I thought I'd return to the thread that changed my thinking:
Ohlins R&T w coilovers. The dang springs settled by about 5mm. I adjusted the ride height to exactly the manual specs, which lowered the car initially by around 15mm.
Driving impression: the grip around sweeping corners is totally MENTAL!! Fr: -1.5 camber R: -2.0 camber. Toe: F -.5 R 0.0
On freeways, the bumps from expansion joints are smoothed out. It's like magic.
While I was in there, I changed the gear oil (6-speed manual) to Mobilube PTX 75W-90
I also installed a Numeric shifter but did not install the Numeric cables yet. The shifter felt like butter, and is really fast so I decided to leave it alone.
Lessons learned:
You must re-install the stock plastic/steel/rubber bushings at the top of the front struts. They are not shown in the diagram, but are essential. Don't counter hold the struts with an allen key. It's too time consuming and you can't get a good torque reading like that. Counterhold the washer with a large screwdriver in the slot, and use an impact wrench to tighten/ loosen the top nut. The strut will be prevented from turning.
The sway bar pin/ pinch bolt can be counterheld in the rear with an allen socket while you tighten the nut.
Change all of the triple square bolts on the CV joints. The axles will have to be unbolted and removed .
You do not need to use spring compressors, despite all of the Youtube videos showing people doing this. It's easier to unbolt the lower control arm and remove it along with the steering knuckle or rear hub. The struts just drop out at that point.
You must order a PASM cancellation kit from Ohlins if you have PASM, which I do. The whole thing looks stock once installed. Super clean. Everything looks as if it came from the factory and is just beautiful. In fact, it looks better with a much higher build quality than stock.
And last, I am a huge fan now of Ohlins. Fantastic huge improvement over stock. It handles now like a UFO over corn country.
