springs and i must say it is a lot better. first off it takes bumps WAY better and with all the crappy roads where i live this was a huge plus for me. the ride seems a lot more smooth and a lot of the bobblehead is gone but not all of it, but i can now tell its the seats instead of the car that is bouncing. i would try to talk you out of it but i couldnt be more happy, good luck

[Greg]

As VERY satisfied Ohlins owner, I would say this about your choices:

1) DO consider coilovers if you have aspirations to track and auto-x your car. Lots of good options in this category. If the car is mainly a DD, coilovers are not a good solution

2) DO consider doing something about the seats. Stretching the springs a bit and adding some foam may help the bobble head. Replacing the seats is very costly, and complicated.

3) DO consider where the other fixed perch offerings will be positioned in the market. Little is known about price, ability to adjust and damper rate. However I think most agree that its pointless to release a strut that is near the Ohlins in price, so they will most likely be cheaper. That also means that they will either be non-adjustable, or offer limited adjustment. Add this all up and it appears unless there are some surprises Ohlins will be the "best" fully adjustable strut of the three. Not to say, its the best value. That remains to be seen and I doubt that "top of the line" anything is ever the best value. As always, going up market incurs a logarithmic penalty of diminishing returns the further up you go.

Regarding Ohlin's 25 way adjustments, I've really enjoyed the flexibility. The strut's adjustments will exceed the range of any spring, so as long as you keep the setting within the spring's range, you'll be fine. Even with in that range you can move from a softer dd setting to a more sporty setting at will. The adjusters are somewhat difficult to get to, so I don't change them every day. The other nice thing about Ohlins adjustability is that I know I can tune them to any spring currently available as well as any spring that comes out in the future.

[RBMike]

I did also consider doing the seats instead but I don't want to loose the air bag & every thread I read about seats talks about what a nightmare the install is & how they had to use a hammer on a $1000 dollar seat to make it fit.

[BoostJunkie]

Originally Posted by RBMike

I did also consider doing the seats instead but I don't want to loose the air bag & every thread I read about seats talks about what a nightmare the install is & how they had to use a hammer on a $1000 dollar seat to make it fit.

My Recaros went right in, took less than an hour with a socket But yes, I did lose my side airbags.

[RBMike]

BoostJunkie, What mounting stuff did you use & did you do your seats before or after you did you Ohlins?

[BoostJunkie]

I used Recaro sliders and Wedge Engineering brackets. I did the seats about 9 months after the Ohlins coilovers and they made a huge difference in ride quality, not to mention they are just a lot more comfortable for my back and on the track they prevent my body from flying all over the place.

[Splash]

Another vote for Ohlins... I own the blue ones that used to be the rusty ones...

(Show me another rusty set, and I'll agree it wasn't a one-off thing)

I have RCE springs (yellow) and even they can ride really well, especially compared to the stock struts with OEM springs.

If Ride is what you are after, the Ohlins, paired with longer springs (OEM, pinks, RCE blacks) will ride wonderfully.

[scottjua]

Originally Posted by stretch

Because Prodrive's system is nearly out?

+1111?

[fourseasonsandles]

I would like to see some more info on RCE and Prodrives suspensions.. Keep it coming folks!

[RBMike]

Originally Posted by fourseasonsandles

I would like to see some more info on RCE and Prodrives suspensions.. Keep it coming folks!

Me too, BUMP.

[Rootus]

Originally Posted by evilSTi7

you want to get rid of the bobblehead? change the seats

+1. It's not the springs, it's the highly sprung stock seats. Out of $10K in mods dumped on my car, the seats were by a huge margin the best thing I did.

[BoostJunkie]

Originally Posted by Rootus

+1. It's not the springs, it's the highly sprung stock seats. Out of $10K in mods dumped on my car, the seats were by a huge margin the best thing I did.

Well it's sort of a combination of the two. The seats definitely amplify the bouncy effect but a lot of it is in that the stock struts are overdamped for the stock springs. The stock struts also have a lot of rebound, which is pretty typical of japanese dampers.

[stretch]

The stock seats amplify (or rather, do not mask) the problem, but it does originate in the suspension.

[Rootus]

Originally Posted by stretch

The stock seats amplify (or rather, do not mask) the problem, but it does originate in the suspension.

Perhaps the way to say it accurately is that the "bouncy" problem is really two separate issues that interact: The seats are oversprung and bounce. The suspension is needlessly harsh over small road imperfections. Fixing one or the other will eliminate the bounce, but the only fix that can reduce harshness is the suspension.

For me, the seats got priority attention because they also suck in other critical areas.