Ahlman Engineering Olins Shocks

[Specracer]

Ahlman Engineering Ohlins Shocks

Well it was a mad dash prior to pick up by transport, but I was able to get these on my car before R8. I have been a "fly on the wall" during Scotts development of these, and to say it had been fascinating is an understatement. I decided to get these for a number of reasons that include better performance, but the biggie for me is the long term serviceability. The OEM dampers are very good. These are way better, and offer unparalleled performance, and a custom design using the insight and data that few have in the world. These have been VERY carefully tested and tweaked by the person that engineered our suspension.

So how are they to drive? Well so far my drive was short, limited to driving to Rocketmans house to drop off my car for transport. About 50 miles or so. They felt great. The biggest surprise, was how smooth they are, and the lack of impact harshness, I guess is scientifically referred to as "chuckle". It is the sound the OEM dampers make when you hit a bump. These don't.

Again, I was looking for a long term serviceable solution, and these are it as they have o ring seals so they can sit with out moving for extended off seasons, and they be rebuilt and freshened. Oh yeah, they are a LOT lighter too....

I went with Scotts street lowered package. This ups the spring rate a bit, but I only wanted .5" and .25 of lowering. I don't want the downsides of the more aggressive 1" / .75" (speed bumps, driveway egress etc). The package arrived ready to go, and I installed them in under 3 hours, but that included washing the wheels while they were off....

Will look forward to learning more when we get to drive the car more in CA at the rally, but so far so good!! Great job Scott!!

 

[debtdrives]

Nice! How much $ are they?

 

[PL510*Jeff]

I too ordered a set of Alhman Engineering's shock and springs set up for my GT. With over 100k on my GT it was appropriate to replace my shocks. And coincidentally Scott came to market with his Ohlins shock, Eibach springs and newly designed attachments. I should say that the OEM equipment had served me very well, and for my mostly street usage, was very satisfactory. I'm sure there was some degradation in suspension performance but nothing "told me" it was time to replace the shocks. I was intrigued by Scott's "re-appearance" in our GT world with this "newly designed and improved" set-up. And followed along all the posts about it and the testing done, just like most of you.

I called Scott 6-7 weeks prior to my attending GT Joey's event in Dearborn. After a bit of discussion, I settled on the standard ride height Ahlman package. I didn't need/want the track set ups nor the lowered units. I drive my GT everywhere. And any kind of road from track to street, to worn out, to newly paved, on graveled and Forest service (aka Logging Roads) and every once in a while on beach sand. But then most of you already knew that. Stock serves me well.

As my trip to Dearborn became closer, and a few calls back and forth with Scott, I changed my spring color choice to Ford Racing Blue (Go Blu!). And had talked to Rich & Dennis to do the install after the Dearborn event. I must add here for your information : Scott is: 1) a Perfectionist with a capital P and 2) one of the most anal retentive individuals I have ever met and 3) a really nice guy. The phone calls on the status of my order were darn near every other day. As I got closer to Dearborn it was daily as he wasn't sure everything would be done in time, which was no-biggie to me as I could have then install done by my Ford dealer, but Scott pushed and prodded and my stuff was finished about the time I arrived in Dearborn. He volunteered to hand carry them to The GTGuys, as there might not have been enough time to ship them, etc. From his home, which is somewhere close to the Arctic Circle in Wisconsin.

I arrived at the GTGuys shop at 8:30A.M. on Monday morning. Rich and Denis had everything laid out with the right tools on the bench next to the empty lift. And after the normal good morning pleasantries and discussion of car washing hoses and nozzles, I was directed to bring my car inside and put it on their lift.

Fifty Four (54) Minutes later, I watched as my GT hit the ground with all new springs and shocks on it!

%&*%()# 54 minutes. My coffee wasn't even cold and I still had 2 bites left in my blueberry danish.

And now for you all really want to know. How good is it really. Perfection. The only way to describe it.

And here's what I did over the next 7 days. Tuesday, drove north to Luddington, Mi. and took the S.S. Badger across the big Lake to Mantiiwoc, Wisconsin. Wednesday drove from N.E. Wisc. to S.W. Wisconsin without going on a freeway. Country roads through beautiful farmlands. Immediately noticed that front end lift on initial acceleration was drastically reduced from what I was used to. Added more "squirt" in 1st gear, if you will. Second thing I noticed was how smooth everything seemed.

Day 2 Drove from Albert Lea, Minn. to Sioux Falls, S.D. Again on country roads not freeways. A long day behind the windshield. Continued to be surprised how good the ride quality was improved and how quiet my Goodyears became on concrete roadways. That is something I hadn't expected. And how soft the hammering was on those concrete expansion became. Just ashort soft blip. Nothing I had learned about Scott's new shock/springs had prepared me for this. Am I dreaming or has "perfection" entered the GT World.

To Be Continued.

Need to deliver my #1 son's '70 Nova to him and visit my Grand daughter and Daughter. 200 miles R.T. with a ferry the catch.

 

[Indy GT]

Andy,
Pure eye candy (which also functions!).
Congratulations. Want to hear more about your impressions while taking on some California twisties.

 

[FordGTOC]

Nice! How much $ are they?

http://www.ahlmaneng.com/products#/ford-gt-pricing

 

[RaceDeck]

Those look so good, might need to upgrade

 

[Beach-GT]

These DO look nice!

