[kabirsaxe]

Hey all. I’m starting to look around for suspension upgrades, as I plan to dial it in this summer.

Looking for a set of coilovers with a budget of around $4100 USD.

I do about 5 track days a year. Car gets driven 10,000 miles a year. Some of these miles are also winter miles with salt and snow. I prefer a harsher ride. I would also heavily prefer a 2-way adjustable damper.

I’ll also be pairing these coilovers with f+r end links and rear toe arms.

I’m interested in the OG Shark Nitron R1, but curious as to what other options would match as well. I’m also interested in MCS and KW V3 CS. Another option is a set of used M4 gts oem suspension and knuckles which popped up near me.

What are your recommendations for me? Should I spend the extra money and get MCS?

Thanks

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by kabirsaxe

Hey all. I’m starting to look around for suspension upgrades, as I plan to dial it in this summer.

Looking for a set of coilovers with a budget of around $4100 USD.

I do about 5 track days a year. Car gets driven 10,000 miles a year. Some of these miles are also winter miles with salt and snow. I prefer a harsher ride. I would also heavily prefer a 2-way adjustable damper.

I’ll also be pairing these coilovers with f+r end links and rear toe arms.

I’m interested in the OG Shark Nitron R1, but curious as to what other options would match as well. I’m also interested in MCS and KW V3 CS. Another option is a set of used M4 gts oem suspension and knuckles which popped up near me.

What are your recommendations for me? Should I spend the extra money and get MCS?

Thanks

I'll chime in but try to not let my bias show

First if you are going to expose any coilover to the winter conditions I would put covers on them during that time. You should be able to find them to fit just about any setup. Keeping all that nasty stuff off will go a long ways towards extending their life.

If by harsher ride you mean a firmer setup you can get that with anything that runs stiffer spring rates than the oem (which is very easy to find since the oem runs ridiculously soft springs). The key though is to match the stiffer rates with the appropriate valving so as to not create a harsh ride that loses its composure too easily over bumps, curbs, etc. Still want these events to be soaked up by the dampers to keep the car from being unsettled on the track and just generally unpleasant on the street. This is one of the highlights of our kits and the biggest area we focused on.

As far as preferring a 2-way - the R1 kit is a dual adjustment setup but controlled by one dial. Just want to clarify that in case you saw dual somewhere and assumed rebound and compression had separate dials. If you are wanting separate adjustments then the R1 would not be the choice for you. It is an excellent kit and I will put it up against anything out there for performance and street manners but you do have just the one dial so definitely keep that in mind if that is a priority. The R3 would be the independent adjustment choice in Nitron and we have done the same work on them as we did with the R1. Personally if I am going to a separate adjustment setup I prefer also having the high speed adjustment in the mix too. It does not really add much complexity to the dial in process and the added benefit is more than worth it. Simplistically speaking being able to better control how my car handles uneven events without changing cornering characteristics is very nice to have. Of course that does come at an increased price though so are not as budget friendly but it is an incredible setup.

Other kits besides ours - I like MCS way more than KW. Lots of good MCS dealers out there too. I always liked working with Bimmerworld when we previously ran MCS but there are other shops out there too that deal with them. Also see 3DM's line of TTX well spoken of so you might look at those as too.

[Track/S]

The kw clubsport option with gts knuckles is the best of all, don't think for a minute if you have them nearby

[kabirsaxe]

Originally Posted by Track/S

The kw clubsport option with gts knuckles is the best of all, don't think for a minute if you have them nearby

Any reason as to why over the others?

[maxcbrdriver]

I've also been researching coilover options as of late. My use case is a bit different, the M2 is purely a weekend warrior, grand touring focused car for me, so limited to spirited driving through back roads. Is the R1 too aggressive for that scenario? I'm also not looking to slam the car, so what is the height range for the R1?

[MooMooM2]

I hear KW customer service is subpar and if you need rebuilds it can take a while. Maybe this is not everyones experiences but from my research and why I wrote them off the list.

I have installed the nitrons and still waiting to get an alignment but I can say that OG Shark customer service is top notch so far, I have had so many questions and he is so damn helpful (and I did not even buy them from him), also inertia labs from my research will get your coilovers rebuilt in a week. I will need more time with mine and specially track days before a proper review but even then I would still buy em again for CS alone. Also the build quality is very very nice.

[ThreeStripes]

If I reviewed my full experience with OG Shark Motorsports people would think I’d been paid off. I swapped from TCK to the OGSM Nitron R1 and I’m blown away with the value for money from the kit and the customer experience I’ve had.

My friend I track with runs MCS 2WNR on his E92 M3. He paid way more than I did, has 0 support, and our longtime mechanic that installed both said the Nitron build quality appeared better. MCS, Ohlins TTX, JRZ, KW… you spend big money with these brands, and you’re going to have a nice bit of kit but you won’t have OGSM on your side and in my experience that’s been priceless.

Originally Posted by MooMooM2

I hear KW customer service is subpar and if you need rebuilds it can take a while. Maybe this is not everyones experiences but from my research and why I wrote them off the list.

Originally Posted by Track/S

A few days ago this happened, the stabilizer link support broke, the link was also bent... I wrote an email to KW and I have no response, they are not serious...

