Highest Mileage Ohlins R/T

spammysammich wrote

Interesting that the fronts are inverted. My clubsports are not. I quite liked inverted struts on my 05 STi, until they started clunking but that was a KYB specific problem.

Yeah Ohlins fronts are inverted monotube. Stronger strut but also puts the adjustment knob at the bottom which is a bit of a pain if you like to adjust it regularly for different types of driving. It was the main reason I switched to TracTive.

Redd wrote

Yeah Ohlins fronts are inverted monotube. Stronger strut but also puts the adjustment knob at the bottom which is a bit of a pain if you like to adjust it regularly for different types of driving. It was the main reason I switched to TracTive.

Isn't it lovely feeling around for the knob and touching everything but and getting your hands all dirty? Not to mention, all while lying on your back. Which reminds me, I gotta adjust mine having just installed new control arms....

Update: 3DM has them and so far they look serviceable. I'll circle back when I know what all needed replacement.

Got the shocks back from 3DM and they looked almost the same - the dark spot is some sort of discoloration from the weather seal but was not an issue at all. The car feels great, no more sticking strut! Barry mentioned that this may be the highest mileage set of shocks to ever come through the shop.

I can’t beat the post above mine but the R&Ts with F/R 400/400 lbf/in spring rates installed on my r56 Cooper S had 42k miles on them when I had them rebuilt. I did notice a drop off in performance when I readjusted the damper settings from winter with Pirelli Sottozero 3 winter performance tires to spring-summer-fall street damper settings with Yoko V601 summer tires. I had to increase the damper setting by five clicks (higher damping) to get close to the street handling performance I was used to. Also, the right rear damper was making a loud “thump” every time I exited the same left-hand corner with a decent bump at corner exit. The dampers felt new again after the rebuild and I was able to go back to my original summer damper settings.

I've got less than 20k miles on my Ohlins but this thread makes me feel great about them. I went to an HPDE day shortly after installing them, and was back at the same track a few weeks ago. Performance felt the same (but again, this is less than 20k miles on the Ohlins). Very happy overall.

Redd wrote

It was the main reason I switched to TracTive.

Not to thread jack but how are those holding up? You've had them a few years now, right?

I'll necro bump this for a potential update on the TracTive's...

I had a custom set of TracTive's from Inertia Labs on a previous car. My favorite shocks to date. I wonder how you like the M3 kit Redd

Ohlins R&Ts for my Evo 8 though. Very popular for that market.

ab987 wrote

Got the shocks back from 3DM and they looked almost the same - the dark spot is some sort of discoloration from the weather seal but was not an issue at all. The car feels great, no more sticking strut! Barry mentioned that this may be the highest mileage set of shocks to ever come through the shop.

Definitely just a surface stain on the inverted strut shaft. It’s probably too late now but you could’ve used coilover sleeves to protect a good portion of the springs and steel damper bodies.

I use Eibach coilover sleeves on my MCS, Moton and JRZ dampers. The 14-16” sleeves are the best length and you can use zip ties to secure the tops (capture camber plate spring cup on strut & rear shock) and bottoms (cover a decent amount of the strut & shock body). The zip ties keep things held down well. Inexpensive security to prolong damper life. I remove the covers in mid spring time and remove any accumulated FOD and give the dampers a nice scrub down before reinstalling the covers.

https://www.bimmerworld.com/Eibach-Nylon-Coil-Over-Spring-Covers.html

DW_CT9A wrote

I'll necro bump this for a potential update on the TracTive's...

I had a custom set of TracTive's from Inertia Labs on a previous car. My favorite shocks to date. I wonder how you like the M3 kit Redd

Ohlins R&Ts for my Evo 8 though. Very popular for that market.

Still loving my TracTives! I truly believe it's the perfect do-everything suspension for the perfect do-everything car (M3).

Redd wrote

Still loving my TracTives! I truly believe it's the perfect do-everything suspension for the perfect do-everything car (M3).

The TracTive Touring version uses stock non-comp spring rates so I’d expect it to perform well on street but underperform on track when compared with passive track-capable dampers (not Ohlins R&T) which can work well on street and track. The Touring version is a nice upgrade over the stock EDC setup. Additionally, the Nitron elec-TRON semi-active EDC/standalone versions may actually perform very similarly to the TracTive lineup if it is true that Nitron is using/leasing the TracTive semi-active DDA valving. The TracTive Track version is a better comparison in track performance but it’s, just like the Touring version, semi-active in low-speed rebound damping only. You really need the TracTive Race version, which is passive in low-speed & high-speed compression damping and semi-active in low-speed rebound damping, if you want something that’s closer in performance to Ohlins TTX, Intrax 2k2/race, MCS 2W/3WR, JRZ Motorsport, Moton Motorsport, etc. passive dampers. The recently released JRZ PROactive setup is active in low-speed and high-speed rebound damping which allows control over sprung mass & unsprung mass motions resulting in better street manners and track performance compared to the TracTive lineup. I’m not saying TracTive Touring is a poor option but it is constrained in terms of what it can do.

I’ve heard conflicting information on the Nitron semi-active dampers and their integration with EDC. A lot of time was spent custom valving the R1 and R3 versions on the f87 M2C. Sadly, Nitron’s DCU standalone controller cannot be adjusted by the owner so you’re stuck with their five different setups. At some point, Nitron is supposed to let owners adjust two of the five DCU setups. I’d say stick with passive Nitron dampers and go for TracTive semi-active dampers if you want EDC compatible, or their standalone controller option. The JRZ PROactive active dampers sounds very promising and, I believe, BMW M3/M4 models/generations are supposed to be part of their initial releases. I’m sticking with passive damper, at least for now.