MCS 1WNR or 3DM Ohlins "Trackday" or JRZ RS ONE

[stephen]

Who is the go to MCS dealer?

Not sure where others have purchased from, but I know that Vorshlag carries them.

[jvit27]

I can speak to both as I've had them on my own cars, as well as many others.

Ohlins- mine are not the trackday spec (camber plates+spacers) but afaik they are the same otherwise. Pretty decent on the street for what they are but i'm not blown away. High speed blowoff isn't as great as a premium damper but they react quick for a weekend warrior. Ride quality is tangibly better with 18's than 19's. Personally I think PSS10 are a better all around choice. Similar product but much less expensive and a lifetime warranty, which leaves more $ for camber plates, sways, linear springs etc. as they are also more upgrade-friendly.

RS1- NOT at all 'comfortable'. I ran them on my E36 with 17's and 400/500 then 300/400 springs with both race and street mounts. Played with nitrogen pressures too. Could never get them to behave acceptably for a DD on the streets of SoCal. They handled fantastic when pushed to the limit though so I ultimately realized that more expensive is not better and they were simply the wrong application for my use-case. Great product but they don't excel on the street. It's a product for track use that can be driven to/from and that's about it. Anyone who says otherwise is either <25, a track junkie, has them for bragging rights and/or simply doesn't have experience with much else. When I removed them, I put Bilstein B8 which are notoriously harsh and it was literally a relief by comparison.

FWIW RS1 are basically an identical product to MCS 1WNR. A friend performed the same experiment and it was 100% apples to apples.. same car, tires, spring rates, etc. Negligible difference between the two products. IMO remote reservoirs are a must at this level, otherwise don't bother. The non-remote stuff is a huge step down and you're cutting a corner to save money. Valving is the biggest factor amongst any damper and you can tune anything to your needs but the problem with taking this route is you spend alot of money to essentially dumb them down to behave more like a TCK (my favorite all-around setup). And dismissing those because it's a Koni-based product is ignorant.

JRZ RS Pros I was running 600/900, ride quality was better than stock.

It's this kind of absolute nonsense that creates confusion.

[///Mangler]

Who is the go to MCS dealer?

Bimmerworld

T

[Obioban]

Some really high spring rates here.

Just a reminder that higher spring rates = less grip. You should only have as much spring rate as you need-- anything beyond that is a downgrade to ride quality and grip/speed.

[enjoy_m3]

I had 3DM Ohlins Dedicated Tracks on my E46 M3. They were incredibly stiff. Pretty jarring on the street.

For context, my JRZ RS Pros & MCS 1WNRs had the same if not stiffer spring rates and rode considerably better on the street, and track. I would highly recommend the MCS 1-ways over the Ohlins; worth the extra money.

Cornerbalanced, these are the dedicated track coilovers right? What are you running now? I'm on ohlins dedicated and actually like them but curious to see how MCS/JRZ rides. You in socal? I'd be curious to see how your car drives.

[S14]

Bimmerworld

T

Agreed. The setup help and after purchase care is important.

[lvm3sm46]

Added MCS 1WNR to the list. I like that they are stateside and have great customer support.

[Gearhead55]

Added MCS 1WNR to the list. I like that they are stateside and have great customer support.

I'm on 1WNRs with flat ride spring rates 450/840 iirc and I absolutely love them. I have a 30mm front bar and stock rear bar. Completely streetable and gorgeous at the track so far.

[Tbonem3]

MCS FTW. Love mine. 400lb/600lb.

[cornerbalanced]

Some really high spring rates here.

Just a reminder that higher spring rates = less grip. You should only have as much spring rate as you need-- anything beyond that is a downgrade to ride quality and grip/speed.

My next car/setup, I'm following your guide to the T. I typically purchase suspension used/with the car...so I'm left with whatever setup the previous owner did, and I'm just too lazy to change. I completely agree though.

[cornerbalanced]

Cornerbalanced, these are the dedicated track coilovers right? What are you running now? I'm on ohlins dedicated and actually like them but curious to see how MCS/JRZ rides. You in socal? I'd be curious to see how your car drives.

Correct, dedicated track. I'm on MCS 1WNRs currently, but they're on my E90 M3.

I'm in SoCal, and you'd be welcome to take my car for a rip anytime. Albeit, it's an E90, so it may not be a 1:1 comparison, however, you would get a good understanding of the general characteristics. I do not believe the valving of the 1WNRs vary much/at all between E46s & E9xs.

[Cbruh]

Cornerbalanced, if you had to pick one with ride quality being a lesser factor and based off performance what would you pick. KW Clubsport 2 way, MCS 2 way, JRZ RS Pro, or Ohlins dedicated track what would you pick. At the end of the day I don’t think I could go wrong with any I just want your two cents

[prostcfc]

Bumping this back up.

I have Ohlins R&T installed now from the PO. I believe they're well past Ohlins' recommended rebuild frequency (track hours; I just put on 4 in the last weekend, my first time out with it). This is a dedicated track car that will occasionally drive on the street. Considering reaching out to 3DM and working with them to rebuild and get them more purpose built, but also considering just jumping to MCS or JRZ (being local to Chicago with Olsen Motorsports nearby would probably be very helpful if I went the JRZ route). Obviously sticking with the Ohlins would be more economical, but I don't like the tire/wheel/spacer compromises I'm having to make, and I feel I'd move away from the eventually anyway. Any thoughts are appreciated!

[Tbonem3]

Jump ship

[Altaran]

Bumping this back up.

I have Ohlins R&T installed now from the PO. I believe they're well past Ohlins' recommended rebuild frequency (track hours; I just put on 4 in the last weekend, my first time out with it). This is a dedicated track car that will occasionally drive on the street. Considering reaching out to 3DM and working with them to rebuild and get them more purpose built, but also considering just jumping to MCS or JRZ (being local to Chicago with Olsen Motorsports nearby would probably be very helpful if I went the JRZ route). Obviously sticking with the Ohlins would be more economical, but I don't like the tire/wheel/spacer compromises I'm having to make, and I feel I'd move away from the eventually anyway. Any thoughts are appreciated!

I would opt for a rebuild. When you rebuild a damper, a professional will take into account your current vehicle weight, weight distribution, and purpose to define the proper damping curve. So you can get your R&T rebuilt according to your cars spec and it will outperform any out of the box suspension which is built to satisfy a whole range of cars. A dampers performance is defined by its internals and the baseline damping curve, not only by the amount of adjustment knobs on it. Öhlins R&T setups have very good dampers, upgrading to a better damper design will cost a lot (thinking KW V4/V5 Racing, Bilstein EVO RT, Öhlins TTX or TTR,...)

With a rebuilt damper, you can also change stiffen your spring rates if you desire so, just make sure the rebuilder knows it, as it goes into calculating the damper curve.

If you opt for a rebuild, you can also change your rear to a coilover setup, putting the spring directly on the damper. Afaik, the rear dampers should have threads for this already. With this you can then change the upper control arm to an aftermarket lightweight version (that still has a connector for sway bar) and is fully adjustable. Then you will most likely not need any spacers, since you have full length adjustment on lower and upper arms. I run my car this way and I have 285s in the rear and no issues in fitment.