Some background: I have a 2018 M3P that I bought in Sep, 2018, and the only mods I did were the Tsportline M3115 staggered forged wheels, and sway bars fro Eibach (on full stiff).
I got the sway bars simply because in the stock form, the car had way too much roll when you pushed it. The sway bars did their job I guess; the body roll was dramatically lower. But, the growth story pretty much ends up. The car understeered heavily when I pushed it (I should have had the front on least stiff with as I only have 245/35/20 on the front; 285/30 in the rear). Even otherwise, the floaty feeling when pushed hard was still there in some situations.
I also hated the monstrous wheel wheel gap. Not sure how I managed to not lower it for 4+ years (Perhaps because I was into modding my S2000 which I sold somewhat recently; also, my wife actually prefers driving the 3, even compared to our X). So, I decided to give coilovers a try. Springs were a big-to-medium no, as I experienced first hand on my S2000 as to how the right coilovers can transform a car). Used to have lowered springs on a previous S2000 and a Prelude.
I started off thinking if I should go cheap (Tein, BC, etc); I quickly realized I would regret it. Then, the decision came down to MPP or Ohlins. Because of how humans have evolved, we almost always prefer the path of lease resistance, and almost always pick familiar things when there is a choice (as it conserves cognitive resources). I spent a few hours researching things on this forum although I kind of don't like researching too much; I like to make a quick decision and move on. But, I knew this was important. Not just for the $5k+ (including other MPP stuff and installation), but suspension is literally what you ride on (well, one level up from tires).
I must admit, I almost pulled the plug on the Ohlins. But then, I came across a thread where someone compared MPP super sports and the Ohlins R&T, after actually using both products on their car. Those thoughts brought to light an important fact about the Ohlins kit (12k/10k w/swift springs) I had on my S2000 for almost 3 years: that is I was never able to find a setting that gave me the confidence to push hard and get that on-the-rails feeling. They were great for that buttery, pillowy, smooth feel, no matter how stiff the rebound was. Set it too stiff (3-10 clicks from stiff; it had 32 clicks IIRC), and it bounced a bit too much). Set it to somewhere like 10-14 clicks, the sharpness wasn't just there.
When I think about it now, after having driven on my MPP sports for a few days, the biggest differentiator seems to be in the MPP valving and also being 2-way adjustable. I feel the ability to adjust bump/compression is what the Ohlins kit was missing. I know with the clicks on the Ohlins, some compression changes also happen, but afaik, they are not significant. The current setting I am on the MPPs is 7/4 C/R in the front; 7/6 C/R in the rear. I must admit, I have never driven a car that handled like it's literally on rails (well, not that I have driven a lot of cars, but S2000s, 550i msport, 335i, 135is, model X plaid). With these settings, the ride is quite comfortable as well; not bad at all. The stability during directional changes at pretty high speeds and low speeds is extraordinary. You just point it somewhere and it goes with very, very minimal body roll. It is so confidence inspiring. I might lower the front rebound to 5 or 6, but I dropped that adjustment knob into the floor of the car and can't find it).
To sum it up, I am glad I made this decision to go with MPPs. It was kind of against all odds, given I was a pretty happy ex-customer of Ohlins (albeit a bit ignorant). But, it was perhaps that review (MPP super sport vs R&T) that fired a not-in-cache cell of my memory, that led to some introspection and ultimately this decision.
I must say though that I started off with a 4/4 (as I was planning to go an event) and that felt stiff, but, not jarring. I then played with softer settings, but did not like how they felt. The being-on-rails feeling just wasn't there (felt floaty). In fact, the current setup I have (7/4 C/R in the front; 7/6 C/R in the rear -- all from full stiff), feels more complaint than the softer settings I tried.
Anyways, I highly recommend the MPP sports. Although, I am pretty sure most cannot go wrong with Ohlins either. It really depends on what you want from the car. I was clear I wanted a being-on-rails feel on public roads (on the track, most good coilovers should do well IMO), especially where I live, and at places I frequent, and I feel I have achieved that. I am happy. I may have gotten it with the Ohlins R&T as well, but at this point, I don't really care.
Good job, Mountain Pass Performance. One last thing, although it may be a bit painful, I encourage people to play around with all kinds of settings to find something that suits them. This is going to be hard for a lot of people for the human evolution reasons I mentioned earlier, so most of us play it safe and go with the recommended settings and might live in an illusion that they are the best. Which is not a bad strategy, but given the adjustability, the engineers who designed these coilovers would probably be happier, if you explored them a bit more
.
