Sports suspension on S1 Elise

[300bhp/ton]

Been reading up on S1 Elises and as i understand sports suspension was an option. Does it really make much difference to how well a base model 118bhp S1 Elise goes on the road?

Is it worth paying more to get a car with it?

Thanks.

And I guess, what does it include? Is it easy to fit something equally as good to a non sports suspension model aftermarket without busting the bank?

[mikey P 500]

I have just this weekend fitted some second hand lls shocks (lotus height adjustable sports suspension) to my early s1 (very cheap second hand and lots of low mile ones about from people who have upgraded their 160s or exiges). The handling and ride is a noticeable improvement but the suspension I fitted has covered far less miles which is probably the main reason.

[lamb jiblets]

The std shocks on a S1 are poor at best, the S2 bilstine upgrade will make a world of difarance to ride and handling, money well spent.

[TIPPER]

For road use (and occasional track) then the Official Lotus S2 upgrade to Bilstein dampers and matching springs is generally regarded as the best fit and forget solution. It'll be a big improvement over the standard S1 Koni set-up. When you're looking at a car the Konis are red the Billies are yellow. The Lotus Sport Suspension (LSS) is the official Lotus Sport upgrade (costs about £1,000): these offer an adjustable ride height but aren't particularly in favour any more. For a track focused car the Nitrons are the way to go (£1250) and just to complicate it you can get 'Randy' Nitrons which have been developed beyond the standard spec by Elise racer Chris Randall. Both standard and Randy Nitrons have adjustable ride heights and adjustable damping. Gaz have offered a low cost alternative to the Nitrons for a while but until recently these weren't particularly well thought of. Sinclairs (a Romford based specialist) have been doing some work with Gaz to develop an adjustable mid-price alternative (£650ish) alternative to Nitrons so may be worth considering if recently fitted.
Other kits (Spax, AVO) have been fitted but their lack of poularity probably tells its own story. A couple of peeps on here have fitted kits from Protech and are very pleased with these.
To be honest when buying, if the car is still fitted with Konis then use that as a bartering point.
One more thing: can the suspension make a difference with just 118bhp? Oh Yes! Spend money on brakes then suspension and then more power to get the best out of an Elise. On the road the Konis are noisey, clonkey and, as they age, harsh. Billies are far better. I run Nitrons with 400/470 (front back) springs (much stiffer than standard) but I reckon the car, although stiffer, actually rides better on the road. On track its in a different league to when I was running on boggo Konis.

[300bhp/ton]

Thanks for the advise