Suspension Upgrade Options
Discussion
FYI: on my PE, I have Life110 springs and settings for fast road / track, all done superbly by Spires. The car feels great on the road, any road, any speed. A gentle track day at Spa exposed the extent of the roll and pitch, and further track days recently at Bedford Autodrome and Donington Park suggest that, for my use case at least, the S ARBs and Bilstein dampers are needed to reduce weight shift, particularly through tight chicanes and longer, faster corner combinations. In retrospect, perhaps I should have bought an S given my use case, but the budget would only run to an early PE. I’ll do those mods and continue to enjoy it until an S in pearlescent white gets to an acceptable price point. James.
Olivera said:
For a car that was praised (by some) for it's ride and handling, there ain't half a lot of owners that have in some way been dissatisfied and have changed the springs/dampers. Which indicates that Alpine got something seriously wrong with the original car.
Just an opinion, but I think they may have got the springs and dampers right for most people/ use cases, at a budget that made the new car price point achievable, in a timeframe that got the car to market at the time they said. I think the OEM settings were a bit off, that’s all.
Plus, given David P’s exceptional career in chassis/dynamics, and his attention to the car, the spring specs and the settings suggestions, we’ve been able to extract the extra tenth that Alpine left on the table for some people, that perhaps we would never have known without David exploring it.
I don’t think the A110 is any different to an Elise or Cayman or MX5 in terms of the manufacturer fitting parts and settings that some people want to change and swap to suit their needs. I was happy with my Elise and the Caymans I had (regular or PASM, perhaps I would have liked X73 on my 981 but I didn’t have the budget, or the car long enough to try it); I fitted Tein springs & dampers and appropriate settings to the MX5.
With the A110 I’m taking the opportunity to try the options and suggestions available from someone with a career in dynamics.
James.
Olivera said:
For a car that was praised (by some) for it's ride and handling, there ain't half a lot of owners that have in some way been dissatisfied and have changed the springs/dampers. Which indicates that Alpine got something seriously wrong with the original car.
I think all OEM spec cars are a compromise. The soft suspension will work for many, but fine tuning to personal preferences is always possible. I do agree with your sentiment in that I think for a sportscar it went too soft, but for those merely indulging a mid life crisis rather than enjoying the cars capabilities it is probably perfect. I think it is clear that the "S" would have been a better choice for me, but I needed the comfort seats. It's easier and cheaper to retrofit the suspension than the interior.
Colin P said:
I think all OEM spec cars are a compromise. The soft suspension will work for many, but fine tuning to personal preferences is always possible. I do agree with your sentiment in that I think for a sportscar it went too soft, but for those merely indulging a mid life crisis rather than enjoying the cars capabilities it is probably perfect.
I think it is clear that the "S" would have been a better choice for me, but I needed the comfort seats. It's easier and cheaper to retrofit the suspension than the interior.
I think that’s a great point - my ideal A110 is an S, with Legende/GT seats or a PE/Pure drivers seat and a Legende/GT passenger seat! I think it is clear that the "S" would have been a better choice for me, but I needed the comfort seats. It's easier and cheaper to retrofit the suspension than the interior.
X73🤔
Revolution fitted the X73 kit to my 981S, a great piece of kit for track and other smooth surfaces but found it could be skittish and at times unnerving from the rear when pushing too hard on bumpy country roads. The equal length headers with sports cats made a big difference to low down torque along with a days tunning on the Dyno. It eventually produced 312bhp at the rear wheels and a much lighter wallet but luckily stopped short before fitting a 3.8 🥵.
All well worh it though, until like you James I found the Alpine.........hides wallet😂.
Revolution fitted the X73 kit to my 981S, a great piece of kit for track and other smooth surfaces but found it could be skittish and at times unnerving from the rear when pushing too hard on bumpy country roads. The equal length headers with sports cats made a big difference to low down torque along with a days tunning on the Dyno. It eventually produced 312bhp at the rear wheels and a much lighter wallet but luckily stopped short before fitting a 3.8 🥵.
All well worh it though, until like you James I found the Alpine.........hides wallet😂.
corrieb74 said:
I had the Life110 springs, S ARBs and Fast Road Geo fitted today to my GT.
I decided against the Bilsteins as the OEM dampers are the standard Life110 package and people seem very happy with that.
I also have same setup with slightly more aggressive geo, for road use only. It's a good setup with added precision and control, and I prefer it over stock pure setup (arbs and springs).I decided against the Bilsteins as the OEM dampers are the standard Life110 package and people seem very happy with that.
However, there are moments where dampers aren't catching up and can't digest everything in one stroke, more noticeable at higher speeds. And I'm curious how better dampers with stock springs would feel. For example, I find that kind of change very successful in mx5 nd platform, where oem sport chassis keeps the same springs and adds bilstein dampers.
corrieb74 said:
Well that's exactly it. My issue with the GT was how uncontrolled it felt in fast transitions - similar to what you're observing. Litchfield went the damper route, David initially went the springs/ARB route. I dare say both give you more control, but in subtly different ways. What David writes about the progressive nature of the springs on his blog is very interesting, in that it's largely about the more controlled rebound. I suspect that's what I'm feeling when I describe a "smoothness". The question remains as to how much of that predictability you experience is the springs and how much is the dampers. Most likely both.
I found I massively improved the transitions with a geo reset, there is a crest over a right hander on my way home, it was scary when car was new, I thought it didnt have enough toe in on the rear ( I am a race engineer so understand these things quite well) however on putting the car on our set up kit it had a hideous amount of toe in on the rear, hence the inner wheel was having a large effect on the cornering, to say it was a transformation is an understatement. Interestingly the only other road car I have owned that was like this was in 2008 in a Cup Chassis Renault sport Megane,which had loads of toe in on the rear. Since then I have fitted Nitrons as we are dealers so get a discount, ( maybe a group deal if people are interested) the car is so much better, I have no interest in doing track days in it.
