NITRONS settings
Discussion
Hi There
Has anyone got a set of Nitrons fully adjustable shocks on their car? I am looking for advice on setup. I had a full set fitted to my 450 a few months ago and was wondering how different people set up the damping for different conditions etc (comfort, track days, fast road).
Thanks
Has anyone got a set of Nitrons fully adjustable shocks on their car? I am looking for advice on setup. I had a full set fitted to my 450 a few months ago and was wondering how different people set up the damping for different conditions etc (comfort, track days, fast road).
Thanks
This begs the question, who put the Nitrons on the car for you? because this is a specialist damper and needs setting up by experts.
I have noted recently that because the lower grade Nitrons come as a kit that some garages fit them not having a clue how to set them up.
The likes of Jools,Topcats and others would be able to offer setups that would be a happy medium between road and track.
I have noted recently that because the lower grade Nitrons come as a kit that some garages fit them not having a clue how to set them up.
The likes of Jools,Topcats and others would be able to offer setups that would be a happy medium between road and track.
Worse than not knowing how to set them up is not recognising when a kit isn't working for the customer, and not giving the customer the required info to go away and play with the set-up.
It's the lack of information that the fitter gives the customer that I object too, and also the blind belief on these forums that a top quality damper will be better for you no matter how you set it up ..
i've said for a long time that a well set up mid-price damper is waaaay better than a badly set up top quality damper, but still people fit esoteric dampers when they're not needed, or they're fitted in such a way as to offer much worse value for money than the alternative mid-price/good set up route.
It sounds like Derek's gaz units are decent kit now that gaz have got their act together, and i have my protechs built to my spec so i know they work .. either of these routes correctly fitted with proper customer education and a driver willing to play and adjust to his/her needs are much better propositions than nitrons thrown at the car by a service agent who doesn't understand the kit/set-up and a driver unwilling or unable through bad sales tactics to adjust them to suit.
Derek's doing a good job here trying to help tvr owners out like i try and do aswell .. use us, we're here to help you make your car better not worse!
It's the lack of information that the fitter gives the customer that I object too, and also the blind belief on these forums that a top quality damper will be better for you no matter how you set it up ..
i've said for a long time that a well set up mid-price damper is waaaay better than a badly set up top quality damper, but still people fit esoteric dampers when they're not needed, or they're fitted in such a way as to offer much worse value for money than the alternative mid-price/good set up route.
It sounds like Derek's gaz units are decent kit now that gaz have got their act together, and i have my protechs built to my spec so i know they work .. either of these routes correctly fitted with proper customer education and a driver willing to play and adjust to his/her needs are much better propositions than nitrons thrown at the car by a service agent who doesn't understand the kit/set-up and a driver unwilling or unable through bad sales tactics to adjust them to suit.
Derek's doing a good job here trying to help tvr owners out like i try and do aswell .. use us, we're here to help you make your car better not worse!
If you bought the units fitted then the suppliers should set them up for you or explain how to do it. If they know how but can't be bothered to do it or tell you how to do it, then personally I would be extremely disappointed with them. And if they don't know, then what the heck are they doing fitting them in the first place?
This is pointed at your suppliers and not you personally, but I think it is a cheek to take the money and then expect somebody else to take care of the details of setting it up. I'm not in the trade, but if I was I'd take a pretty dim view of people who bought parts from my competitors and then expected me to sort them out for free.
On a more constructive note, there are various well known suspension / handling specialists who would, I'm sure, give your car a full suspension setup for a reasonable price. If you're interested in recommendations, try Steve Guglielmi or Joolz (Track Car).
This is pointed at your suppliers and not you personally, but I think it is a cheek to take the money and then expect somebody else to take care of the details of setting it up. I'm not in the trade, but if I was I'd take a pretty dim view of people who bought parts from my competitors and then expected me to sort them out for free.
On a more constructive note, there are various well known suspension / handling specialists who would, I'm sure, give your car a full suspension setup for a reasonable price. If you're interested in recommendations, try Steve Guglielmi or Joolz (Track Car).
There's plenty of people around who know how to set them up, but only you know how you want your car to feel ..
you need to work with someone initially to set your car up, and also to give you a grounding in set-up so you can go away and then play with the settings yourself. this is much easier one-on-one with you and your car in a workshop situation speaking directly to the person you want to help you.
my first advice is go back to your fitter and ask them to spend half a day with you (for free) guiding you through the process.
I would also contact Guy at Nitron direct and explain what has happened, i've spoken to Guy directly about his fitters undermining the good work he does at Nitron by not offering proper customer support or feedback .. but the more people who come forward to say this the better as it weeds out the numpty fitters and leaves just the ones interested in giving customers cars that work properly.
if there's any advice i'd give its run the car at std ride height and use the softest settings you can get away with on road (ie the softest setting that will give you the control you require) .
you need to work with someone initially to set your car up, and also to give you a grounding in set-up so you can go away and then play with the settings yourself. this is much easier one-on-one with you and your car in a workshop situation speaking directly to the person you want to help you.
my first advice is go back to your fitter and ask them to spend half a day with you (for free) guiding you through the process.
