Newbie question

[DeanB]

3 hours ago, Andy wright said:

I have been helping my friend today doing some prep on his Series2 K series race car( At Oulton  park next week for testing and Donnington racing at the weekend . ) His car is down at 700kg and has some serious downforce . Damping is Ohlins TTX and springs are 456lb/in front and 630lb/in at the rear ( the rear wing can generate a lot of downforce at 100mph ) . But this is a full  race car , so a road car with 400 front and 475 rear must be really, err, firm . My Golf R32 with 2 way Moton damping and 1510 kg had 470 up front and 340 at the rear . That was firm . Anyway, plenty of time for more research before hitting any ‘ buy ‘ buttons .

You're right of course. Although I nipped out in it tonight and it still felt special.

It will feel more special still when I fit softer springs 😊

[Andy wright]

Yes. They do. And stiff springs do make a car feel really very taut and responsive . The snag is that most of our roads are not nice and smooth, so suspension has to be compromised. I think the hard it is working out where that compromise is. It will be really interesting to hear how you get on with your new springs when they are fitted. 

[Oakman]

Colin Chapman's original suspension philosophy was for softer springs with firmer damping (bearing in mind we are talking 50 to 60 years ago).  His reasoning being that the wheel / tyre needs to be in contact with the surface and move with it rather than fight with it. 

I know things have changed dramatically since those early years,  however Lotus are still renowned for their skill with suspension set ups, they still don't do 'active' suspension, or in car multi modes to achieve the necessary ride/ handling / comfort balance on their sports cars.  I'm sure they will have developed them for other manufacturers, who will have paid for them to 'learn' how to do it - funny that they stick with a passive set up 😉

PS. As per my club photo - had to get to over 85 mph+ on a crest to "take off" in the Elan 😄

 

Edited November 26, 2024 by Oakman

[Badger02]

Hi Andy.

Welcome to the club. I had an S2 1ZZ for a few years, really enjoyed it, quick enough for me. It had Bilsteins fitted which were fine for me.

Edited November 28, 2024 by Badger02

[Badger02]

I'm leading an MLOC ride out this coming Sunday morning (see the events section) if you fancy a blast (weather permitting)

[Andy wright]

Thanks for,your reply. Love to join up for a run this Sunday, but for the fact that Inhave sold my cream seats and the replacements have not arrived, so unless I bolt a milk crate to the floor , driving it will be tricky . I’m also half way through the job of fitting a harness bar , so photos of which I will take and post today . Anyway, hope it’s a decent day on Sunday. Enjoy . 

[Andy wright]

And the newbie saga continues. This afternoon was the moment when my Eliseparts harness bar arrived. I had read a couple of guides in ‘how to fit’ so I was forwarded. I already had seats out so removing the seatbelts, bit of the console, speakers and the rear trim was easy. And all credit due to Eliseparts, the bar bolted in place with ease, but that was without the foam padding or the trim panel. The following photographs show the cutting and general faffing about required to get the harness bar to fit in conjunction with the rear trim. In summary, a real fiddle and hassle, but the outcome is satisfactory . 

[Andy wright]

And a couple more .When lotus kindly provided the harness bar welded on bosses they clearly did not intend that the trim remained in place after fitting. ( or at least not all,of it ) Anyway, just about all back in place . I really hope that the immobiser does not fail in the future because getting the trim off now with the bar will be a real pain in the fundament. Next job is the revised quick release steering wheel hub ( another Eliseparts purchase ) 

[Andy wright]

And a couple more .When lotus kindly provided the harness bar welded on bosses they clearly did not intend that the trim remained in place after fitting. ( or at least not all,of it ) Anyway, just about all back in place . I really hope that the immobiser does not fail in the future because getting the trim off now with the bar will be a real pain in the fundament. Next job is the revised quick release steering wheel hub ( another Eliseparts purchase ) 

[Andy wright]

And the next stage in the ‘ just bought a Lotus Elise so I will take it to bits ‘ saga. Finally finished the harness  bar install so turned my attention to the very scruffy sill cover. Then I remembered that I had some cheap ‘ carbon fibre pattern ‘ vinyl so gave it a whirl on the drivers side cover. The result is not stunning but better than it was. I did not have the nerve to properly sand down the plastic cover: had I done so the result would have been better , but I didn’t want to do anything that was irrevocable . The next stage was removal of the steering wheel and installation of the Elise parts quick release adaptor and hub. I had to knock up a steering wheel removal tool which duly obliged . Now part way though the replacement hub and wheel . 

[Andy wright]

The steering wheel saga has a happy ending but , along the way, I managed to, idiot that I am, to get my fingers burned. The Eliseparts quick release hub adaptor and the supplied Band G quick release hub all fitted easily. The first hassle was getting the horn to work. The problem, dear reader, is that , because both the Momo ( more of that later ) and the Lotus ( read Nardi) horn pushes are quite deep. So deep in fact that their terminals foul on the spade terminals inside the wheel end of the Q/R hub. After much messing about I gave in and fitted a push button ( Lotus mind ) onto the steering wheel and fed the wires into the hub via a gap in a 3mm spacer that I made to go between the wheel and the upper hub. It all works. And the Lotus horn push has been , err, pruned so that it is for appearances only. And the burned fingers? On Facebook marketplace I found a brand new Momo Mod 30 wheel in suede that someone was selling for a good price. So I bought it . Nice suede, flat bottom and the right size. On closer inspection the horn push did not seem very good. Then the supplied horn ring Allen screws rounded off with almost no load . Then , having given up on horn pushes , I went to drill the wheel and discovered that not only was it hewn out of solid Chineseium but said mineral was a very long way from being solid . When the rim was clamped in the vice along its bottom edge the wheel could flex alarmingly . The periphery of the wheel was not rigidly attached to the centre . Said brand new wheel complete with its Momo box now in the bin. The wheel currently fitted is one I had sort of ‘ laying around ‘ and is a good quality one ( Personel) 

Anyway, job done . On to the next one . 

 

[DeanB]

Have you noticed that the Lotus wheel is, by design, a little off centre? 

[Andy wright]

No . I had not noticed that . Hope that does not cause me a problem ? 

[Andy wright]

I have now. Offset slightly downwards  The reason may have been to give a little more leg room ( on entry and exit? ) perhaps instrument visibility ? 

[DeanB]

2 hours ago, Andy wright said:

I have now. Offset slightly downwards  The reason may have been to give a little more leg room ( on entry and exit? ) perhaps instrument visibility ? 

I imagine mostly leg room for ingress/egress but could also be because Lotus thought it offered a slightly better overall driving position. And maybe instrument visibility too. It's quite clever because hardly anyone notices. I didn't.

I have a slightly larger suede wheel fitted which I really like - my grip feels more secure and as I have a quick rack the extra leverage makes the overall gearing just right for me, but I always think it would be even better if it was offset slightly like the oem wheel.

Edited December 3, 2024 by DeanB