Ohlins Road and Track DFV

DESCRIPTION

Guess what Ferrari Formula 1 and INDY cars and Nascar all have in common for suspension? OHLINS is the answer! OHLINS are standard in the fastest cars in the world for street and track, from Formula 1 and Indy to street exotics from Koenigsegg and Pagani, and even our new Rivian shop truck (fastest truck in the world currently). If you want the best, Ohlins is the choice consistently seen as the best.

The BEST coilovers for ND Miata and Fiat 124! Ohlins is the coilover of choice used in the top level of motorsports including Formula One and Indy, why would you pick anything else if you insist on the best? This Ohlins kit is the latest step in the Ohlins Racing automotive philosophy.

2022 UPDATES:
- Our Ohlins DFV kits now come with a pair of extended/remote rear adjusters for the rear shocks INCLUDED so you can route the adjustment knob to a more accessible location in the trunk. A $255 value!
- RACE version now updated with addition of helper spring in the rear to assist with cases where the stiffer race spring and desired ride height would sometimes result in needing to adjust the spring perch to negative spring preload which would unseat the spring at full droop - now with this addition of a helper spring the main rear spring is kept under tension at all times. A $180 value!

Unlike the previous generation, NO TOP HATS included with this kit and you will need to re-use the factory top hats from your original shocks for installation. By using the factory top hats you will benefit from far superior ride quality on the street with reduced noise, vibration and harshness. Coilover kits often include fancy aluminum top hats that use bearings instead of rubber, these are a great for a race car but noisy day to day on the street.

For the first time ever, Ohlins offer these coilovers with TWO choices of spring rate.

Street: 7kg (392lbs) Front / 4kg (224lbs) Rear

Race: 10kg (560lbs) Front / 6kg (336lbs) Rear

For our street and dual duty customers the 7kg front and 4kg rear is an excellent choice, and if you end up wanting the car even more flat in the turns add our Progress Sway bars. For the track focused customer needing more spring rate for their sticky tires, the race spring rates of 10kg front and 6kg rear are available.

Setup instructions by Ohlins come shipped with the coilovers. Additionally, click the links below to see exploded views of the full front and rear assemblies:
FRONT Exploded View <-- Click me!
REAR Exploded View <-- Click me!

Road and Track by Ohlins:
A more than 30 year long tradition of high-end racing commitments and state-of-the-art solutions within advanced suspension technology is now available for street cars all over the world.

The focus has been clear from the very beginning superior road handling without sacrificing comfort in your day-to-day transports. The time of compromises is over!
Ohlins has also added a clever lightweight design with a majority of the parts in aluminum and on top of that all shocks have suffered through vast corrosion tests according to ISO 9227. The end result is a 2-year limited warranty on all of Ohlins products - worldwide.

Ohlins has long led the way for suspension design in the world of motorsports from Motorcycles to Indy Cars. This package comprises aluminum bodied, mono tube design shocks, with 30 clicks of adjustment. The beauty of the Ohlins is not only will your MX5 Miata handle better, be easier to drive at the limit, but it will also ride better than stock. These coilovers are a great choice for the dual purpose user who wants a setup that can be VERY comfortable around town yet super competent in the twisties, the race track, or the autocross course.

Application Notes from Brian: I have used Ohlins for decades and have always been amazed with the ability of this brand to provide both great handling AND great ride quality and their ND MX5 Miata coilover kit continues this tradition. The ride is very close to stock for those with stock sway bars, yet less busy and more controlled and the handling is light years beyond stock. For street users seeking best ride quality with these, try them with stock sway bars before you upgrade sways too.

One of the great features is that you can set pre-load independent of height setting thanks to the multi-piece construction

Ohlins are what I used for years on my motorcycles because they are the best, and we approached Ohlins to make these for the ND generation because we wanted our customers to enjoy the best MX5 Suspension! Ohlins are what you find on Formula 1 cars and at the highest level of motorsports and now you can have the best on your Miata.

INSTALLATION NOTES: We start customers generally at 13.25 front height, 13.5 rear (measured center of wheel up to fender lip). We usually have customers CAREFULLY drive the car for a few hundred miles before corner balance or alignment because the car will settle significantly.

NOT compatible with the factory optional front shock tower brace as that brace covers the front shock tower holes entirely and that will interfere with the adjustment knob on the top of the coilover. If you have that optional factory brace, your options are to just leave the factory brace off, or use a hole saw to drill a hole in the top of the brace to make the knobs accessible and avoid contact, or the BEST option is to get our RoadsterSport front shock tower brace that is stronger and lighter than the factory brace plus is designed with that space above the shock open so there are no issues.

Despite early pics to the contrary, kit includes NO spherical bearing top hats.

DRIVEN DAILY...AND COMPETITION PROVEN. What better way to prove this setup is the BEST MX5 Coilovers for the money then to take them to competitions and WIN, WIN, WIN. This is the setup in our own ND Project Miata daily driver below that is regularly top time of day at local autocross events. Yet while it is fast enough to consistently win it is also comfortable enough that we daily drive this car on long road trips...including the 437 mile drive drive each way to Laguna Seca for a full weekend of fast laps...and back 437 miles home again in comfort.

The TECHNICAL DETAILS

The DFV Technology Advantage. So what is DFV? It is Dual Flow Valve technology and it sets Ohlins apart from competitors. Only Ohlins has DFV technology on its road and track products. With DFV, the dual flow valve gives the same characteristics on rebound as it does on compression, thanks the damper fluid having a consistent path of flow in both directions. This means that the wheel and tire can quickly and effectively resume their important position back on the ground, providing grip and traction. The new Ohlins Road and Track range uses DFV technology on every single fitment, making it the perfect upgrade for the enthusiast that needs comfort and agility in the one unit.

