Newbie question

[Andy wright]

Yes. With a quick rack I imagine a 350mm wheel would be preferable. I will just have to see how I get on with the arrangement I now have. I would have preferred a flat bottomed wheel but the one I bought was an absolute pile of……. . 

[Badger02]

10 hours ago, DeanB said:

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.

Funny you mention that Dean as I've always wondered about that. I noticed that my wheel didn't rotate in a perfect circle when I 1st got it, checked with PJS and they said it was normal.

[DeanB]

49 minutes ago, Badger02 said:

Funny you mention that Dean as I've always wondered about that. I noticed that my wheel didn't rotate in a perfect circle when I 1st got it, checked with PJS and they said it was normal.

You paid more attention than I Jason

[Elisemadray]

On 02/12/2024 at 21:07, DeanB said:

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

I didn't know that !

[Andy wright]

And the next stage of the saga. A suspension refresh is needed. When I say refresh I means rebuild. I made a list of parts needed to do a full rebuild, minus dampers ( as how much is spent there is a variable, depending upon choice ). So, first question is about bushes. Stick with o.e.m., use the Eliseparts product or go with Powerflex? . Question number 2. Wheel bearings . Are they robust and long lived or should I plan  for 4 replacement bearings ( at £125 a pop ) Instinct is to replace but at £500 plus VAT , an expense not to be sneezed at . Any words of experience here will be most welcome . 

[DeanB]

Wheel bearings are robust. I have only had to replace one in 65000 miles and 13 years and that was because the speedo sensor failed not the bearing. Don't waste your money. 

I fitted the Eliseparts oem-alike bushes and they are great. I would run full speed away from Powerflex on a car that is already marginal on NVH issues especially when the oem set up doesn't lack precision.

[Andy wright]

3 hours ago, DeanB said:

Wheel bearings are robust. I have only had to replace one in 65000 miles and 13 years and that was because the speedo sensor failed not the bearing. Don't waste your money. 

I fitted the Eliseparts oem-alike bushes and they are great. I would run full speed away from Powerflex on a car that is already marginal on NVH issues especially when the oem set up doesn't lack precision.welcome .

Thank you. Very helpful .

[Badger02]

Have a look on seriously lotus website, they do various suspension options

[MrWill]

New Oem bushes will be just perfect.

No to Powerflex bushes much too stiff.

If you want an aftermarket option with normal nvh. Go with Superpro. 

Well done with progress so far. Can tell you're enjoying the process 👍 

[Andy wright]

Superpro are good. I have used them before on a Golf ( before I went full rose joints) . Yes, I am enjoying the process. In a way, I am glad that the weather is so bad that I don’t really want to take the car out . If it was mid summer , having the car in bits would be frustrating. Anyway, suspension rebuild is the next section of the cars refurbishment. Once that is done, I will use it quite a bit, get to really know it ( do a few track days ) and then decide what else, if anything, it needs. Oh. Wheels. Pretty shabby but I think a blast and powder coat is the most cost effective option. And for tyres, AD08RS or AD09 or perhaps AO52 . Great help and support on this forum . Thanks everybody.

 

[winthattt]

Another vote for not using Powerflex bushes, they do exactly what they claim but in an Elise it’s too harsh and you need compliance on our roads. 
 

Tyres, Yoko v105 have impressed me, cheap, good in the wet and fine on track, my car is only 190hp though.

On suspension, remember it was set up from the factory by a ride and handling god, why change? The only exception being where cost saving of poor quality kicked in. The std Billies on my S1 Exige are good but squeak like crazy, a set of lotus spec soft Nitrons are a good fix, but they need servicing or they turn into Nit-gones, they are good though.

As others have said, a good geo set up is very useful. Try Chris at Centre of Gravity in Tamworth, he did my old S1 Elise and it was transformed.

I would upgrade toe links. I’ve had one come undone at Oulton Park. 

 

[Andy wright]

Rear toe link on the list. Superpro bushes are an option and, having used them before , found them to be good. However, point taken about Lotus putting at lot of thought and care into the suspension and designing bushes which would give the right balance of location, compliance and noise insulation ( though I suspect that the latter was not top of their design criteria list ) . As for dampers, Quantum look impressive and have road spring rates that look sensible . 

[Andy wright]

And even more excitement. Corbeau seats have been dispatched . Will attach suitable pictures when they arrive. They are not Tillet B5’s (😂😂😂) but don’t cost Tillets B5 money so…….

[Andy wright]

Slight delay on the seats as they arrived on Monday. Very nice to look at and seem very comfortable. Drivers seat now fitted. I would like to say it was a stroll in the park. It wasn’t. There are mounting holes on the seat. Ditto on the subframe. But not quite in the same places . The result was 4 hours or so of making spacers, enlarging holes on the seat frame and generally getting slightly irritated. However, the drivers seat in now in place . The rear brackets on the drivers subframe are bolted to the runners, so there is a bit of wriggle room. What compounds the problem is the inner seat belt receptacle . The seat is a touch wider than the o.e one with the result that the fouls the tunnel.If it was on a stalk 50mm long the problem would go away. It isn’t so it hasn’t. However, the passenger side is more of a headache as it is a welded one  piece frame. Same problem with the hole misalignment but the real problem is bolting it back in place. As it stands at the moment, the mounting holes onto the floor just won’t line up because the inner seat belt receptacle won’t,let it. I will sleep on this one. 

[Andy wright]

And now with both fitted. Just the sill covers to re-do and the interior is about right. The passenger seat belt ‘stalk ‘ was a real fight. I ended up making a small extension so that the receptacle just cleared the tunnel. That then allowed the subframe to line up with the captive nuts in the floor.