Remote Reservoir Coilovers: Penske 8300 vs. Ohlins LMJ

[j-rho]

Originally Posted by Silver69Camaro

I also disagree with the shocks needing routine maintenance.

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...

[Silver69Camaro]

Originally Posted by j-rho

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.

[j-rho]

Originally Posted by Silver69Camaro

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.

[Silver69Camaro]

Originally Posted by j-rho

Perhaps our perspectives are different because I don't sell them.

I think it's because the shocks we sell are not competition shocks - they are meant for high-performance street cars. There is no way we could sell a shock with a 30-hour service interval.

[BANKO]

Hey guys thanks for all the feedback. To give a bit more clarity: I'm wanting remote reservoir, double adjustable shocks for easier adjustability between runs and more flexible packaging options for my custom suspension. I plan to track my car, autocross, and have fun while street driving. I want a shock that will perform well, is adjustable and rebuildable. I haven't heard of many guys using Ohlins on their cars and only a few actually using Penske shocks. People seem to like them, even though they are pricey. The point about yearly rebuilds is a good thing to consider in the total cost.

Interesting that Ridetech was brought up as an option, since they only come in single adjustable versions w/o remote reservoirs. James mentioned a triple adjustable version, maybe they are not yet commercially available. They seem like a good product for a non-rebuildable shock, but that is different than what I am looking for.

[James OLC]

The RideTech TA3 (triple adjustable with remote reservoir) debuted at SEMA in November. I don't think that they have cycled in to the catalog yet. V8TV did a blurb on them at the show.

[marolf101x]

Our Triple Adjustable coil overs are a monotube, remote reservoir shock that is custom valve-able and rebuild-able.
They are basically the "little brother" of the Fox shock found on the Ford Raptor pick up trucks. As those shocks have been tested to over 100K mile life expectancy we are very comfortable rating ours at 50K miles between service intervals (for a normal street driven vehicle that sees the occasional autocross).


Here's the V8TV vid as well as one from Bangshift: (Note: the production units have triple swivel fittings on the hose. A costly upgrade, but if you have every installed remote reservoirs you'll know it's well worth the expense!):

[James OLC]

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.