Exige/Elise suspension questions... Nitron
Discussion
Just trying to get some ball park suspension figures for a track orientated car...
Firstly does anyone know off hand what the front and rear suspension leverage is i.e. the ratio between the coil rate and the wheel rate, for the front and rear suspension?
Also
Looking at the coil rates Nitron provide with their dampers...
NTR Sport (F/R) 425lb/in 575lb/in
NTR Race (F/R) 600lb/in 700lb/in
Anyone have any opinions on what running these sort of stiffness springs are like on road/track?
Looking at those rates I'd imagin that even the Sport kit must be on the limit for road driving and must be very much biased towards track driving.
Firstly does anyone know off hand what the front and rear suspension leverage is i.e. the ratio between the coil rate and the wheel rate, for the front and rear suspension?
Also
Looking at the coil rates Nitron provide with their dampers...
NTR Sport (F/R) 425lb/in 575lb/in
NTR Race (F/R) 600lb/in 700lb/in
Anyone have any opinions on what running these sort of stiffness springs are like on road/track?
Looking at those rates I'd imagin that even the Sport kit must be on the limit for road driving and must be very much biased towards track driving.
Hi
without the suspension ratio figures it is difficult to comment on the spring rates. However it is pretty easy to measure suspension ratio on the car. Take the wheel off, lift the hub up 1cm and measure the spring compression. Then divide one by the other. If you can take the spring off and measure it for the whole range of suspension movement then you can plot it out and see how suspension ratio changes with ride hieght. I would image Lotus have kept it pretty linear sice the car does not develope any significant down force.
If the ratio is close to 1:1 then the spring rates you quote are stiff and I would image the race setup would be far too hard for the road.
If you do go through the pain of measuring it then I would be interested to see your numbers. If you are not clear on the maths then send me through the numbers and I will calculate the ratio and effective wheel rates.
regards
C
without the suspension ratio figures it is difficult to comment on the spring rates. However it is pretty easy to measure suspension ratio on the car. Take the wheel off, lift the hub up 1cm and measure the spring compression. Then divide one by the other. If you can take the spring off and measure it for the whole range of suspension movement then you can plot it out and see how suspension ratio changes with ride hieght. I would image Lotus have kept it pretty linear sice the car does not develope any significant down force.
If the ratio is close to 1:1 then the spring rates you quote are stiff and I would image the race setup would be far too hard for the road.
If you do go through the pain of measuring it then I would be interested to see your numbers. If you are not clear on the maths then send me through the numbers and I will calculate the ratio and effective wheel rates.
regards
C
Well worth talking to Randy on Seloc. He's based at Henley (Hoffman and Mountfort is the business) and has developed his own valving over and above the work done by Nitron.
FWIW I've got the standard Nitron NTRs with 400/475 on my boggo S1. Rides much better than I thought it would on the road (very firm but so well damped the motion doesn't continue IYFWIM). I thought 'standard' spring rates for an S1 were 325/400. If you were racing then you'd probably want stiffer than my set up but for a road/track car I'm very pleased. Obviously it depends on your car though (weight/power etc).
FWIW I've got the standard Nitron NTRs with 400/475 on my boggo S1. Rides much better than I thought it would on the road (very firm but so well damped the motion doesn't continue IYFWIM). I thought 'standard' spring rates for an S1 were 325/400. If you were racing then you'd probably want stiffer than my set up but for a road/track car I'm very pleased. Obviously it depends on your car though (weight/power etc).
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