Ohlins Coilovers Get Fitted to a Volkswagen Golf R

There are many top names in suspension when it comes to aftermarket coilovers.  The European market has an entire different outlook on suspension tuning and in some cases, design.  Extremely popular in motocross, Ohlins actually has quite a bit of automotive know how when it comes to coilover setups.  In addition to applications for Porsche, Volkswagen, and Audi, Ohlins also has some fitments for the most popular Japanese cars such as the Subaru STI, Mitsubishi EVO, Mazda RX8, Scion FR-S, Nissan GT-R, and more.  We actually included the application list below for reference.

There’s not a lot of user information on the Ohlins Road and Track kit (VMS MI10) for the Volkswagen MK5/6 Golf.  Although Ohlins states that they have not tested the kit on AWD models such as the Golf R, we wanted to give it a try.  We have used the JDM Ohlins DFV kit for a customers 2003 Mitsubishi EVO 8 back in 2006 and found it to be one of the better suspension kits for that car.  Having a look at the Golf R suspension, we know that the kit will fit both the FWD and AWD chassis.  Others suspension companies have shared the strut/shocks and generally, the layout of the suspension parts between the GTI and Golf R are the same.  The following are some installation notes and set-up our customer took regarding this kit.

The Ohlins MK5/6 Road and Track kit comes with 180mm x 70 N/mm Front springs and 200mm x 60 N/mm rear springs.  It’s a straight forward install like any other coilover kit.  Installation in the rear requires the removal of the top and bottom stock rubber spring mounts.  The new Ohlins linear springs sit between the spring preload adjuster and a lower plastic seat.  The standard settings are as follows:

• Front – distance between bottom of threads and lock ring = 7 mm (2mm preload on spring)
• Rear – distance between bottom of threads on preload adjuster and lock ring = 35 mm

This resulted in the following heights on the Golf R (fender to wheel center, ½ tank of fuel):

• Front = 342 mm (no settling)
• Rear = 324 mm

The front spring seat was then lowered 1 rotation (5 mm distance to lock ring, no spring preload) and the rear was increased 5 rotations (42.3 mm distance to lock ring, 14.3 mm spring preload on 200 mm spring) resulting in the following measurements after settling (~1 mm in front):

• Front = 338 mm
• Rear = 333 mm (~332 mm with full tank of fuel)
• Front Camber = -1.0
• Rear Camber = -2.0 L, -1.8 R (-1.8 is stock settings.)
• Toe = 0 front and rear

For comparison, the Stock US Golf R has measurements of 365mm F, 363mm R.  Per VW specs, the Euro R is 358 mm F, 356 mm R.

A note on the rear, the max distance from the bottom of the threads to lock ring is 50 mm, which would theoretically allow you to run the rear height at ~339-340 mm.  So the kit does fit with ~20mm lowering from the Euro R specs, but you need to increase the preload in the rear to compensate for the added weight in the rear for the AWD.

For dampening adjustments, we found that 10 clicks from full stiff in the front and 12 clicks from full stiff in the rear works quite well on the street.  Turn in is much sharper and the DFV absorbs the little bumps very well.

Check out the installation photos below and shop all Ohlins Coilovers Here.