Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Are the Ohlins worth the £2.5 they now cost

I am not really chasing better handling. The Ohlins were a suggestion by Steve at M3W Services, who had been working on my M3W over the last two months. Given my low mileage and the generally good condition of French secondary roads, I am not convinced the cost/benefit of the Ohlins or the ATR shocks is favourable for my circumstances. I may reconsider over the winter and then next spring, bring a set of ATR shocks out to France with me, when I come back from the UK, at the beginning of May. Fitting carbon mudguards to reduce unsprung weight would only be of interest if I raced the car, which I don't. In France, mudguards don't seem to be obligatory anyway. A couple of local M3W's run without them.

Wilson

Mine has Ohlins, unfortunately I cant compare to standard suspension as they were already fitted when I bought it. The one thing I would say is how noticeable comfortable and smooth they are. I've had an Elise with Spax and a vxz220 with Nitrons and the Ohlins give by far the best ride, granted they probably aren't set to the stiffness of the others but it has surprised me. Would I spend 2.5k? Probably not but there is very little crashiness so this must make a difference with the forces that go through the chassis.

Love my Ohlins on my new M3W. Combined with the Empire Kit (don’t know if that makes much difference), my new car rides better, and has a lot less understeer, than my old one (which had the Spax Adjustables on).
Worth every penny, I’d say (but I do cover a fair bit of mileage in my car).

Big fan of the Ohlins! The ride is much smoother and not jarring. I later upgraded to the carbon fiber mudguards and light weight tubeless tires.

Ditto on Joy of Ohlins. I was an early adopter. Their contribution to driving satisfaction can be felt in many ways, on poor roads and excellent ones. I might not have been as motivated if my daily roads were in better condition. But I've never regretted the swap even when the roads are near perfect. Its an overall improved experience.

After the G56 exhausts the Õhlins are the second best upgrade to the M3W in our opinion.
But for which reason they need to be so expensive remains the question.

I don't doubt that the Ohlins are good but the question was are they worth the money, what do you get for your £2500? Having driven M3W's with Ohlin, ATR , Spax adjustable and Spax standard shock absorbers these are my thoughts, for road use car. I think that the ATR's are very similar performance to the Ohlins, for half the price. Both Ohlin and ATR give a noticeably better ride than the Spax adjustable but the adjustable Spax are a large improvement over the standard items. Spax adjustable cost about 2/3 the price of the ATR's.

Not sure about the durability of Ohlin's, any owners had any issues? A problem with ATR shocks for some could be the supply and overhaul /repair of them as they are from a relatively small UK supplier. My experience with ATR's in 12,000 miles of usage has been one leak from the operating rod, that was repaired with a seal and rod change by ATR. There has been a small amount of play in the upper rod end bearings on the fronts, these were replaced (easy. and cheap to do) plus a dust excluder seal fitted to reduce the chances of reoccurrence. Both Ohlin and ATR shocks can be repaired and serviced, Spax are service by replacement only. The early Suplex are no longer available and the later ones were not good. There are some alternatives that I have seen fitted to some French cars but have no details.

I have had Ohlins all round on my 1977 Porsche 3.3L 911 RSR Group B rally car for 12 years and about 15,000 miles. No signs of any deterioration at all but would I notice a very gradual deterioration, not sure. I have them set stiffer than a pure road car would have.

Wilson

Great shot of a special car.

Sadly the driver is not as great and due to advancing years, I have decided to sell the 911 and buy something gentler like a pre-war Bentley 4¼ sports saloon or a TF21 Alvis Cabriolet. Also my long term co-driver, who was considerably younger than me, died suddenly and wholly unexpectedly last year, which has dampened my enthusiasm for classic rallying.

Wilson