Ohlins R&T

from Öhlins' install manual:

Many thanks !

breaking badly said:

from Öhlins' install manual:

Click to expand...

That's the bearing adapter, thanks Breaking Badly. That was a little thin piece of alloy. The new version is heftier and makes room to the lower-inner part of the mount to move freely within it. The only downside (for some) is that it can no longer go beyond 2cm of lowering. But I bought them because it was the only coilover that can keep the stock height.

Hello guys,
I just received the Ohlins R&T Kit for Mk7 along with 70N/mm rear springs.
Will start from 20 clicks (softest) front & back and report back impressions. Had VWR & MSS (on DCC) before so this will be interesting.

My current concern is regarding some plastic rings the Mk6 kit used to have under the rear springs. They are shown in my package list (and in the package list from the manual) but I don't have them. They are not shown in any picture in the manuals.
Do the rear springs mount directly over the OEM rubber mounts or ..?

Later edit: Just found out that there are two kits for Mk7 GTI (VWS MP20 and VWS MP21) ... with different contents. I have the MP20 version but that still doesn't explain the missing plastic rings

CZR, how are you making out with the Ohlin's?

Yep Need a update

Well... so far so good, no noises until now (~4500 km and 4 months). I used new top mounts (OEM, latest revision) and new top bolts.

Running on 20 clicks (softest setting) as a daily and while low speed comfort is like DCC's sport mode, high speed compressions are far better (almost as stock DCC on comfort and better than VWR or MSS on comfort setting!). There is a little bit of body roll on this setting (could compare to something between DCC's Normal and Sport setting) and if we had better roads I would run it on 18 clicks (where handling is much improved).
Compression settings are not linear. I found out that going from 20 to 18~19 makes a bigger difference than going from 18 to 15 or 15 to 10.
Overall I'm very impressed by it's capability to absorb shocks at a very fast rate. Again, the lost comfort is only at very low speeds and I'm glad I made this purchase.
Yesterday I had the chance to test them on a track for the very first time. Tried two settings: 5 and 0. On both (especially on 0) it feels like a different animal with minimal to 0 body roll (also thanks to H&R swaybars and wider track width).
Grip is unbelievable and I can't get enough of it!

Driving a stock (suspension wise) 7R with equal power is just scary right now - I know because I just did that, lol!

I'm very curious about Bilstein's Damptronic as they are on sale right now - this was my preferred choice before but I had enough with their delays and I couldn't be happier with this setup.

I understand that most people here don't seem concerned with how much this kit drops the car, but what is the drop from stock based on the recommended settings?

Also has anyone lowered the car past the recommended settings?

I currently have Emmanuele Design Springs which lower the car 1" and I would at least like to have that same drop if not a .25" more in the front.

I understand that lowering the car more than the recommended will compromise the comfort of the suspension.

Ohlns R+T

Ohlins R+T!

My big suspension project was just completed and I wanted to share some impressions for anyone interested or contemplating doing some work on their Mk 7 GTI.

The installation, corner balancing, alignment, and settings was done by Joey Seely at Emotion Engineering (http://emotionengineering.co/about/) in Costa Mesa, CA. His main business is making street Porsches handle even better, and he also does suspension race prep for a number of customer IMSA and ALMS team. I was referred by a good friend who is the Cal rep for Falken Tire because among Joey’s cars is a Golf TDI that’s his DD. He’s the Suspension Whisperer.

Before meeting Joey I had ordered Ohlins R+T coilovers. He said he has a slight preference for KW, but mine were already en route. At his suggestion I also procured Ground Control adjustable top mounts for the front, and adjustable sway bar end links by White Line at both ends. All of this stuff is so beautiful and of such high quality. It must be how women feel about jewelry.

The settings he used are 2.4 degrees of front camber, 2.0 degrees rear camber, and 1.5 degrees of rear toe. I’m sure I will wear out tires at an accelerated rate and will have to rotate them frequently.

The difference is a profound improvement in handling. Even at low speeds and just driving around town, the GTI feels more like a race car. When pushing on, turn in is instant and very sharp. There is zero understeer. I mean absolutely zero. The rear is also very stable. It’s all so linear feeling. The car feels like someone cut 500 pounds off the curb weight. The handling is very, very lively. Steering feel (which is to me the thing really lacking in the stock trim, along with the numb, shitty clutch) is high and precise. I can push so much harder now because all of this adds up to a package that inspires so much confidence. Also, the car doesn’t feel twitchy or nervous at high speeds in a straight line.

I expected the ride to be compromised, along with an increase in road noise. I was warned away from the front shock mounts on the grounds that they would introduce unwanted NVH. The pleasant and unexpected consequence of everything is that my car actually rides better than before (I was on VWR springs and stock shocks). It’s all quieter and tidier when just going about the day to day business of getting around. This is like the Holy Grail!

The one minus is that hitting sharp bumps at highway speeds definitely results in a more dramatic thud. You feel it, and it’s pretty loud. I'm not sure about the front bump stops or what can be done about this.

So all in all I’m absolutely delighted with the end result. It was a really expensive project, but the results are an epic improvement in driving joy. I wish I’d done it all when the car was brand new and not wasted the time and money on just slapping springs onto the car.