Sachs performance coilovers

[P1zzaboy]

Has anyone tried the Sachs performance coilovers?

How are they for track and road use?

[roastbeef]

Doesn't mean they aren't decent, but I've never even heard of them.

[6ixSpd]

I just saw them on FCP Euro's website, too. Inverted design and monotube with bottom mount adjustment are appealing factors. They're right in line with Ohlins pricing but it's tough to find much reviews on them. Given Sachs' history and pedigree with actual motorsports performance, I have no doubt they'll be great coilovers but unfortunately there's not enough info out there on this kit. They've been out in the VW and BRZ crowd for a while.

PSA: To any vendors watching this and if they're interested in subsidizing them for an in depth review, I'd be happy to install and review these on road and an upcoming trackday at Mosport Grand Prix track in October

[Richbot]

Sachs makes the stock non-edc dampers

[Montaver]

I know Sachs from the Renaultsport Clio 182 Trophy. They make some seriously nice kit. Be very interested to see how their e9x coil overs are. Do they manufacture the EDC dampers as well? I was undert the impression they do.

[dparm]

Sachs is a huge suspension manufacturer for the OEMs. I believe they make the EDC parts for the E92? They're part of ZF now, so yeah, it's a big company.

Wasn't aware they were in the aftermarket.

[GORDON.M3]

Originally Posted by P1zzaboy

Has anyone tried the Sachs performance coilovers?

How are they for track and road use?

Yes, they are VERY similar to the Bilstein PSS series of coilovers. My friend had it on his E90 before.
Expect roughly the same performance as a PSS9 kit.

[Skers 05]

Originally Posted by Richbot

Sachs makes the stock non-edc dampers

Sachs makes the EDC damper as well.

[GeorgeA]

Sachs probably has the most racing experience with BMW. I'm really tempted to try these and compare to Ohlins.

[JsL]

Heads up these are currently $1800 versus the usual $2200.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/coi...e-841500118460

[GORDON.M3]

Originally Posted by GeorgeA

Sachs probably has the most racing experience with BMW. I'm really tempted to try these and compare to Ohlins.

Ohlin R&Ts are overrated, they aren't the best on the track either.

[Richbot]

Wish they had the rates published somewhere. F8x rates are 48/120N/mm

which works out to about 275/685

That's actually exactly what I'm looking for for my very street-only car. Small increase in front rate, all OEM mounting. F it I'm ordering. My stock non-EDC struts have 70,000 miles on them (car has 112k, there's 40k in there with MCS somewhere in the middle) and it's time for an upgrae, plus one of my (original) strut mounts is clicking, so, WHILE I'M IN THERE

[6ixSpd]

Originally Posted by Richbot

Wish they had the rates published somewhere. F8x rates are 48/120N/mm

which works out to about 275/685

That's actually exactly what I'm looking for for my very street-only car. Small increase in front rate, all OEM mounting. F it I'm ordering. My stock non-EDC struts have 70,000 miles on them (car has 112k, there's 40k in there with MCS somewhere in the middle) and it's time for an upgrade, plus one of my (original) strut mounts is clicking, so, WHILE I'M IN THERE

Looking forward to your impressions! It looks like a very interesting piece of kit, for sure.

[GeorgeA]

Originally Posted by GORDON.M3

Ohlin R&Ts are overrated, they aren't the best on the track either.

Why would they be? The R in R&T stands for road.

If you want a full race setup for your track only racecar Öhlins has different kits for you.

[Richbot]

My plan, initially, is to use these without the provided rear ride height adjusters and springs. I have no use for a 20% increase in rear spring rate and don't want to lower the car from its present ZCP spring height

But if it's impossible to get the fronts high enough, I'll use them. Just a note that anyone who wants to wait for my future impressions may have to take them with a grain of salt.

1) I don't necessarily want to go any lower, but I do want better damping than the stock non-EDC dampers can provide. The Bilstein B8 I have now on the rear, don't cut it, still not enough to handle big hits. I miss the damping force my old remote MCS 2-ways could generate over big hits, a lot. I'm hoping these can bring back that loving feeling of long travel, soft springs, with seemingly infinite damping force. Might be a fool's hope at this price point. But I'd rather have a "busy" damper-influenced ride and have more control over big bumps than the alternative, so I'm not scared away by the adjustment impacting rebound plus compression simultaneously. With the MCS, I never cranked up the rebound for competition without also adding bump damping, so I'm hoping they hit the balance right with the valving and it's not underdamped at "nice-riding" settings. We'll find out, but in any event I don't think it'll be worse than stock.

2) I want OEM mounting front and rear. To the extent it can be avoided, no race bushings on my street car please. I use the Dinan plates to avoid extra moving parts and retain the OEM strut mount. It looks like these even use the OEM spring rubbers in the rear. I like that. I'm not trying to wreck a perfectly comfortable car.

