A Tale of two Dampers
Discussion
Afternoon all.
I have just had my 10 year old Nitrons rebuilt due to the adjuster losing its click stop function thus not being able to set them accurately.
I called Nitron direct and was told a couple of month lead time to get them done but they put me on to Meteor Motorsport in Wales as an approved agent who could also service them.
Called Simon at Meteor and came away convinced that they were the people to do the job.
Car booked into STR8SIX to get it services and the suspension units removed to be told that they recommend Meteor as well and deal with them for the race cars.
Damper arrive at Meteor and get the call from them saying that they had looked at the damper and despite them being 10n years old and having done 60K miles or more in all weathers they cleaned up as good as new. THe only recommendation was that the valving needed addressing as they were set far too hard on the rebound that the adjusters couldn't compensate, apparently this is common and when dyno tested thet quickly get very hot from being too hard.
I said I would go with their recommendation but my ultimate aim was to go with max grip with a second desire of best ride, surprisingly for me not being aware of the details of suspension design grip comes with control and so does ride quality. The recommendation for my use was new valving to match the 650lb front and 450lb recommended rear springs.
The invoice for the springs and damper rebuild arrived the next day at £200 a corner inc VAT for springs and damper, very good I thought.
I have just been and picked the car up, the difference was instantly noticeable, superb ride quality was immediately noticeable so I decided to take the fast A road route home as it has a few bumpy corners that always used to upset the balance on the car prior to rebuild so would make a good test.
The difference is night and day form before, the ride is so much better and the handling completely transformed, to the point that a couple of bends where the car used to get upset were re driven a few time trying different things to upset the car but nothing worked, bend that used to be a challenge at 80 cruising in 4th I now have complete confidence in flat in 3rd at higher speed than was ever possible before such is the transformation.
I am so impressed that I had to come on here and wax lyrical, now just looking forward to the next track day which is unfortunately not till September but I is Spa so that is some compensation when I will be able to test more to find the new limits.
If buying new I would go to Meteor Motorsport, they offer many different brand they they will set to your needs and I am a very happy customer.
I have just had my 10 year old Nitrons rebuilt due to the adjuster losing its click stop function thus not being able to set them accurately.
I called Nitron direct and was told a couple of month lead time to get them done but they put me on to Meteor Motorsport in Wales as an approved agent who could also service them.
Called Simon at Meteor and came away convinced that they were the people to do the job.
Car booked into STR8SIX to get it services and the suspension units removed to be told that they recommend Meteor as well and deal with them for the race cars.
Damper arrive at Meteor and get the call from them saying that they had looked at the damper and despite them being 10n years old and having done 60K miles or more in all weathers they cleaned up as good as new. THe only recommendation was that the valving needed addressing as they were set far too hard on the rebound that the adjusters couldn't compensate, apparently this is common and when dyno tested thet quickly get very hot from being too hard.
I said I would go with their recommendation but my ultimate aim was to go with max grip with a second desire of best ride, surprisingly for me not being aware of the details of suspension design grip comes with control and so does ride quality. The recommendation for my use was new valving to match the 650lb front and 450lb recommended rear springs.
The invoice for the springs and damper rebuild arrived the next day at £200 a corner inc VAT for springs and damper, very good I thought.
I have just been and picked the car up, the difference was instantly noticeable, superb ride quality was immediately noticeable so I decided to take the fast A road route home as it has a few bumpy corners that always used to upset the balance on the car prior to rebuild so would make a good test.
The difference is night and day form before, the ride is so much better and the handling completely transformed, to the point that a couple of bends where the car used to get upset were re driven a few time trying different things to upset the car but nothing worked, bend that used to be a challenge at 80 cruising in 4th I now have complete confidence in flat in 3rd at higher speed than was ever possible before such is the transformation.
I am so impressed that I had to come on here and wax lyrical, now just looking forward to the next track day which is unfortunately not till September but I is Spa so that is some compensation when I will be able to test more to find the new limits.
If buying new I would go to Meteor Motorsport, they offer many different brand they they will set to your needs and I am a very happy customer.
ukkid35 said:
Thanks Martin, great explanation
Unfortunately you are putting ideas in my head now, as I have so many track days booked between now and October, and I really would like to upgrade my shocks
Sorry Paul,Unfortunately you are putting ideas in my head now, as I have so many track days booked between now and October, and I really would like to upgrade my shocks
The interesting thing that said was that Nitron dampers really are great quality but they valve them too hard to satisfy the hard=fast brigade so buy them from Meteor get them valued correctly and the job is a good un.
The rebound valuing in mine would apparently have suited a spring rated at 800 to 1000lb however when I first bought them I was on standard springs so 225lb. They said compression valuing was good for what I have on it now which is 650lb front and 450 rear.
It really has made the car so compliant it just grips as a result and inspires so much confidence.
I'm on original springs, which I believe are 400/325 so I'm thinking of a modest change to 500/400
I don't want to change the rates so much that it could catch me out, even if one day I do end up with similar spring rates to yours
I will take your advice and speak with Meteor, but I'm not going to fit anything new until after my next track day which is in four weeks time
I don't want to change the rates so much that it could catch me out, even if one day I do end up with similar spring rates to yours
I will take your advice and speak with Meteor, but I'm not going to fit anything new until after my next track day which is in four weeks time
Mine were original springs I had them replaced the same 400/350, but you're right about quality. My 14 year old shocks looked like new when cleaned.