I would also contact Guy at Nitron direct and explain what has happened, i've spoken to Guy directly about his fitters undermining the good work he does at Nitron by not offering proper customer support or feedback .. but the more people who come forward to say this the better as it weeds out the numpty fitters and leaves just the ones interested in giving customers cars that work properly.
if there's any advice i'd give its run the car at std ride height and use the softest settings you can get away with on road (ie the softest setting that will give you the control you require) .
Lets see now, what you have is a damper and a spring. If you bought the deluxe version you'll have one at each corner. 
Spring adjustment - there is none. A spring has a set rate. You can play with the preload to get the static ride height you want, but you may alter geometry if you alter that significantly from standard.
Damper rates. On my dampers there is only one adustment, later Nitrons may well have separate compression and rebound damping. Start soft, road test, wind them up until you get no bottoming over your favourite humpback. Make sure the setting on both sides is the same, unless you plan to circulate Goodwood a lot.
Bottom line - the normal range of adjustments isn't likely to allow any setting which would be downright dangerous. The manufacturers and supplied would have some serious questions to answer if they did. How you set them is down to personal preference.
If you are a racer you wouldn't be asking, so the nth degree of damper adjustment isn't that important. Or do you get your corner weights balanced after you load the shopping at Tescos?
Get the suspension set up by a professsional outfit and you might get the spring changed to a rate which suited you, you might even get the dampers rebuilt with different valving or oil viscosity, but if you can't feel the difference between different settings on what you have already then you probably won't appreciate the difference, so why spend the money? Just my opinion.
Spring adjustment - there is none. A spring has a set rate. You can play with the preload to get the static ride height you want, but you may alter geometry if you alter that significantly from standard.
Damper rates. On my dampers there is only one adustment, later Nitrons may well have separate compression and rebound damping. Start soft, road test, wind them up until you get no bottoming over your favourite humpback. Make sure the setting on both sides is the same, unless you plan to circulate Goodwood a lot.
Bottom line - the normal range of adjustments isn't likely to allow any setting which would be downright dangerous. The manufacturers and supplied would have some serious questions to answer if they did. How you set them is down to personal preference.
If you are a racer you wouldn't be asking, so the nth degree of damper adjustment isn't that important. Or do you get your corner weights balanced after you load the shopping at Tescos?
Get the suspension set up by a professsional outfit and you might get the spring changed to a rate which suited you, you might even get the dampers rebuilt with different valving or oil viscosity, but if you can't feel the difference between different settings on what you have already then you probably won't appreciate the difference, so why spend the money? Just my opinion.
victormeldrew said:
Bottom line - the normal range of adjustments isn't likely to allow any setting which would be downright dangerous.
Most of the budget dampers have 'one size fits all' valving and the adjuster goes from nothing to rigid. Go too far either in either direction (hard or soft) and you can make a right mess of the handling. Nitrons are valved to suit the application and they have a much narrower range of adjustment, so that the adjuster covers the range of sensible settings for those springs plus a little bit either way. You can still get it wrong, but not as badly wrong.
Hi BC,
I bought some Nitrons for the Griff and fitted and set them up myself and they work superb!! I basically measured the height of the car (all 4 corners) before doing anything and then put the Ns on and adjusted the height to approx the same. I then got the camber done and 4 wheel laser alignment and it works spot on!!
once you set the height, you should not need to adjust this again!
Damping.....For a soft 'comfy' ride I run half way (12 clicks from +) all 4.
And for my hillclimbing I run 8 clicks from + and it seems to do the trick. I may consider going a bit stiffer (1+) on the front but not much.
Lig.
I bought some Nitrons for the Griff and fitted and set them up myself and they work superb!! I basically measured the height of the car (all 4 corners) before doing anything and then put the Ns on and adjusted the height to approx the same. I then got the camber done and 4 wheel laser alignment and it works spot on!!
once you set the height, you should not need to adjust this again!
Damping.....For a soft 'comfy' ride I run half way (12 clicks from +) all 4.
And for my hillclimbing I run 8 clicks from + and it seems to do the trick. I may consider going a bit stiffer (1+) on the front but not much.
Lig.
I'm pretty sure the Nitrons are damped according to the spring rate and which end they're on already - the adjustment is just fine adjustment. They will not have the same damping rate on the front and rear shocks, just as the springs are different.
My point is that given a base point of balanced spring rates and damping, I'd damp the fronts slightly more so that the back reacts faster to any pitching, giving the rear wheels more of a chance to stay in contact with the road.
As this is a particular achilles heel of the Chimaera this seems like a sensible precaution. It has a similar efect on traction too, with the back squatting faster than the fron rises the tyres have less opportunity to break traction.
My point is that given a base point of balanced spring rates and damping, I'd damp the fronts slightly more so that the back reacts faster to any pitching, giving the rear wheels more of a chance to stay in contact with the road.
As this is a particular achilles heel of the Chimaera this seems like a sensible precaution. It has a similar efect on traction too, with the back squatting faster than the fron rises the tyres have less opportunity to break traction.
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