Gaz v Nitron Ride Comfort!

[Torquemada]

Maybe showing my age asking about ride comfort, but can anyone tell me how ride comfort on potholed urban roads compares with Gaz v Nitron. Understand the latter are normally matched with softer springs, so would expect a more compliant ride?

Thanks in advance.

[GreenV8S]

In my experience the Nitrons are dramatically better at absorbing harsh road input and give much better ride comfort for a given level of damping. But it's quite subjective and what's a dramatic improvement for me might be barely noticeable for the next guy.

[Ab Shocks]

Torquemada said:

Maybe showing my age asking about ride comfort, but can anyone tell me how ride comfort on potholed urban roads compares with Gaz v Nitron. Understand the latter are normally matched with softer springs, so would expect a more compliant ride?

Thanks in advance.

The Gaz kits are more compliant than the standard Nitron kits on B roads but if you go to a specialist they can specify softer valving on the Nitron rear shocks. If you do decide to go for monotubes, maybe consider the Racing reds because they are valved more for general road use and are more compliant..

[350Matt]

The Nitrons are usually matched with harder springs than standard but my feeling is that the nitrons are a superior shock than the Gaz which is reflected in the price.

and they do give a better ride

Matt

[Gooner]

Also your tyres will also make a lot of difference, with better damping in my humble opinion you can run softer sidewalls like Toyo Proxies which is better for a light car like a Griff in terms of ride comfort, vs. SO3 which have very stiff sidewalls. I think that will make more difference than Gaz v Nitron.

All the parts of the suspension need to work in harmony.

gooner

[Torquemada]

Thanks for the replies - I am already on Toyos, with gaz shocks, but finding the ride around town rock'ard, however I tweak the adjusters.

[LS7427ci]

Maybe go to FOX?????

[Ab Shocks]

Torquemada said:

Thanks for the replies - I am already on Toyos, with gaz shocks, but finding the ride around town rock'ard, however I tweak the adjusters.

I don't know what tweaking you are doing but generally poor ride comfort comes from rear shocks being too hard.
Why not give me a ring at the workshop on 01480 403700

[Gooner]

That's an offer worth accepting, a bit of tweaking from the shockmeister at Brands helped my car no end.

Final words from me are tyre pressures, mine are at 22 on rear, the temptation with soft sidewalls is to over-inflate.

Sorry if this sound like teaching you to suck eggs, its just that I spent months getting fed up with the harsh ride before I got all this sorted so hope to save you some time.

gooner

[Torquemada]

Thanks Gooner - what click settings are you using?

[Gooner]

Torquemada, sorry I didn't get back to you, been away on business. Counted from maximum hardness (ie fully screwed in ), I have 23 clicks on the front and 25 on the rear. That's slightly softer than the midpoint which I think is 20 in each case. I did it by trial and error - much softer and the rear starts to bounce sideways on bumpy bends, much harder at the rear and it tends to just jar over the bumps and feel unsteady. I'm sure there is a more scientific way and it seems to vary a little depending on if its very hot or cold, what the road is like etc., but that might just be me. On a very smooth road or track I would harden the rear up more. The front seems to matter less but if it is too hard it seems to get out of balance with the rear - I can't really describe it any better than that. If the front is too soft I found that it makes you want to harden it up at the rear which just makes the ride worse. Different people find different frequencies of being bumped the most unpleasant apparently so your ideal settings might be different.

Like someone else said, its definitely worth starting out with some extremes, like everything really soft, just to see what it is like. The adjust by at least 3 clicks each time so you notice the difference. Put the fronts on 20 and mess around with the rear until it feels about right. Then adjust the front again. Then drive ti for a week or so and see whether you want to change it again, but only make small changes this time.

I'm sure a real expert can come along and make sense of all this, hope it helps.

gooner

[Ab Shocks]

Gooner: I think you are completely correct in your assumption on rear v front setting.
If the front is slightly too stiff you will not have that much of a problem but if the rear is overdamped, the car will feel horrible.
I would start the front at 15 clicks from soft and turn the rears to full soft, then gradually turn up the rears whilst periodically getting my knee on the rear bumper and pushing the car down, after about 14 clicks you will feel the rebound starting to restrict the car rising, I would make that my starting point.
Nob joke
Firm front, compliant rear for a nice ride.

[Torquemada]

Thanks Gooner and AbShocks, will do some twiddling this afternoon (just need to find a rear bumper for the Griff...)

[Gooner]

No rear bumper? That's where you are going wrong.

[Ab Shocks]

Whoops, forgot which forum I was on.

Just put some weight on the rear wing then and if you are still struggling, come and see me at the growl

[Gooner]

Torquemada, any joy with your twiddling?

gooner

[hiltonig]

right just upgraded the chimera with nitrons and poly bushes, what a difference the ride is slighty stiffer but not bouncey like the old shocks. They are superb well worth the money and the ride comfort is better than the originals.

[Torquemada]

Gooner said:

Torquemada, any joy with your twiddling?

gooner

Still twiddling - out of interest, what poundage are your springs? I have 450/375.

[V8 Animal]

Torquemada said:

Gooner said:

Torquemada, any joy with your twiddling?

gooner

Still twiddling - out of interest, what poundage are your springs? I have 450/375.

Mine are 400/375 it is on a chim but i can't see the reason for different springs.
BTW sent mine back to gaz as i don't feel comfortable with the ride maybe this is the reason.
Im still awaiting there call.....
V8 Animal

[wintrading]

Hello my experience with shocks tells me that it is not only the shocks. I do not know how to tell it because i come from the Netherlands and my technical english is not really good i think. But ok i will try. The shock are attached with silent blocks on that is where it goes wrong. Due to the angle of the shocks, the forces on those silent blocks are too big. This cuases the silent blocks to wear out and that means a lot of play. This results in very bad handling. No matter what shocks you use those silent blocks can not deal with the forces put on them due of the angle of the shocks. So if you want a good handling car first thing is to ask your shock suplier to change those silent blocks with rose joints. Those rose joints do not wear out and no play. I think all that talk about shocks is kinda useless without proper attachment. And the silent blocks are just not up to that job. Also the anti rollbar rubbers have this problem change those for poly ones. If you have proper attachment of the shock try to set it up for rain conditions which is a softer set up and really nice for normal use. Ask a guy to help you so that you get a stable car. Chassis of a griff is really racy and can handle relatively well. But with bad components it will never work. I use Intrax shocks because my brother in law who is ferrari dealer uses them on some of the classic ferrari's. Not on all because for homologation sometimes they can't use them because it is not allowed. Then they use the original shocks and replace all of the inside of those"original" shocks with modern stuff. Also not allowed but ok.

So i think you can buy "golden" shocks but this does not work when the shocks attachment has much play. So if you do not change the silent blocks with rose joints all does not matter. Hope you understand.


Good luck.