I've got an imported MY96 STI and is has Ohlins suspension on it. I think this must have been an upgrade done in Japan. Is there anywhere I can get them taken in the UK to get them refurbished?

There seems to be no sign of being able to adjust them. Are all Ohlins kits adjustable or not?

Thanks!

 

At a guess, try www.tegsport.com
Graham.

 

Aurok are the folk to speak to. Very nice people to deal with although you might have to wait a while as they are competition biassed.

You might want to talk to them about getting them revalved at the same time to suit your particular application. They did a set for me specifically for B-road hacking and they are superb!

 

the importer for Ohlin's into the uk comes from near Alton, Hampshire. can't remember who it is but they do have a web site.
how do you find the Ohlins by the way?

 

I really link Ohlins, had a few cars with Spax and Konis on, but these are by far the best!

I think the back ones might be bottoming out a bit more than they should, I just wanted to get them sorted by a company who knew what they were doing!

Any prices for getting the refurbished/valved????

Cheers!

 

PS - are they adjustable??

My cars away at AS Performance getting the engine seen to so can't have a look!!!!

 

There's an adjustment **** at the base of the struts:


Its a 20 click bleed valve. Turn all the way clockwise (as viewed from the base like here) to get the full-hard position (don't force it) then back-off to the first click and count that as 0 with increasing numbers going softer. Don't run them stiffer than 3 as the adjuster rod on Ohlins is usually temp compensated and needs some room to expand as they warm up.



As for pricing you'll have to get that from Aurok.

 

Long time to hear from you Grant, tell us your experiences with Ohlins, they currently sell the fixed perch struts for new age cars also.
And how much did you pay for them, settings etc?
JIM

 

Just Email Aurok, I'll post again once I get a reply!

 

Hello Jim I assume that was for me and not Graham-911

The set I have are not the new ones but an old set of Jap valved fixed-perch struts for a GC8 so probably the same as nickwrx's. They were an impulse buy on ebay. Unfortunately one was found to be leaking so I couldn't try them as they were. I was intending to have them revalved anyway.

I had a set of custom springs made for them in 45/40 N/mm rates to suit the lumpy local roads on my Legacy wagon which is about 60% up from stock. The big diameter springs have the advantage of more travel than the narrow coilover style.

Aurok were very helpful in doing the rebuild and revalve. Compared to the originals I believe they tweaked the shim-stack, made the bleed orifice smaller and inserted a one-way valve into the bleed circuit so that I still have good bump damping with the adjuster opened. The total effect was to target the damper specifically for my spring rates and application and have the adjuster only for fine control - letting the main valving do almost all the work.

I believe my valving is to an extent based on the 'Road & Track' off-the-shelf valving but different enough so that its not really representative of what you'd buy new.

Performance is excellent! On most surfaces its a smooth as original despite being 60% stiffer. Low speed damping gives plenty of body control without being rock-hard and loosing grip when cornering. Best of all is the bump control which manages to soak up large fast compressions without feeling harsh on small undulations. They are very supple and composed on the B-roads.

Approx B-road benchmark speeds for comparison:
well sorted 205 on billies = 100%
'99 std impreza = 87%, not bad but a bit floaty at speed
leggy on AGX = 85%, cheap 'n chearful can be harsh and inconsistent
leggy on ASTs = 82% , don't like bumps
leggy on Aurok-Ohlins = 105%

 

Thanks mate!