Review on Tein Flex v. Ohlins DFV
 

I have had these Tein Flex and was impressed with how nice they ride yet could be firmed up for driving school. Springs are 10kg/8kg.

I had some cash laying around so I got the Ohlins DFV 11kg/11kg. Very nicely built but the ride wasn't that much better than the Flex.

Notes:
1. The Flex at full soft is about the same as the Ohlins at 9 out of 20 clicks.

2. The high spring rate in the rear for the Ohlins meant that I no longer had understeer while running 245/40 fronts and 275/40 rears. The high spring rates meant that the car responded to steering inputs very quickly but it lets go very quickly too.

3. For mostly streetuse, I would suggest sticking to the Flex. I had Tokico and Konis before but was never impressed with the ride.

https://i793.photobucket.com/albums/...i/ohlins1.jpg]

\http://s793.photobucket.com/user/pom...ml?sort=3&o=1\

Did you hit a track with the Ohlins? I am in the market for coilovers and today decided I was going to get Tein SRC but then everywhere I called said it would be 3 months before they would arrive from Japan. I am not waiting that long, so now my issue is do I go with something more track oriented that will cost $1500 more (Penske 7500DA) or go with the Ohlins which from what I have read is more road than track. Running R-comp tires and 60% track time and road is mostly highway. Next year hopefully going to slicks and a trailer so hate to buy something that I'll just want to replace in a year or two.

I ran SRC on my s2000 and they were pretty damn good for the price back then. Have you considered JRZ or maybe MCS?

Interesting! I've been contemplating the Ohlins DFV recently as I suspect my Pettit coilovers(10KG/8KG) might be on their way out. Car is in the shop now for diagnosis. My other competiting choice if I were to replace would be the Tein Flex @ 10KG/8KG.

Did you consider other spring rate options, with or without revalving to match the Tein's rates?

No, I stayed with the original 11/11. The ride is almost as soft as the Tein but when firmed up, it was much stiffer.

FWIW, on the recommended setting of 10 clicks out with the Ohlins DFV, it actually felt *too* soft for me on the street! I love them at 6 clicks out on the street. At the track I wound up at 4 clicks front, 5 clicks rear. Even 1 click makes a difference. After a few days at 5/4 clicks on the street, it was obviously too damn stiff, went back to 6 and it feels great :)

The DFVs do an absolutely AMAZING job of soaking up bumps and potholes and other road imperfections, even at the stiffer end of the damping adjustment range. Which makes sense because the adjustment primarily affects low-speed damping.

The ride is 1000x better on the 11/11 Ohlins than it was on the 9kg/7kg Tein SS I had on the car before.