Setting up rear Nitrons

[jonnyw]

Took delivery of the Nitrons and accompanying Springs over Christmas.

Wound the spring up to about 4 or 5 cm short of top of the thread, 17 clicks out of the 24. Still seams a little soft and just about enough height for drivable clearance.

Do I wind them up further?

[GreenV8S]

jonnyw said:

Do I wind them up further?

Sounds like a good move if you're after more ground clearance and a firmer ride.

[DuncanM]

What are the spring rates front/rear?

I have my rear Nitrons 6 clicks off of full hard .

My setup is:

Front springs 400lbs and Nitrons 4 clicks off of full Hard.

Rear springs 325lbs and Nitrons 6 clicks off of full Hard.

I consider this an excellent road setup . Was too stiff at 2 clicks front and 4 clicks rear .

It's worth playing about lots until you get a setup that feels right to you.

Good luck .

Duncan

[jonnyw]

DuncanM said:

What are the spring rates front/rear? I have my rear Nitrons 6 clicks off of full hard . My setup is: Front springs 400lbs and Nitrons 4 clicks off of full Hard. Rear springs 325lbs and Nitrons 6 clicks off of full Hard. I consider this an excellent road setup . Was too stiff at 2 clicks front and 4 clicks rear . It's worth playing about lots until you get a setup that feels right to you. Good luck . Duncan

400 and 325 same as yours, 4 & 6 clicks sounds about right from my experience to date. Are your rear springs wound up to virtually the top of the thread?



>> Edited by jonnyw on Wednesday 5th January 13:27

[DuncanM]

Must admit I haven't looked at the ride height since I bought the car in May.

Mainly because I am more than happy with it, not very low to be honest and rides speed bumps nicely .

Not the best weather for checking my car unfortunately as I don't have a garage.

Duncan

[alinton]

Do you turn the top knob towards the + or the - to make the ride harder?

And roughly how much thread do you have showing underneath the springs, front and back, to get a useable height?

[Julian64]

450 front and 375 rear, all are 5 clicks off soft.

Winding your springs only affects ride height, unless you reach the non linear portion of the spring

Damper control only dampens the oscillation not strengthens the spring.

You may want to think about stronger springs?

[DuncanM]

alinton said:

Do you turn the top knob towards the + or the - to make the ride harder? And roughly how much thread do you have showing underneath the springs, front and back, to get a useable height?

Andy, I'm running the older NTX Nitrons so I have a little annoying knurled knob that I have to turn.

I only have 13 clicks between +/-.

Like I say, no idea on ride height other than I am happy with miine .

Quite a lot of air between my rear wheels and the arches.

Julian, How do you find the ride on those springs? If I were to do anything to the suspension I think I would consider stiffer springs although I am very happy with my Car how it is set up at the moment for road use .

Duncan

[washy]

Julian64 - I'm considering going up on the spring rates. Do you think 450/375 is a good balance? Like you I run the dampers way softer than other folk on this thread.

[alinton]

Mine have a blue knurled knob at the top of the shocks, labelled + and -.

What does the + and - refer to specifically?

[joospeed]

alinton said:

Mine have a blue knurled knob at the top of the shocks, labelled + and -. What does the + and - refer to specifically?

I can't believe you guys still have to ask this sort of stuff .. don't your suppliers talk you through spring rate options and how to set the car up to your liking? They're seriously faililng you if that's the case ...

[alinton]

Some of us buy a car secondhand with nitrons already installed.

And live somewhere where there isn't a TVR dealer down the road!

That's why I ask questions like this!

[GreenV8S]

alinton said:

What does the + and - refer to specifically?

It's a special code that means you should get an expert to set them up properly for you. Or you could have a go yourself. Hey, its only a 180 mph car, what's the worst that could happen?

[Pies]

The blue knob increases or decreases the stiffness depending on which way you turn it

[alinton]

Thank you! That's the answer to the question I was asking.
I know exactly what I'm doing and want to achieve, having worked on many performance cars in the past.
However, I've never had a TVR before, and never used Nitrons.
So simple answers to what might seem like stupid questions are often helpful guys!

[GreenV8S]

I'm not trying to be funny. There's no reason why you should know this sort of thing, and I'm not trying to put you down in any way. But if you do not find it obvious what + and - on a damper adjuster means then I seriously doubt that you are competant to set the suspension up. To be honest my advice is to leave it the heck alone. It's far easier to adjust it 'wrong' than to put it 'right' again afterwards, and a badly set up suspension can be downright dangerous especially on a car with these performance levels. As a trivial example, each time you change the ride height you potentially affect the camber and toe settings, and move the roll center. Similarly, changing the damper settings can have subtle effects on the transient weight transfer as well as changing the ride comfort in general. Really, it is not something that you should tackle lightly and your Cerbera is probably not a good car to practice on. Just because it is readily accessible and can be adjusted without special tools, does not mean it is sensible to adjust it.

[joospeed]

alinton said:

Some of us buy a car secondhand with nitrons already installed. And live somewhere where there isn't a TVR dealer down the road! That's why I ask questions like this!

that makes sense.

[alinton]

So + means more firm; couldn't it also, to the uninitiated, mean more soft? or quicker release? or more damping?
I note your concerns and appreciate them.
However its not not viable for you to assume that just because I don't know little details like this, that I do not know the ramifications of adjusting suspension.
Having worked previously on cars as diverse as Chevrolet Camaros, Pontiac Trans Ams and Honda Preludes, I do know what I'm doing.
But the Cerb is new to me, and I'm learning. Just as you had to, once.

[joospeed]

although Peter, to be fair the only way people are going to learn what an adjustment makes to *their* car is to do it and drive it. 90% of the fun of adjustable suspension is playing and learning .. but please take a note of all the base settings so you caa put it all back how it started if things begin to deteriorate and you can't remember what you changed last ..

Most of you people out there on Nitrons will be running the std offering, in which case it's designed to be used at or very near to standard ride height.

A 10% change in spring rates is well within the capability of the Nitron damper adjustment, so you guys wanting 450 front springs will be just fine .. but if you want to go higher say to 500lb/in you might want to consider having the dampers revalved to suit.

[GreenV8S]

alinton said:

So + means more firm; couldn't it also, to the uninitiated, mean more soft? or quicker release? or more damping?

To be honest your answer doesn't do anything to reassure me that you know what you are doing, but its your car not mine and none of my business what you do with it. I've pointed out that it is a skilled job and getting it wrong could potentially be dangerous, and that's the only point I wanted to make. No disrespect was intended. From your reply it's clear that you feel confident enough to tackle it, and for all I know you'll do a fine job.