 

[RALPHIE]

My Thoughts

I also received a set of Alhman Engineering's shock and springs set up for my GT. I got Scott's RT-1 package, a 4-way adjustable setup for the track, however, not with the hardest springs. He offers 4 different setups:

SS-1 (Street Stock 1)
SL-1 (Street Lowered 1)
RT-1 (Road & Track 1)
RT-2 (Road & Track 2)​

Both packages utilize Ohlin shocks, and the street packages are 2-Way adjustable, and the R&T packages are 4-way.

View attachment 30399​

The 4-way is on the left, the 2-way on the right. Depending on the ride height configuration desired, helper springs can be added - the tightly coiled spring on the 4-way between the main coil and the spring perch on the shock.

View attachment 30398​

This picture shows a 4-way with helpers installed in the rear.

For prices, contact Scott at sahlman@AhlmanEng.com or PM him here on the forum (sahlman)

Like Jeff, my milage was approaching a level where I was considering shock absorber replacement, so Scott's offerings were very timely. And, like Jeff, my OEM shocks did not seem to have degraded and were not leaking, so I wanted to save them as a non-worn out set of original equipment. Additionally, I was interested in a better track performance than the OEM's. An added benefit is a lowered unsprung weight.

I had been in contact with Scott since he had visited Mammoth Lakes for snowboarding and snowmobiling last winter, so I was aware of his desire to offer a better suspension package for our cars. And, after Mark McGowan had done the initial testing, I was convinced that I should place an order. As stated earlier, I ordered the RT-1 package, but I wanted them set to stock ride height, as my car gets lowered by about 0.75" when I install the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires. And, since I was going to the Dearborn area to the GT Guys for some other work, I opted to have the shocks shipped to them for installation. Following the installation, Denis trailered the car up to Roush to check the alignment - on the machine that he used to set the alignment on most of the cars when they were new.

I picked up the car at the GT Guys on August 7, and drove it back to the motel in Woodhaven where I was staying. The exit from the Interstate for this motel has a long constant radius flat turn of 270° with a diameter of about 500 feet. I held the speed high and constant at about 55-60 mph through the turn, and the car did not lean at all (that I could feel) through the turn. Jeff Larson was following me in his car, before his shocks were installed, and told me that he also thought the car stayed flat and stable through the turn.

Since then, I have driven my GT for over 4,100 miles on a variety of roads, from (1) Detroit misaligned concrete block. (2) gravel (I made a mistake onto a road in northeast Ohio), (3) new smooth Interstate concrete and (4) high speed Nevada unpopulated highways (110 to 130 mph). So far, I think the ride feel for these is about the same as the OEM units, in terms of the noise/feel when encountering a harsh change in the road surface, or going over significant tar lines on a repaired road. I've been in signicant rainstorms without noticing any squirminess due to the increase in spring force setting.

I have yet to take the car to a track to examine the roadholding limits with this suspension package, but hopefully will get a chance this fall. However, I do feel more confident in the car's capabilities on public streets and roads, and the steering response is excellent.

Ralphie

 

[sahlman]

Andy, Jeff and Ralphie,

Thank you for the feedback and post here on my Ahlman Engineering Ohlins Shocks specific for the Ford GT. I am glad you are enjoying your new shock packages with 3 different levels of "aggressiveness" from stock to much more track biased on Ralphie's car. I look forward to continued feedback from you guys and the serious miles you are putting on your cars. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. I have personally put over 2000 hours into this system in addition to my partners on the project efforts and feel confident it will continue to perform very well and reliably. The improved ride and impacts on a high performance shock package without bushings is a great added benefit. The fact that the ride on Ralphie's car now, with 50% stiffer spring rates, is equal to stock in his opinion, is pretty significant. Very cool. I look forward to seeing you guys in Sonoma.

Enjoy your new coil-overs guys!

Scott

 

[BlackICE]

The fact that the ride on Ralphie's car now, with 50% stiffer spring rates, is equal to stock in his opinion, is pretty significant.
Scott

Ralphie also thinks that his FRPP rear exit headers aren't too loud. :lol

I am sure that the shocks are great with a full range of options to suit everyone.

 

[sahlman]

Thanks for the good comments guys on my coil-overs for the FGT and FordGTOC for pointing people to my website and my price specific link. Please visit http://www.ahlmaneng.com/products for details on my shock packages for the GT. You can contact me by email or phone with questions or inquiries through my website.

I am a Form And Function guy so they have to perform great and look great. I think we hit the mark.

A couple of clarification comments on notes above - All four tested packages are available in either 2-way or 4-way configurations. However, along the lines of Ralphie's comments - the SS-1 and SL-1 packages are typically two-way and the RT-1 and RT-2 packages have all been 4-way so far due to usage. A 2-way package can be turned into a 4-way package at any time, but it costs more than going directly to a 4-way package. The 4-way package is really needed for track tuning and more importantly spring changes.

Scott

 

[BlackICE]

Scott, great website and product. I'll see you and some of your shocks at the Rally.

 

[sahlman]

Scott, great website and product. I'll see you and some of your shocks at the Rally.

Thank you Black Ice. I have some more work to do on the site, but the Ford GT shocks section is in good shape. Glad you like it. Look forward to seeing you at the Rally.

Scott

 

[Specracer]

I have been forgetting to post up follow up. These shocks were a HUGE improvement over OEM. I was surprised how rough the CA roads were. Trinity, Spring Mountain, and the PCH were WAY more comfortable, and fun! Only test left will be a track day at some point (R9 at the latest I hope). Then I'm sure I will be raving again about these once again. Lastly I now have a rebuildable, long term, serviceable item.