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Lotus in the Peak
28th - 30th June 2024

Suspension Advice


Christopher Lawless

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Afternoon all

 

It looks like my Exige has finally had a damper let go on the rear and needs replacing. I just wanted to gauge everyone's opinion on the options out there.

 

Do I just replace the Bilsteins like for like as I predominantly drive only on the road or do I go the whole hog and upgrade to the Nitrons as I do plan on the odd track day in the future?

 

Plus if I upgrade what's the best version to go to as I wouldn't want to make the ride stupidly harsh and overly track focused? Would you choose the street series or the NTR fast road version?

 

Cheers everyone.

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Afternoon all

 

It looks like my Exige has finally had a damper let go on the rear and needs replacing. I just wanted to gauge everyone's opinion on the options out there.

 

Do I just replace the Bilsteins like for like as I predominantly drive only on the road or do I go the whole hog and upgrade to the Nitrons as I do plan on the odd track day in the future?

 

Plus if I upgrade what's the best version to go to as I wouldn't want to make the ride stupidly harsh and overly track focused? Would you choose the street series or the NTR fast road version?

 

Cheers everyone.

Hi Chris, I've just had the same happen to me only 2 rears and 1 front. Took the car to Gav at unit 4 and apparently the rear bilsteins are a nightmare to get hold of at the moment so he recommended Quantum Zeros from EliseParts. Fully adjustable, road or track springs (can pick on purchase) come in at £957 inc Vat. Plus labour. So not cheap. I should be picking it up this week.

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What Martin says. Definitely.

 

If you can't get a new Billy you can get your old one(s) reconditioned by Bilstein.

 

If you were going to use the car mostly on track I would say get Nitron NTRs rather than Street Series as they are a fair bit better. If money were no object I would go with 3 way adjustable Ohlins because with skill it is possible to set them up so the ride quality is still very good but with much better body control.

If you do go with Nitrons then take good advice on spring rates, valving and whether you will need helper springs - everyone has their own preference, for me I don't think the springs need to be overly stiff.

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Hi Chris, I've just had the same happen to me only 2 rears and 1 front. Took the car to Gav at unit 4 and apparently the rear bilsteins are a nightmare to get hold of at the moment so he recommended Quantum Zeros from EliseParts. Fully adjustable, road or track springs (can pick on purchase) come in at £957 inc Vat. Plus labour. So not cheap. I should be picking it up this week.

It must have been your car I was talking to Gav about then. He did say that straight out of the box the Quantums felt really nice even without any adjustments. He also said that the Nitron street series were a bit of a nightmare.

 

Dean

 

What would you say to the standard spring rates mentioned on the Nitron website for the NTR fast road (425/550)? Spring rates confuse me!!

 

 

If I just replaced the Billy dampers would you bother with replacing the springs at the same time as with springs as well there isn't much price difference to Nitrons?

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If I were you I would just replace the dampers if you are going for Billies again as I assume your springs are in good shape. Your motor isn't high mileage is it?

 

I would also ask yourself if you like the standard suspension set up. My guess is you do, which will be because Lotus ride and handling engineers are the best in the world. You will really struggle to improve on their work for predominantly road with occasion track use.

 

As for Nitron spring rates I think 425/550 is a fair bit stiffer than standard exige but you may want to check as I'm not 100%. You have to decide if you want the car that much stiffer. You can adjust the damping with Nitrons to try and get some ride comfort back but the spring obviously stays the same. It will be a lot harsher. Not so bad in the dry but much more scary and difficult to drive on bumpy roads and in the cold and wet.

 

I have NSS and don't think they are great but they are cheap and you get what you pay for.

 

 

All of this is only my humble opinion of course. Others will have different views.

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It must have been your car I was talking to Gav about then. He did say that straight out of the box the Quantums felt really nice even without any adjustments. He also said that the Nitron street series were a bit of a nightmare.

 

Dean

 

What would you say to the standard spring rates mentioned on the Nitron website for the NTR fast road (425/550)? Spring rates confuse me!!

 

 

If I just replaced the Billy dampers would you bother with replacing the springs at the same time as with springs as well there isn't much price difference to Nitrons?

Chris spring rates can be a nightmare as everyone has their own opinions.

I've found Chris Randell at Hoffmann to be very very helpful after numerous phone calls. He's a bit of a wiz when it comes to nitrons, he's also a supplier so might be able to help out there as well.

 

Don't worry to much if after a few months you decide the springs you choose are too soft or hard. They aren't overly expensive to replace and easy enough to swap.

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Chris, 

 

450/550 are the springs rates for a S2 Exige cup car so are firm.

 

I went to these after a log conversation with Mick Gardner (Ohlins dealer) regarding the S2 Exige i had which was very track focused. Previously the spring rates where something like 550/650. (i had single way Ohlins)

 

The ride was greatly improved on the road, but by no means as good as standard set up. It was also great on track, but i had to fit a 7/8 Elise parts anti roll bar as well.

 

As mentioned above, there are many options out there and they are all good. Not many people will really be able to tell much difference between them if correctly set up. 

Seeing as you do mainly road use i would seriously consider a road biased set up including nice soft springs. If you find it rolling a bit too much on track just fit a bigger diameter anit roll bar. 

Also take into account that your current set up is a fair few years old now, so even new/refreshed versions of what you have will be firmer. 

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Each time I think about it I change my mind on what to do.

 

What spring rate is the standard springs used on the Bilsteins?

 

My car has done roughly 40k miles so the springs should be ok despite being 13 years old. Being sensible you would just go for the cheap option of only new Bilstein dampers. I guess the ideal but way more expensive option would be Nitron NTR's with a spring rate setup closer to the standard than 425/550 so good on road (if not a smooth as standard) and with the adjustability to improve the handling and track performance?

 

To be sensible or not to be sensible???

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If you go with Nitrons or Ohlins you can lower the car a bit and put some rake in. Then you will need a geo which all adds up. When I had mine done I sat in the driver's seat and had about 12 litres of fuel in it as some sort of average, and had the corner weights done.

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My vote FWIW is try and just replace/refurb the dampers.

 

Out of the box the Exige was a good compromise between road and track use (if anything a bit too track biased for my taste having seen the light of a stock S2 Elise, which I found had a better flow over broken surfaces.).

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After talking with Chris at Hofmanns he clearly knows his stuff. I'm leaning towards the non-sensible option and paying the extra. Chris told me that the 46mm piston and their custom valving and spring rates mean the still rides lovely on the road which was my biggest fear.

 

Just got to get it passed the missus now.

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Chris, it will still be a lot firmer than what you are used to. 

 

Try giving Rob Boston Racing a call as well. He is a Gaz dealer and also knows his stuff. :) 

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I would add that I had a little ride in Sheldon's s2 elise which has Nitron 46s on and it felt really good - much more supple at low speed than my NSS. I think it wasn't that long ago that Sheldon refreshed his suspension and I'm sure the newer bushes help the NVH - it certainly didn't bang and rattle like mine.

Provided you stick with sensible spring rates I'm sure you will like them.

 

If you are going to the expense of Nitrons I would seriously consider the thicker arb that Alan mentions above - his made Craig swears by this mod and he is a multiple elise trophy race winner.

One final thing that not many people seem to know about but race teams do is fit adjustable arb drop links. The idea is that when you set your corner weights you adjust the drop links so the arb bolts on 'just so' i. e without it putting your suspension under load and thereby moving those corner weights you have just spent ages setting.

I think hangar 111 sell them, they aren't too dear. One day I shall get some!

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