Suspension and stuff...

[skinner]

Looking for some informed views here please. After having the inward debate with myself as what to do next:
1 Superlight R
2 Exige S1
3 Exige S2
4 Stick with the 111s and change a few bits

First question is......is there any truth behind the rumors that the S1 Exige needs an engine re-build after 12-15k?
Second, and prob the way I am going to go, Nitrons v LSS? What are the costs and benefits of both please. I really do like the thought of the Nitrons, but want to know if they are worth the extra wedge?

Ta

[sydneyse]

I'm actually tossing up between Nitrons and LSS for my S2 111s. I thought the LSS was more expensive than the nitrons..

two questions arise in my mind:
1. Since Lotus are renowned for their suspension tuning, are the nitrons better?

2. who offers the best price LSS or nitrons?

[skinner]

sydneyse said:

I thought the LSS was more expensive than the nitrons..

[paulwakinshaw]

from the usual posts here I think the ball will fall into the Nitrons court. Cost is approx £1000 for a full set inc. springs

Nitrons are used by Fergus Duncan - Lotus Ecosse I think, he said they are the way to go, for road and track.

No doubt he will be along to tell you more.

Wak

[fergusd]

I do use them, I have, in fact, perhaps the first set of the latest generation Nitrons on my car, they have been totally reliable over 35K+ worth of really quite hard driving.

I should say I also sell them on lotusecosse, but that, for me, is incidental . . . the product stands by itself, very high quality, designed for road/track, brilliant customer service through Nitron, and they just work . . . and last . . .

I've driven cars with just about all the current damper/spring kits available . . . For the kind of driving I do, lots of road and a couple of track days a month, they are brilliant . . . the car feels extremely poised . . . yet not harsh . . .

I have never had negative feedback from anybody who's bought them, some of those people are very knowledgable and competitive drivers (hillclimb series winners, lots of regular track drivers) who are only interested in how the car goes . . .

I would only fit one of two options to an S1 Elise today . . .

Nitrons OR S2 bilsteins . . .

The S2 billies are better than S1 LSS, they are slightly stiffer (S1 LSS was underdamped and undersprung IMHO) but probably more reliable than the S1 Konis . . .

I don't sell the S2 kit, speak to Steve Butts on the BBS or SELOC, he'll do you a good deal on them . . . see - no commercial interest to me and I'm recommending them !

If you do end up looking for some Nitrons, message me . . .

Fd

[sydneyse]

OK, nitrons get a good rap- however, how hard are they to "set up" (as they're adjustable). After all if not "set up" right, I can imagine the car handling worse...

(PS my car is a S2)

[fergusd]

It's certainly fair to say that they are not plug and play . . . you require to set the rideheight and then set up the car's geometry . . . however, this is the same for any damper kit that changes the springs/dampers/rideheight . . . presuming you install the kit and have a suitable geometry put on the car (it has to be checked anyway as changing ride height changes the static geometry) then some basic damper settings are simple to set on the car, from there there is a measure of personal preference and what you are using the car for to take into account, and these feed into the damper/geometry settings.

I can't imagine that fitting LSS is technically any different.

Fd