Originally Posted by Track/S

I'm even embarrassed to post pics with that suspension.... they have been on the market for so many years and not capable of manufacturing their suspensions with higher quality... I have seen the MCS and they look 10 times better.

You will have to bring me a 3-way set in summer

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by maxcbrdriver

I've also been researching coilover options as of late. My use case is a bit different, the M2 is purely a weekend warrior, grand touring focused car for me, so limited to spirited driving through back roads. Is the R1 too aggressive for that scenario? I'm also not looking to slam the car, so what is the height range for the R1?

That usage is not out of the ordinary with our R1 - do have quite a few out there that are dedicated street setups and never see the track. The ride will definitely be firmer than stock as even our lowest rates we run are stiffer than oem. With the dampening we run though the harshness will be gone and that is where the worst of the F87 ride quality starts at. We can also lower the spring rates a bit too and "soften" the ride a bit though most still opt to go with 700/800 that we typically spec. Ride height covers from show car slammed up to full 4x4 stance and anywhere in between. I'm not big into slamming the car and prefer just a bit lower than stock usually too. There is a large range of adjustment so you are covered for pretty much any height you want to run.

Appreciate the sentiments MooMooM2 & ThreeStripes

[Maynard]

Originally Posted by OG Shark

...... the R1 kit is a dual adjustment setup but controlled by one dial. Just want to clarify that in case you saw dual somewhere and assumed rebound and compression had separate dials. If you are wanting separate adjustments then the R1 would not be the choice for you.....

Can you adust compression/rebound separately, but with one dial (i.e. able to change just the rebound without changing compression?) - or is it one setting for the two of them where they both change at the same time?

And I don't see any info on the R3 on your website, am I not looking in the right place?

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by Maynard

Can you adust compression/rebound separately, but with one dial (i.e. able to change just the rebound without changing compression?) - or is it one setting for the two of them where they both change at the same time?

And I don't see any info on the R3 on your website, am I not looking in the right place?

Damn I muddied that up even worse! R1 is just the one dial that changes both rebound & comp together - no independent adjustment between the two. On the fronts it is the one dial on the top mount accessible under the hood with the camber plate. On the rear its at the bottom of the damper and can be reached and easily adjusted from the rear of the car.

Yeah I haven't been real good about posting info on the R3s (had to have another member here drag me into the digital age kicking & screaming to get the site up in the first place ). We did the same development work with them as the R1s. They are sublime but there are a few different options to tailor them to the user so I prefer to talk them out with a customer when possible. In fact I'm going to be running an R3 modified down to a 2way due to class specifications next month (I don't like doing this unless absolutely necessary since a 3way is already being paid for). Lots of options - I'll be posting up specs and the results on that car soon but shoot me a message if you would like some more info sooner.

[maxcbrdriver]

Originally Posted by OG Shark

That usage is not out of the ordinary with our R1 - do have quite a few out there that are dedicated street setups and never see the track. The ride will definitely be firmer than stock as even our lowest rates we run are stiffer than oem. With the dampening we run though the harshness will be gone and that is where the worst of the F87 ride quality starts at. We can also lower the spring rates a bit too and "soften" the ride a bit though most still opt to go with 700/800 that we typically spec. Ride height covers from show car slammed up to full 4x4 stance and anywhere in between. I'm not big into slamming the car and prefer just a bit lower than stock usually too. There is a large range of adjustment so you are covered for pretty much any height you want to run.

Appreciate the sentiments MooMooM2 & ThreeStripes

Thank you for the info!

[Mahduece]

Im running Ohlins R&T. Very happy with them, although I havent tried other options. Im a huge Ohlins fan. Run Ohlins on everything I can. Superb damping and customer service.

[Track/S]

Originally Posted by kabirsaxe

Any reason as to why over the others?

Because it is a good option for your needs, the struts are made of stainless steel, the piston is protected and it is quite comfortable for the street, I have it on my gts and I am delighted.

Originally Posted by ThreeStripes

If I reviewed my full experience with OG Shark Motorsports people would think I’d been paid off. I swapped from TCK to the OGSM Nitron R1 and I’m blown away with the value for money from the kit and the customer experience I’ve had.

My friend I track with runs MCS 2WNR on his E92 M3. He paid way more than I did, has 0 support, and our longtime mechanic that installed both said the Nitron build quality appeared better. MCS, Ohlins TTX, JRZ, KW… you spend big money with these brands, and you’re going to have a nice bit of kit but you won’t have OGSM on your side and in my experience that’s been priceless.

They answered me after a week saying that in the competition version they use steel struts to give more rigidity to the suspension, I asked them to send me the measurements of the strut to make it in titanium and they told me that they do not have information on the serial number of my suspension.....

The technical service is pathetic, they didn't answer anything about the breakage of the support.

[Ratcher]

I have a KW V4 Clubsport 3 way and quality has been really good, no issues whatsoever.

Regarding rebuilding its actually irrelevant, how rarely one does it... it shouldn't even be a point. I currently have 25.000km on my coilovers, with a bunch of track, and don't need a rebuild yet.

I wouldnt recommend an Öhlins R&T, it's way too soft.
Nitron is always a great option.