Thought I best start a thread on this�
I�ve never been very happy with the standard Nitrons, far to crashy on the road and yet still a good element of roll on track. After seeing the results that Cornering Force had produced with bespoke front / rear blade arbs for the vx220 I decided to give Cornering Force a call to see what they could do for my Exige. The data logging they had done on track with the vx220�s is exceptional to say the least - Spitfire Blade Arb + Suspension Setup - Tuning & Modifications - VX220 Owners Club),
I went and met Simon at Cornering Force to discuss what I wanted - I was keen to get a car that performs well over our fine Yorkshire roads, but with a few tweaks is then ready to hit the track. Simon explained that they achieved this track/road balance on the vx220 by running softer springs, but using custom valving and front and rear blade arbs to control the roll. The benefit of the blade arbs is that it can be adjusted with a quick turn of the spanner, or even be adapted to be adjusted actually inside the car! The idea is for the car to be track ready with some turns on the valving, and a quick adjustment of the arbs.
So I agreed to Cornering Force have the car for a week to dyno my Nitrons, review the cornerweights of the car (Exige came in at 928kg in total) and compare with the data taken from the vx220s and measure up for the rear arbs. Simon then gave ma call to review the findings�. The standard current springs although the balance is correct, are quite stiffly sprung (425/550) and the valving can be improved upon quite a bit. Now Simon did explain to me the valving and how they calculate kinematic roll and ride frequencies � very interesting if you are a geek like me! Simon had calculated with stiffer blade arbs and custom valving that 300/450 springs would be ideal. To give you an idea of arb stiffness, it was suggested the front blade arb will be over 3x stiffer than the standard arb!!
So I picked up the car last Friday from Cornering force with the custom valving, custom springs and refreshed Nitrons. For each damper, Simon given me the dyno graph with the suggested track and road settings. Interestingly the settings for each damper are different � No two damper is exactly the same, which is why it takes a damper dyno to accurately setup the Nitrons. The finished blade arbs unfortunately won�t be ready for about a another week, so the full handling package isn�t complete yet but the ride quality will not alter. The ride quality so far is very good, and noticeably much more grip on the country road. Its bit like been sat on cushion in comparison to the previous setup. Interestingly, even with the softer springs, there doesn�t seem to be any more roll with the new dampening � Although I�m not suppose to push it until the blade arbs are fitted lol.
So far very impressed - Looking forward to the end result!
