Remote Reservoir Coilovers: Penske 8300 vs. Ohlins LMJ
 

Do any of you guys have real world experience using either of these shocks?

Penske has a much greater selection of optional lengths and are lighter than Ohlins. The price point is pretty close and both seem to be much higher quality than the AFCO 32 Series Double Adjustable.

Also, which spring brand do you prefer...?

Thanks, Josh

Those are both fairly high-end shocks. Do you know why you want something that fancy? The highest quality shock in the world won't do you any good if you don't have them valved properly. Also, the higher-end race stuff expects more routine maintenance, probably not the best choice for a car seeing primarily street miles.

Hypercoil makes a good spring but there are others. The OCD types will measure their springs to ensure their actual rate is close enough to their stated rate. The lower quality brands are known to provide product with rates off by as much as 10-20%.

Having an off-road and track day motorcycle background with Ohlin's, Penske, and WP Suspension experience I'd have to say Penske is a quality product and competitor to any shock manufacturer.

But like j-rho mentions, without proper valving and spring rates for your primary application you won't experience the full value of premium shocks. But if you do get the valving dialed over the entire stroke with proper sag and spring rates it can be heaven.

The range adjustability in high quality shocks with respect to compression valving (low and high speed) and rebound dampening can be substantial compared to the lower priced competitors. With Ohlin, WP, and Penske on my bikes one click of comp or rebound is noticable, four clicks is substantial and there is 24 clicks of low-speed compression on the WP shock. The stock (rebuilt) Showa on my Ducati is frustrating, very little change per click.

Suspension is an art and science and knowing the difference between good, bad, and exceptional requires a lot of seat time and experimentation. It is very easy for manufacturers, distributors, and tuners to sell sub-par "custom" valving on premium priced products to unknowing buyers.

We recently received a set of Penskes from a customer that was looking to replicate the dimensions and valving in our new coil over line.

The Penske's we tested were VERY stiff. They may have been ordered that way, but after speaking with the customer we determined the best course of action was to soften the valving of the shock and increase the spring rate. As they were you basically had no adjustment range with the Penske as it was so stiff to start out with.

Here's the graph compared to our single adjustable unit:
http://projectawdcamaro.com/images/l...-Ridetech3.jpg

Ohlin's new TTX system for bikes comes on the very aggressive side. WP Suspension tends to error on the "racing" firm side as well. Thus the importance of knowing valving characteristics.

Having access to force vs velocity graphs would greatly aide in the decision.

Looks like RideTech coilover is a player worthy of consideration.

You can't put a label on Penske or Ohlin's shocks being too stiff. If you want them stiff, that's the valve they'll make for you. Simple as that.

We've used Penske 8300's and liked them enough to be a dealer. The real advantage of a Penske is the ability to change the valving yourself in about 15 minutes...it's that easy. It doesn't take too long to get comfortable with making changes, although it can be frusterating at first.

When you order the shocks, they'll need to know your motion ratio, spring rate, and intended use of the car. If you tell them you want road-race type valving, they'll be pretty darn stiff. If you want a "high performance street" profile, they'll work with you. But really, they'll be dialed-in right off the bat.

I also disagree with the shocks needing routine maintenance. They should last longer than most without needing a rebuild, and honestly you'll never have to buy another shock for the car with the limitless valving options.

Give them a call and I promise you'll never look back. Check out the 7500 series for a more budget friendly option.

http://www.penskeshocks.com/files/Adjustable_Manual.pdf

Every 30 hours or yearly is more often than the casual folks in this arena would likely anticipate...

Give them a call and you'll find that number is for real competition environments, not street use. Completely different world. These shocks are of better quality than any of the common coilovers used today, for both function and durability.

These shocks are not meant for routine street use. Sure, they are high quality, and the modern race stuff is more durable than older race stuff, but these things are not the right answer for 99% of the folks here. Most would be better served by a simple non or rebound-adjustable Bilstein or Koni yellow.

In most cases the pothole-and-speedbump laden street is a harsher environment from a shocks' perspective than is competition.

I have owned, maintained, and raced multiple cars with Penske triples and other high-end shocks. Perhaps our perspectives are different because I don't sell them.

I am going to wade into this one... since I am the customer who marolf101x is refering too in his post.


The Penskes are an excellent shock and we have used them for nearly three years with very few problems or issues (a couple of which casual users would not have even noticed) but last fall we made the decision to move away from the Penskes and go with the new RideTech T3 shocks. I have no complaint with the ride quality of the Penskes, yes in my case they are firmer than the RideTech shocks but there are different ways to skin the same cat - with the Penske shocks we had stiffer shocks and softer springs whereas with the RideTech shocks we have a softer shock and a stiffer spring - two paths to the same destination. As Matt points out, the stiffness in not an integral part of the Penske shock - it is how we asked for it. You order it, they deliver it; you want council on what to do, just ask.

I personally made the decision to move to the RideTech shocks for a couple of reasons.

• First off, the new RideTech line of shocks (fixed, single, and triple adjustable) is (IMHO) every bit as high quality as the other brands mentioned in this post; these shocks are manufactured side by side with some of most respected dampners in motorsports to RideTech's specification - the move to me is a lateral move.
• Second, my Penske's were double adjustable and during the Silver State this year Mary and I had a "conversation" (at 140 mph) about how nice it would be to be able to have a bit more adjustability in our shocks for open highway events like the SSCC so I was really looking around at options to improve on what I had.
• Third, my Penske's were at the limit of their adjustability - they were set at full soft and we were hoping to get a bit softer for weight transfer and fine tuning - not a criticism of the physical shock, but at my valving.
• Fourth, my Penskes were in need of what was going to be their third (or fourth?) trip back to Penske for an update/rebuild - my experience has been that they need to be rebuilt/maintained regularly and possibly more often then you would like - they are a fine tuned instrument and if you don't maintain them you lose some of what you are paying for. I am an exception to the rule wrt use - and I am going to be hard on whatever shock I use.
• Finally, I have been nothing but impressed with RideTech's customer service, responsiveness, and quality so when I looked at my options - Penske, Ohlin, Spax, RideTech, etc. - I chose to support a company that I know personally.

I should have a "re"build thread started soon for our improvements - including the RideTech shocks - and I'll link it once it's online.