There are several good options , I have ohlins on my GT3 and have worked with Ohlins for many years ,
Im also a personal friend of the boss of R53 engineering, they will be great too, Roger knows his stuff, we worked on the Ralliart WRC programme for many years,
Personally, i wouldnt go the Bilstein route they are still a bit behind on their technology compared to some of the others, not saying you cant make them work,just money is better spent on the others.
Hi Debbiesd,
Please can we chat offline of this thread about options for the A110? Friends of mine have run Nitron on other cars to good effect. I’m looking for something that works well and comfortably on road and gives better control (that the OEM dampers) on track, albeit I’m happy to sacrifice ultimate track performance in lieu of road comfort. The Life110 springs work well for me and I’ll be changing to S anti-roll bars soon, it’s the damper conundrum I need to solve.
Thanks.
James.
Please can we chat offline of this thread about options for the A110? Friends of mine have run Nitron on other cars to good effect. I’m looking for something that works well and comfortably on road and gives better control (that the OEM dampers) on track, albeit I’m happy to sacrifice ultimate track performance in lieu of road comfort. The Life110 springs work well for me and I’ll be changing to S anti-roll bars soon, it’s the damper conundrum I need to solve.
Thanks.
James.
I seem to be in the minority when I say I actually enjoy the softly sprung set-up... okay, the car moves around a bit when pressing on but it is all very controllable. There are enough stiff cars out there. It's what sets the A110 apart 
I don't use it on the track though where it may be different.
I don't use it on the track though where it may be different.
I'm also interested to know about the Nitron performance and a potential group discount. I don't want to lose the ride comfort, but the stock dampers are pretty rubbish. They don't like high speed compressions and have a nasty wooden crashy feel, thought the performance of mine had dropped off with my car being almost 5 years old, but just had new springs and damper on the rear under warranty and they're exactly the same.
Edmund Dorf said:
I seem to be in the minority when I say I actually enjoy the softly sprung set-up... okay, the car moves around a bit when pressing on but it is all very controllable. There are enough stiff cars out there. It's what sets the A110 apart
I don't use it on the track though where it may be different.
I very much agree with you in theory, but with a110 I had some issues with damping at speed and imprecise control when transitioning between grip and slip (the indirect nature of turbo-power delivery and lack of lsd didn't help). A110S arbs made big improvement for me, basically solved the latter part.I don't use it on the track though where it may be different.
I would prefer softer car with better damping, and perhaps a110s arbs - generally not a fan of too lowered and hard suspension, which sadly most coilovers are.
I have Nitrons on my Lotus Exige 380.
I have an Alpine A110S with Life springs.
The Nitrons on the Exige can within a limited number of clicks be dialled to give a pillowy ride or stiffened up for a track day.
I noticed the difference with them immediately.
The sales dept at Nitron are happy to chat on the phone and will tell you that they do their specific valving and spring rates for specific cars.
There is lots of macho forum stuff / trackday jockey opinions about going for the most hardcore kit and stiffest springs possible - in my experience, this is not alway the way to go on a multi use car.
I have just ordered the AST coilovers from Life 110 for the Alpine - I don’t know what they are like exactly but will take on trust from David and other customers that they are a good package.
One difference between the AST’s and the Nitrons is that the AST’s apparently are sealed in a different way and do not require periodic servicing.
I have an Alpine A110S with Life springs.
The Nitrons on the Exige can within a limited number of clicks be dialled to give a pillowy ride or stiffened up for a track day.
I noticed the difference with them immediately.
The sales dept at Nitron are happy to chat on the phone and will tell you that they do their specific valving and spring rates for specific cars.
There is lots of macho forum stuff / trackday jockey opinions about going for the most hardcore kit and stiffest springs possible - in my experience, this is not alway the way to go on a multi use car.
I have just ordered the AST coilovers from Life 110 for the Alpine - I don’t know what they are like exactly but will take on trust from David and other customers that they are a good package.
One difference between the AST’s and the Nitrons is that the AST’s apparently are sealed in a different way and do not require periodic servicing.
Edmund Dorf said:
I seem to be in the minority when I say I actually enjoy the softly sprung set-up... okay, the car moves around a bit when pressing on but it is all very controllable. There are enough stiff cars out there. It's what sets the A110 apart
I don't use it on the track though where it may be different.
You aren't alone. I've no doubt it can be made more capable, but I'm not convinced it would make it more fun.I don't use it on the track though where it may be different.
James Elmer said:
Hi Debbiesd,
Please can we chat offline of this thread about options for the A110? Friends of mine have run Nitron on other cars to good effect. I’m looking for something that works well and comfortably on road and gives better control (that the OEM dampers) on track, albeit I’m happy to sacrifice ultimate track performance in lieu of road comfort. The Life110 springs work well for me and I’ll be changing to S anti-roll bars soon, it’s the damper conundrum I need to solve.
Thanks.
James.
Drop me a DM james, have been away for a few daysPlease can we chat offline of this thread about options for the A110? Friends of mine have run Nitron on other cars to good effect. I’m looking for something that works well and comfortably on road and gives better control (that the OEM dampers) on track, albeit I’m happy to sacrifice ultimate track performance in lieu of road comfort. The Life110 springs work well for me and I’ll be changing to S anti-roll bars soon, it’s the damper conundrum I need to solve.
Thanks.
James.
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