Well before getting into the Ohlins coilovers let me talk about removing the OEM soft top and an easy way to shed some weight. The hard top on the s2k I knew there was no reason to leave the OEM soft top in just adding a bunch of weight for no reason.
So the process of remove the soft top is not an easy task, leave yourself plenty of time and don't try and rush through. With most youtubers stating it should take around 8 hours to R&R the soft top I decided I would time myself. The entire process of removing and replacing the soft top and all the interior panels took me about 4 hours. I did find that I was able to shortcut I few steps like not taking out the seats which did not leave much room to work.
Getting the soft top out wasn't all that hard, there was just a ton of trim pieces that had to be removed and actually picking up and removing the entire soft top was a little hard as a 1 person job. The soft top is a little heavy (60lbs) and awkward to try and lift out of the car by yourself. The whole process would have gone faster if I had had a second person helping. One thing I was very stoked about was that once all the interior trim pieces were reinstalled that interior looked almost perfectly stock, like it never had a soft top. It's really amazing how little space the OEM soft top folds into.
After putting the s2k on a diet it was time to start addressing the suspension. Knowing that the car was going to see a lot of track days but would also need to be civil enough to daily, the decision was made to go with the Ohlins DFV (Dual Flow Valve) coilovers. I have to admit I've never had a system this nice before, typically going for a used system or something that'll just get me by. This Ohlins kit couldn't be nicer or more complete coming with everything to make the install straight forward. One word of caution the directions are a little vague.
After determining which springs were for the front and setting my pre-load, everything went real quick. I sure it didn't help that I started the entire process at 9pm with an early meetup scheduled. Isn't that how it always goes, lol. Luckily the kit was complete and didn't require anything extra to complete so the whole install took a bout 3hrs.
I couldn't be happier with the Ohlins kit. Now having a couple track days on the suspension and daily driving on em to work they really offer the best of both worlds as I'm able to "dial in" the suspension stiffness using the top mounted knobs. As I get more track time on them I will continue to report on the handling characteristics but so far I super happy with the handling. The new suspension has exposed a few other areas that need to be improved on, like the brakes and tires as I've been finding the limits of both on the track. I've since moved to a set of race pads and started looking at both daily and track set of wheels and tires. Stay tuned for what direction I go. Headed to Laguna Seca for a track day this month, can't wait to test out Project 71-109 and see how we do.
Took the car out for a quick drive down the coast when I had the top off and I have to admit I really didn't like driving it without the hard top. For whatever reason it felt like it lost its sportiness, to me it felt more like a cruiser. Oh well I guess the hard top will be staying on.
Everything else. Enjoy!!
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