Interesting about St8Six recommending Merlin. They didn't say that last year to me as I had one slightly weeping. Nitron aren't far from them being the other side of Oxford. I got Nitron to rebuild mine and it was 4-5 weeks turnaround. Cost was £95 a corner and £62 for springs, worked out around £200 a corner with VAt so prices are the same I suspect.
Meteor are outside Carmarthen just off the A40 so wouldn't have been far away. A good place to remember - cheers
Interesting about St8Six recommending Merlin. They didn't say that last year to me as I had one slightly weeping. Nitron aren't far from them being the other side of Oxford. I got Nitron to rebuild mine and it was 4-5 weeks turnaround. Cost was £95 a corner and £62 for springs, worked out around £200 a corner with VAt so prices are the same I suspect.
Meteor are outside Carmarthen just off the A40 so wouldn't have been far away. A good place to remember - cheers
Edited by Byker28i on Thursday 18th June 12:48
I've just had my Nitrons gassed and serviced by K-Tech in Leicester, they are not Nitron approved but they look after most of the BSB paddock where i got to know them during my racing days, the total ended up at £480 inc delivery but no advice. My one rear shock had zero damping for about 30mm or so, they said all the shocks were quite poor not tried em yet but I have high hopes!
My cerb came with a fresh set of gaz gold pro 5y and 20k miles ago. Adjustibility is good - but had to be sent back to factory for refresh due to corrosion, and rebound damping is poor. So have thought about Bilsteins, there was a lot of development work on these, but I believe they aren’t adjustable, and would they work just as well if I chose firmer springs? Or Nitrons - expensive from scratch, and reference to less than ideal valving from the factory. Or go the whole hog with Intrax - has anyone fitted them? Thoughts?
ukkid35 said:
DCerebrate said:
Or go the whole hog with Intrax - has anyone fitted them? Thoughts?
There are one or two well respected posters here who have fitted IntraxI like the idea of Intrax, but they are definitely pretty left field
The Nitrons are low to mid price but the build quality is superb. Buy them from Meteor motorsports and get then to set/spec the valves for the springs you want and to me it seems you get a unit that will last decades and have the correct settings for our cars.
I took mine out again today and was laughing out loud at how predictable and chuck able it is now, will be out again for a blast tomorrow for a run in the South Oxon area just cause I can.
Paul, I believe you are at Spa with us all in Sept, take mine for a play and let me know your thoughts before you commit to £000's on dampers.
gruffalo said:
Paul, I believe you are at Spa with us all in Sept, take mine for a play and let me know your thoughts before you commit to £000's on dampers.
Hi Martin, that is a very generous offer that I won't be taking upSeveral years ago, a week before leaving for the Ring, the Cerb broke it's gearbox, my daily drivers engine had blown up a few weeks ealier, and my 928 wasn't really ready for the two track days I'd already booked
I mentioned this to a friend of mine and he said, why don't you take my Integra?
I was thrilled, it is a brilliant little car that is only missing a couple of things: a sixth gear, and a bit more power
However before I took the car off his hands, while he stayed at home changing nappies, I made sure I was fully insured and that I knew how much it would cost me to buy the car off him, if necessary
I definitely couldn't afford to buy your car if something unpleasant were to happen, so I won't be driving it anywhere
However I would be really grateful for a passenger ride, preferably on track at Spa
Thanks again, I really appreciate the offer
Good shout for Nitrons from Meteor, thanks. Still some saving up to do after the 308gti brakes failed after 2y / 20000 miles due to design fault of not having dust covers for the caliper pistons - went down my own route for sorting as didn’t want the same to happen, and Peugeot UK still to take responsibility..........
I ordered a set of Nitron's a few years back. They weren't the standard NR1s but a recently developed larger bodied damper that strangely I cannot see on their website anymore.
No matter what the adjustment, damping was terrible with them on my chim with the car jumping about all over the road.
These were returned three times to Nitron for adjustment to the valving but it hardly improved.
While they were doing this work they kindly lent me a brand-new set of NR1s. Which I found too stiff giving a harsh ride but doable on my car as a temporary replacement.
I compared those to the Gaz Monos that I was running previously and decided to keep the Monos.
On the plus side the original set of dampers they supplied seemed absolutely fine on track but there was a world of difference from the completely smooth service of a track to our British roads!
Those dampers were sold as road/track suitable.
The moral of the story is that a lot of dampers give too harsh a ride and if you just want a set up for the road, be very aware of what you are buying as it is easy to assume you're going to get the best by going on hearsay from the forums. Also, you won't find one product that suits all. The best spring and dampers for the track will certainly not feel the best on our roads and the opposite of course is true.
Edited to add: I'm glad you've got a good result Martin, that company seems like they know what they are doing!
No matter what the adjustment, damping was terrible with them on my chim with the car jumping about all over the road.
These were returned three times to Nitron for adjustment to the valving but it hardly improved.
While they were doing this work they kindly lent me a brand-new set of NR1s. Which I found too stiff giving a harsh ride but doable on my car as a temporary replacement.
I compared those to the Gaz Monos that I was running previously and decided to keep the Monos.
On the plus side the original set of dampers they supplied seemed absolutely fine on track but there was a world of difference from the completely smooth service of a track to our British roads!
Those dampers were sold as road/track suitable.
The moral of the story is that a lot of dampers give too harsh a ride and if you just want a set up for the road, be very aware of what you are buying as it is easy to assume you're going to get the best by going on hearsay from the forums. Also, you won't find one product that suits all. The best spring and dampers for the track will certainly not feel the best on our roads and the opposite of course is true.
Edited to add: I'm glad you've got a good result Martin, that company seems like they know what they are doing!
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