3) Sick of chasing the next sweet aftermarket wheel hotness and also sick of the car looking obviously modified, I went to square 220M's recently, and I LOVE the way the car handles and looks, but the car probably needs more damper to really keep those heavy wheels from flopping around, and a little more high speed damping to take the edge off the 19" sidewalls would also be nice

4) The stuff on the car now is all older than my kids.

I also like that these are inverted front and rear, booted, and just generally seem fully-baked. We'll see. Arriving Wednesday, should be able to install in time for the snow to fly, but if not, winter's always a fun time to test setup changes, heh...

Somebody had to do it

[derbo]

Richbot , What was the reason you removed the MCS?

[Richbot]

I had on them on the car for AStock autocross. This was back when we could run Hoosiers and those dampers plus 295/315 Hoosiers was pretty damn awesome.

Retired the car not long after thing 1 was born to focus limited time on club racing, and sold the shocks not long after that because it felt like a waste. They’re atill autocrossing somewhere.

Strut body was machined special to accept stock lower spring perch (no threads) so it’s a special application

[Timujin]

Seems like a good setup.

https://www.sachsperformance.com/en/...s-841500118460

[JDMHolic]

Originally Posted by dparm

Sachs is a huge suspension manufacturer for the OEMs. I believe they make the EDC parts for the E92? They're part of ZF now, so yeah, it's a big company.

Wasn't aware they were in the aftermarket.

^ +1

Sachs is one of giant companies in automotive parts industry. No doubt they do private labeling this coilover to other aftermarket companies.

[Richbot]

The adjuster setup doesn’t look familiar. But yeah ZF/Sachs is a monster oe supplier and they definitely have the institutional knowledge to do this properly on this particular chassis.

I guess I will find out soon if they did, heh

[Richbot]

They showed up, going through this piecemeal and only have one strut on the car so far but:

- Overall this setup weighs about 4.5-5kg more than stock. Most of that (about 4kg) is in the struts. Steel vs. aluminum struts and shocks, but the front springs are also heavier, and while the rear springs are a little shorter, they're also thicker wire and have the adjuster added in. This is similar to my MCS setup, which had aluminum shocks but with the remote reservoirs, weighed more than stock, but obviously did not have the extra weight of thicker wire or height adjusters because I was using stock springs. That was about 10lb heavier than stock all-in, IIRC.

- Strut is about 1/2-3/4" shorter than stock but appears to have a bit more travel on the shaft. Shocks are the same length mount to mount and appear to have the same stroke (hard to compare apples to apples because these have internal bump rubbers and are inverted)

- The swaybar mount solution is a very beefy billet machined piece that rotates on the threads and is pretty slick. But I could see it being noisy (there's a set screw that holds it in place). Hopefully not.

- You'll be able to reach the strut adjusters without jacking the car up, but you probably won't want to. Use jackstands...

- I have a 275/30-19 with stock 220M ET23 9.5" wheels up front. There is plenty of clearance for these, but if I want to go super low, I would need a spacer. Right now I have the adjuster on the only one I have installed even with the top of the tire. Since the goal is not to go much lower than ZCP standard height, maybe 10-12mm, this works for me. But a concern for anybody wanting to track these, you'll probably end up wanting to convert to a 2.5", shorter spring if you want to get the car lower. No idea how low it is yet though, still has a jack under it.

- My front bumpstops weren't as dead as some, but the bottoms were starting to get pretty pulverized at 112,000 miles

- My kingdom for a bent 7/8" Gear Wrench. The top locknut on the struts is stiff as hell. Luckily it uses a 6mm allen, which meant I could use my big 6mm t-handle. If I ever take these off and have to re-install, I'm buying 4 flat hex nuts and double-nutting it. Jayzus.

- The upper mount pin on the shocks takes the standard non-EDC upper mount (EDC cars have 12mm vs. 10mm iirc)

Pro tip - don't forget the crossover pipe on your Stoptechs ... almost had a heart attack

[Richbot]

Struts done. Surprisingly high. Maybe all the gas was leaked out of my stock struts but I have the adjuster pretty low, about halfway down the strut, just to get to 5mm higher than where I was with Zcp springs. Going to drive it a bit and see if it the springs settle some. Still tons of tire clearance luckily. Bodes well for using without the rear adjusters and the softer stock rear spring. Was worried itd be mandatory 10mm drop based on their specs. Maybe my car is just too darn light, lol

Ride difference is pretty minimal. I have it 5 clicks from soft up front. Adjusters are rigjty tighty lefty loosy so it’s easy to adjust blind with the car on the ground (on your back) and that’s pleasant surprise. I want to say it’s a bit better but who can tell so soon

Rear influences ride more so I’m anxious to get the rear shocks on and see what’s what. You can definitely feel the extra front spring and you people talking about street driving 500+lb springs are bigger men than I