Nitron suspension setup

[Christopher Lawless]

Guys

Those of you that are running the Nitrons could you give me an idea of a good base setup to set the car to please?

I've fitted the Hoffmanns NTR46's and I'm going to get the alignment, ride height and corner weighting all done to factory standard settings for now so that I have a good starting point to work from.

Would it be something like 8 - 10 clicks from hard all round for a good starting point (mainly road use)?

TIA 

[Martin R]

Mainly road use try 14 from hard all round. I prefer a bit of body roll so i can tell whats going on. What spring rates have you gone for? I will see if i can dig out what mine is set to.

[Christopher Lawless]

Cheers Martin.

After speaking with Chris at Hoffmanns I went with a slightly softer spring set up of 375 front and 500 rear.

[Martin R]

1 hour ago, Christopher Lawless said:

Cheers Martin.

After speaking with Chris at Hoffmanns I went with a slightly softer spring set up of 375 front and 500 rear.

That will work. I had mine changed as they were to hard and it had no body roll. No doubt this would be quicker if you are a pro driver. However i found it unnerving as i could not get enough feedback what the car was about to do. I have a lot more confidence in it now.

[jody391]

Mines on 450 500 spring rates and I use 19 from hard.

7-8 from hard on track.

[DeanB]

I would try Jody"s damper settings but I wouldn't go standard ride height, I would lower it a bit.  Remember if you lower it at a later date you will need to re set your geometry which is quite expensive.

[Christopher Lawless]

I can't go too low as it'll never get on and off the drive. May be 120/130 or 125/130?

[russelld]

12 hours ago, Christopher Lawless said:

I can't go too low as it'll never get on and off the drive. May be 120/130 or 125/130?

make some ramps from scaffolding boards 

[winthattt]

I also use the standard ride height so I can over modest speed bumps down my road. I run it 5 off full soft on the road. They are 46mm Nitrons.

Fair point that going lower will need a new geo, I have never felt the need to go lower.  Note that standard has no rake.

[AlanS1]

I had 550R and 425F on my S2 Exige. That was with Ohlins. 

So your damper rates should be even better for the road.  

As for damper settings, this will vary a lot to be honest, depend on the valving and your personal preference. 

I would start by winding them to 0 from hard them back off approx 10 clicks all around. Go for a drive to see how they feel. Then go another 10 clicks all round. This should allow you to very clearly see the differences of hard and soft settings. Then just tweak to your preference.  

[DeanB]

Chris remember to always take your adjusters to full hard and then adjust from there.  Don't take full soft as your reference point - I'm not sure why but you aren't supposed to!

On reflection who not try standard ride height rear but lower the front 10 millimetres to put a bit of take in?  That should deal with most driveways but if you are bothered there is no arguing with Winthatt's logic that there is nothing wrong with the standard ride height. 

Also I always find that having the dampers adjusted the same (e.g. 20 from full hard) on the front and rear axles usually gives the best handling.

[Christopher Lawless]

Well I've left it in the hands of the nice chaps down at PJS to set it all up. It's going to be standard Toe/Camber/Ride height and weighted with 150kg across the front seats (may be a touch more what with being a larger gentleman and all that). I'm also going with Martin's settings of 14 from fully hard as a starting point. 

Can't wait to get it back, all set up and ready for fun. Problem is we are of on holiday soon for 2 weeks in Mexico so wont get much chance to enjoy it before winter lol.

[winthattt]

A good geo will transform the car.  Getting all the wheels pointing in the right direction and nicely balanced feels so much better.  When I had my old S1 Elise done (by Centre or Gravity - Atherstone) he nearly fell off his chair when he saw the toe angles on my rear wheels......I always found it a bit dodgy turning left.  My S2 Exige was done by Tollbar Racing and was nowhere near as wonky but was still transformed.

I normally use the standard Lotus Spec and parts for everything, unless I have a very good reason to pick something different, I tend to think they know what they are doing (more than me). The only exception is where they have saved money and gone cheap (like Koni dampers on the S1)

Keith