Also, thanks to AutoRND in Fremont for the install. They did a good job as well. And yeah, no extra noises; in fact, the car has become quieter inside.
I got the sway bars simply because in the stock form, the car had way too much roll when you pushed it. The sway bars did their job I guess; the body roll was dramatically lower. But, the growth story pretty much ends up. The car understeered heavily when I pushed it (I should have had the front on least stiff with as I only have 245/35/20 on the front; 285/30 in the rear). Even otherwise, the floaty feeling when pushed hard was still there in some situations.
I also hated the monstrous wheel wheel gap. Not sure how I managed to not lower it for 4+ years (Perhaps because I was into modding my S2000 which I sold somewhat recently; also, my wife actually prefers driving the 3, even compared to our X). So, I decided to give coilovers a try. Springs were a big-to-medium no, as I experienced first hand on my S2000 as to how the right coilovers can transform a car). Used to have lowered springs on a previous S2000 and a Prelude.
I started off thinking if I should go cheap (Tein, BC, etc); I quickly realized I would regret it. Then, the decision came down to MPP or Ohlins. Because of how humans have evolved, we almost always prefer the path of lease resistance, and almost always pick familiar things when there is a choice (as it conserves cognitive resources). I spent a few hours researching things on this forum although I kind of don't like researching too much; I like to make a quick decision and move on. But, I knew this was important. Not just for the $5k+ (including other MPP stuff and installation), but suspension is literally what you ride on (well, one level up from tires).
I must admit, I almost pulled the plug on the Ohlins. But then, I came across a thread where someone compared MPP super sports and the Ohlins R&T, after actually using both products on their car. Those thoughts brought to light an important fact about the Ohlins kit (12k/10k w/swift springs) I had on my S2000 for almost 3 years: that is I was never able to find a setting that gave me the confidence to push hard and get that on-the-rails feeling. They were great for that buttery, pillowy, smooth feel, no matter how stiff the rebound was. Set it too stiff (3-10 clicks from stiff; it had 32 clicks IIRC), and it bounced a bit too much). Set it to somewhere like 10-14 clicks, the sharpness wasn't just there.
When I think about it now, after having driven on my MPP sports for a few days, the biggest differentiator seems to be in the MPP valving and also being 2-way adjustable. I feel the ability to adjust bump/compression is what the Ohlins kit was missing. I know with the clicks on the Ohlins, some compression changes also happen, but afaik, they are not significant. The current setting I am on the MPPs is 7/4 C/R in the front; 7/6 C/R in the rear. I must admit, I have never driven a car that handled like it's literally on rails (well, not that I have driven a lot of cars, but S2000s, 550i msport, 335i, 135is, model X plaid). With these settings, the ride is quite comfortable as well; not bad at all. The stability during directional changes at pretty high speeds and low speeds is extraordinary. You just point it somewhere and it goes with very, very minimal body roll. It is so confidence inspiring. I might lower the front rebound to 5 or 6, but I dropped that adjustment knob into the floor of the car and can't find it).
To sum it up, I am glad I made this decision to go with MPPs. It was kind of against all odds, given I was a pretty happy ex-customer of Ohlins (albeit a bit ignorant). But, it was perhaps that review (MPP super sport vs R&T) that fired a not-in-cache cell of my memory, that led to some introspection and ultimately this decision.
I must say though that I started off with a 4/4 (as I was planning to go an event) and that felt stiff, but, not jarring. I then played with softer settings, but did not like how they felt. The being-on-rails feeling just wasn't there (felt floaty). In fact, the current setup I have (7/4 C/R in the front; 7/6 C/R in the rear -- all from full stiff), feels more complaint than the softer settings I tried.
Anyways, I highly recommend the MPP sports. Although, I am pretty sure most cannot go wrong with Ohlins either. It really depends on what you want from the car. I was clear I wanted a being-on-rails feel on public roads (on the track, most good coilovers should do well IMO), especially where I live, and at places I frequent, and I feel I have achieved that. I am happy. I may have gotten it with the Ohlins R&T as well, but at this point, I don't really care.
Good job, Mountain Pass Performance. One last thing, although it may be a bit painful, I encourage people to play around with all kinds of settings to find something that suits them. This is going to be hard for a lot of people for the human evolution reasons I mentioned earlier, so most of us play it safe and go with the recommended settings and might live in an illusion that they are the best. Which is not a bad strategy, but given the adjustability, the engineers who designed these coilovers would probably be happier, if you explored them a bit more
.Also, thanks to AutoRND in Fremont for the install. They did a good job as well. And yeah, no extra noises; in fact, the car has become quieter inside.
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