Figure 1: (Compression flow) At low shaft speeds, oil flows mostly through the shaft jet bleed (lower dotted arrow). At higher shaft speeds, oil flows mostly through the compression ports in the piston (upper dotted arrow). At very high shaft speeds, or during sudden shaft accelerations, oil can also escape through the compression ports in the DFV, increasing comfort. Figure 2: (Rebound flow) At low shaft speeds, oil flows mostly through the shaft jet bleed (lower dotted arrow). At higher shaft speeds, oil flows mostly through the rebound ports in the piston (upper dotted arrow). At very high shaft speeds, or during sudden shaft accelerations, oil can also escape through the rebound ports in the DFV, maintaining tire contact with the road. Because DFV opens more quickly and easily on minor road imperfections, ride comfort is surprisingly supple and more akin to an OEM shocks than a coilover set-up. Over undulating surfaces, the compliance of the Road and Track units allows your Miata to crest bumps and potholes, whilst still keep stable and in control. Traction is always maintained at its optimum level. When comparing suspension, why settle for second best?

Figure 3: (Vehicle no DFV) Without DFV the oil can not flow through the piston quickly enough on the rebound stroke after hitting a bump, so the tire is not able to stay in contact with the road.

Figure 4: (Vehicle DFV technique) The DFV valve opens, letting the oil flow quicker through the piston on the rebound stroke after hitting a bump, enabling the tire to stay in contact with the road. When adjusting ride height on coilover units, it is worth comparing how it is done. On many inferior designs, height is adjusted by raising or lowering the lower spring platform. This has the effect of compressing or extending the spring, which can limit the suspension travel that may cause topping out. The Ohlins method is to leave the spring seat in its perfect position, whilst the lower flange spins easily on the threaded body, to allow you to adjust with absolute precision whilst maintaining the perfect characteristics that we took so long to design in! Once you have set it all up, the adjuster simply locks off to maintain your exact settings.

Dampers will get hot. That is one thing that you can be sure of. As the piston moves within the damper, it generates friction and therefore, heat. Although we cannot stop heat, we can deal with it, and this is yet another way that Ohlins differs from the competition. As the heat increases, the viscosity of the damper fluid can change, altering the car handling characteristics. Our unique needle bleed valve expands with temperature, closing the gap that the fluid travels through, maintaining a consistent damping rate. What you will feel is that the car responds consistently, lap after lap, turn after turn. Allowing you to concentrate on braking points and apexes whilst the Ohlins technology takes care of the damping.

Figure 5: Thermal Expansion Design Advantages.

These kits are amazing out of the box , but there is still plenty of adjustment for you to set things your way. You like stiff and reactive? Or soft and forgiving? It is all there. Too much low speed rebound damping can have an adverse effect on grip, so the easily accessible adjuster at the top of the Ohlins units allows small, but positive increments of fine tuning, so you can take into account every single parameter. Sounds complicated? It is actually very easy to adjust a few clicks either way to find the settings that work for you.

Autocross and Track Tested by our entire team in both our ND Miata and our Fiat 124. Currently running 9/5 kg combo in our Fiat on the race spec damper, which we can offer on request.

One of many Top Times in our ND with OHLINS.

YES, these are the choice on our Supercharged RF Daily Driver for RIDE QUALITY and SOPHISTICATED HANDLING. If you are visiting the San Diego Region and would like a ride, reach out to us at least a day in advance and we can make that happen!

Wife approved in our own Supercharged RF Project, the daily driver for Brian's wife, Andrea:

Also in our Fiat 124 for race and road fun!

This is the setup in our own ND Project Fiat 124 daily driver below that is regularly top time of day at local autocross events. Yet while it is fast enough to consistently win it is also comfortable enough that we daily drive this car on long road trips.

Our Fiat winning SSM Class at SCCA event, on our Ohlins with 9kg/5kg rates in the car currently. As you can see from the view looking back, our local competition surface is badly breaking up, but our Ohlins keep the tires glued to the surface for Top Time in class.

Winning run in our Fiat 124, fastest thing with doors at the event yet again! We did it yet again thanks to our famous Ohlins Coilovers. From Formula 1 to my street motorcycles Ohlins has been the choice of champions for decades. Our autocross lot here in San Diego was abandoned when the Chargers football team moved to Los Angeles and now is pretty bombed out with potholes deep and everywhere. Result with most stiffly sprung cars is a struggle to get power on the ground, lots of our competitors skitter across the rough surface unable to hook up. Thanks to the DFV valving in the Ohlins (a high speed secondary pathway that opens when I drive over all those holes), our Fiat 124 just keeps laying power and cutting the turns smoothly. Out in the real world our standard Ohlins kit gives you the same smoothness despite handling that nothing else in the price range can touch.

Ohlins on our own Fiat 124 running SCCA XSB with prototype 17x10 wheels!

Suggested Setup Starting Heights! For NC and ND and Fiat 124 we usually start customers at 13.5 inches rear and 13.25 inches front. That is measured from center of wheel up to fender lip as you see below.

Show up to BMW Autocross with the smallest displacement motor and win, thanks in large part to 17x10 and our OHLINS Coilovers with the 10kg/6kg Race Springs!