Like many automotive performance companies, Öhlins has its roots in motorsport. The legendary Swedish suspension firm was originally founded by Kenth Öhlin, to make rear shocks for motocross bikes. Kenth's company has been building the very best suspension units for cars, bikes, ATVs and mountain bikes for more than four decades now.
Like many automotive performance companies, Öhlins has its roots in motorsport. The legendary Swedish suspension firm was originally founded by Kenth Öhlin, to make rear shocks for motocross bikes. Kenth’s company has been building the very best suspension units for cars, bikes, ATVs and mountain bikes for more than four decades now.
From the very highest levels of MotoGP and NASCAR, through DTM, World Superbike, Le Mans and national race series, Öhlins is the standard by which suspension performance is defined.
It’s not just in the racing paddock where Öhlins is the preferred choice of suspension by top teams. The firm also has an extensive range of shocks for road cars and bikes, including its revered Road & Track series. Designed for a wide range of today’s fast cars, Öhlins’ Road & Track Shocks take the firm’s best competition know-how and puts them into a package aimed at drivers who love the track, but spend most of their time on the road. It’s a package that boasts Öhlins’ DFV (Dual-Flow Valve) technology, for superior wheel control under the most arduous of drives. It adapts automatically to heat build-up with temperature- variable damping needles. It’s easily and quickly adjusted to swap between road and track setups. And it’s a package that can be fitted to many cars for much less than the cost of some high-end alloy wheels.
It’s not just about outright performance though. Öhlins prides itself on the high quality of its units, which are designed to be serviced and rebuilt, for long life and consistent performance. Its engineers use the very best materials – stainless steel, hard-anodised aluminium, and the iconic yellow-painted springs – to resist corrosion, wear and damage.
Keeping you and your car on the move, whether you’re racing in the world championship, or simply enjoying a drive on the long way home after a hard day’s work.
BOXOUT Öhlins DFV Technology explained
Öhlins’ Dual Flow Valve (DFV) damping technology sounds complicated. But it’s really pretty simple. And it has one job: keeping your wheels in contact with the ground as much as possible, no matter what.
The DFV design has three pathways for damping fluid to flow inside the shock. It’s a little like the doors at a shopping mall. On a normal weekday, there’s a revolving door that lets a steady stream of people in and out. That’s like the DFV shock’s central shaft jet bleed, and it deals mostly with low-speed damping – like when a car accelerates, and its weight transfers to the back end. But at the shopping mall, there’s a big rush of people each Saturday. Then, the revolving door can’t cope, and the crowds can’t get through. So the mall staff will open the normal doors either side of the revolving door. That’s what the ports in a DFV shock’s piston do when there’s a sudden wheel movement, like hitting a bump. The piston ports open, and allow more damping oil through, letting the wheel move more quickly, but still under control.
But what happens at our shopping mall during the Black Friday sales? The crowds are massive, and neither the revolving door, nor the normal doors either side can cope. So the security team will open the fire exit doors to allow even more people through. That’s like the DFV shock when the wheel hits a kerb or a pothole. Then, the extra ports in the DFV unit open, giving the oil another route through the damping circuit. So like the crazy shoppers getting to the crazy bargains, the DFV shock can move much faster, allowing the wheel to return quickly to the ground after a bump, and regain its grip on the asphalt.
