TheTrackRa

Hi all,

I have a question for those of you who have the Ohlins Road and Track dampers from Figs fitted and hit the track often.

My F is a 2011 model with no power mods other than the Hayward & Scott cat back exhaust. My handling mods are as follows:

- Figs' Ohlins R&T dampers with Swift springs 16kg front, 12kg rear
- 18" Yokohama GT forged wheels 10J ET35 all around
- Nexen SUR4G tyre 265 square set up
- Project Mu HC+ track biased brake pads
- Figs front lower control arm poly bushings
- Figs front upper control arms
- Figs toe links
- Figs trac links
- Figs sway bar
- Hard Race rear lower control arms
- various custom made underbody strengthening bars
- custom made front strut tower brace

With these mods, my F was recently wheel balanced, and corner weighted. I'm running negative camber angles, -3 at the front and -2 at the rear. All my mods are focused on keeping tyres in contact with the road and minimising understeer (hence the square tyre set up).

What kind of damper settings are you running? The track I frequently visit is made up of a fair amount of elevation changes, a long uphill corner, a tight chicane and a long downhill last corner that connects directly onto the long straight. The pavement is very smooth but some of the kerbs are tall.
https://youtu.be/gE9z11JEhDM might give you a better idea.

I'm thinking of starting off with 5 from full stiff up front and 8 out back. In short, fairly stiff. I suspect the front spring rates may not be high enough considering the weight of the V8, so I'm trying to make up for that with more damping and a stiffer anti roll bar. I could just up the rates, but I wanted my journey to and from the track to be in a reasonable comfort i.e. not too brittle.

Any advice or opinion would be welcome. Any member who frequents tracks please feel free to leave a comment.

TheTrackRa

Really no one? I'm sure there is someone, please chime in!

Jwconeil

I don’t have enough experience to help you, but I have a question. Why the Ohlins R&T over Penskes? You seem to have a very track oriented build. The additional adjustability is in line with your build.

TheTrackRa

Hi Jwconeil, there are a couple of reasons.

1. As you can tell from my mod list, I've done business with Figs a lot of times and come to trust them as the quality of their products and customer service never disappointed. Mike @ Figs is a knowledgeable guy who likes to explain technical stuff in detail and never appears desperate to make a sale happen.

2. For simplicity. I could've gone for the two way adjustable Ohlins TTX from them but eventually ruled it out as I'm no race engineer and would've likely faced difficulties coming up with settings that feels just right. I figured that for what I do, a set of properly designed and well built one way dampers would do the job just fine. Plus it costs less.

3. Yes, I'm aware the Penske two way dampers are renowned for their ability to enhance handling but I've read more than a couple of threads here regarding noise they make during normal driving. My car may be track oriented but I wanted to ensure a certain level of comfort for the journey to and from the track and occasional street driving. As a result I went with Ohlins and my F is surprisingly refined on the street which I find remarkable considering all that I've done to it. No clunking or rattling at all.

Hope the above answered your question.

TheTrackRat

Jwconeil

It did. Great answer. I don’t see many of the higher end suspension sets on this forum, and when I do, they are normally the Penskes since they are more track oriented. We have members that run the Ohlins, but I’m guessing they are a minority. Hopefully someone can chime in and help you out!

Your car looks great.

TheTrackRa

Thanks Jwconeil, was a pleasure responding to you. I've ordered a front splitter, a rear diffuser and a spoiler from Alpheyga and they're arriving in a week. Once I have them fitted I will post pics again.

TheTrackRat

Parkerb11

Also can’t help with your original post question but, why did you go 16/12 over 18/14 for the Ohlins? Thanks!

TheTrackRa

Hi Parkerb11,

The car was originally intended for 80% street and 20% track usage. Now that I've got another car to take my wife around, that's changed and the car is 80% for track. I nearly swapped my springs with stiffer ones (18F 14R), but after speaking with Mike I followed his advice and decided to try it as is first. So I added Figs' thicker sway bar and will be running stiff damping settings to try and minimise understeer, but was wondering if anyone with experience could advise me on whether that will be enough.

TheTrackRat

Parkerb11

Good point, I think a lot of R&T owners buy for the 80/20 ratio. With that being said, I’d love to get into the 18/14 because my car is not a DD and the miles I do put on it, would be weekend rips and track time. Idk really of anyone running the 18/14 so I can’t vouch the level of improvement unfortunately...

what do you think of the Hayward and Scott exhaust as a track exhaust? I have one too and don’t know anyone that uses it as a performer? Do you know the wt on it? Ian told me 20KG when I was ordering.

TheTrackRa

Okay, once I try my current settings on the track I'll let you know how it went, but from my (very) spirited driving I feel that it will probably work.

As for the exhaust, I don't remember the numbers exactly but it was definitely lighter than stock and there was a marked improvement in response and sound after fitting it so that was enough of a gain for me. It hangs low down so I figured going for a titanium exhaust to save a couple of kilos wouldn't bring a discernable benefit and plus as far as I know a titanium one is more prone to cracking.

TheTrackRat

WillAP1

You might have better luck asking in one of the Facebook groups if you use that. I know at least a couple people on there tracking on the Figs Ohlins but not sure if they are on here.

Interested in the same info though for when my Figs Ohlins finally arrive (seems like its been forever ).

TheTrackRa

Thanks WillAP1, I don't normally do facebook but will try that.

One thing I can tell you about the Ohlins R&T is that, these dampers are much better at keeping tyres pushed down to the pavement than anything else I've used including stock dampers. This probably has much to do with their patented DFV technology. Before having it fitted, their explanation of it seemed a bit exaggerated to me but now I know from experience they were not making anything up. Accelerating hard onto a bridge, the contact patches stay glued to the road surface right after going over the expansion joints where they didn't before. In short, more than a noticeable improvement in roadholding. Add to that the improved ride that comes with it and you've got one of the best mods you can do for our F. Enjoy!

TheTrackRat

James7

I know kinda old thread, but are you on 265/40 or 265/35 in these pics ? Looked great, I noticed I liked this post way back when lol Thanks !

TheTrackRa

Hi James,

Thanks for the compliment! Tyres are 265/35 all around.

Since the post I've installed Figs 2-piece rotors at the front and my damping is even stiffer at 4 clicks from full stiff at all four corners. Tracked a lot since then, and have not yet felt the need to up the spring rates.

TheTrackRat

Jwconeil

Did you get your aero pieces installed? Post up some pics!