The standard Koni LSS kit on my S1 Exige is feeling distinctly tired and baggy in terms of body control after 30k miles, and I think it’s time for a replacement. While I do a fair number of track days, I also tend to enjoy the drive to and from the track and head out for more than a few Sunday morning runs and go on longer trips a few times a year. Therefore I want enough compliance and composure in the suspension to deal with the average piece of good ol’ British B-road.
I should add that this is not an issue with comfort levels, it’s about making sure the car can work the tyres properly rather than hopping across the surface as often happens with track setups on the road. Where the road has larger rucks and ripples I want the car to soak them up as well as possible (within the constraints of the limited suspension travel) rather than launch straight off them and/or smack its front splitter when I keep my foot in.
The main alternatives for dampers would seem to be Nitron and Ohlins, but I also see there is a Bilstein kit available. Can anyone share any experience WRT these kits for fast road use on mixed surfaces? Any other kits I should be looking at? All suggestions gratefully received!
i would expect everyone will be thumbs up for nitrons. they are the more exspensive shock but seem to also be the most popular which speaks volumes.
i have since bought nitrons for mine however, before buying the nitrons i looked round hard and found there was nothing worth having under 600 mark. my friend has gaz shocks on his s1 and has found them good for the past 30.000 miles, they recently started leakin on the front but he phoned gaz up and 60 quid later and 5 day turn around they were back good as new. so i suppose gaz are more of a budget but do provide results.
along with upgrading the suspesion i would suggest a re furb…take off the wishbones, replace bushes etc and have em powder coated.i did this when i fitted my nitrons. it cost around 400 to do but well worth it.
good luck, will be interested to know what u go for and what the results are like.
Thanks, there are certainly plenty of positive comments re the Nitrons around here. I will have the opportunity to see how they perform on the road in a couple of weeks or so, as Sinclaires have kindly offered me a run in one of their cars with the one-way kit fitted. The fitted price is pretty reasonable for a full kit, so if that works out ok then it’s an easy choice. I’ll certainly share my opinion on here. Thanks for the tip re powder-coating, that sounds like it might be worth a shot. I would definitely have them check out the bushings etc, I’m sure the dampers aren’t the only tired components in my suspension setup, given the number of track miles its done.
I think Nitrons are the way to go but you might want to consider Randy’s bespoke valving in them. He likes a softly damped car with hard springs, it’ll probably be good on the road too (thoughts anyone?). Give Hoffmans (spelling?) a call.
Thanks for the comments Ian, will give the valving some thought once I’ve checked out the regular setup. Does anyone have any info on the Bilstein kit, or know who did the work on the valve rates etc?
The only Bilstein kit I know of in the UK is the standard Lotus S2 dampers, it’s nothing special and really only a replacement for the standard Koni’s in an Elise not the LSS.
There’s also this kit, which seems to be an upgrade kit, albeit for the S2. Does that make sense?
I spoke to LotusSport and they can supply the Ohlins kit with fixings suitable for the S1, so maybe the same is true here. In either case, I’d be dealing with a kit that was developed around different geometry, so I wouldn’t go that route unless I could get some first-hand experience of the end result.
I have a pair of Gaz units on the front of my Exige and my old Elan. No complaints and very cheap compared to nitrons. Exige will be getting a pair on the back soon.
I think the fronts came with 250lb springs - not sure what the standard ones are or what a good ‘upgrade might be’ I just told em what it was for and thats what turned up!
Seems fine to a novice like me. Went round Caddy alright anyway!
The main alternatives for dampers would seem to be Nitron and Ohlins, but I also see there is a Bilstein kit available. Can anyone share any experience WRT these kits for fast road use on mixed surfaces? Any other kits I should be looking at? All suggestions gratefully received!
TIA
-= mike =- [/quote]
HI Mike,
I went through this exact process about 2 months ago! Yep Nitrons are lots of bucks… but they seem to have good press!
I looked at Bilstein, Gaz and then finally also ‘Protech’. Protech had some bas press on Seloc after an earlier design cracked at the mount. They have now modified the design and fixed that problem.
I decided on Protech and ordered the shorter shocks. These are height adjustable to attain the 110/120 ride height balance. The shocks are also one way adjustable in damping… 12 clicks from full soft to full hard. The good thing is they will sell just the dampers, which then allowed me to order some Faulkner springs at higher rates 375F/425R.
The installation and Geo setup was done by Gugleimi Motorsport… excellent customer service and technically great… totally recommend them in every way.
Handling is super and much better that the original LSS that I had on the car.
Costs… � 400 for the dampers and � 120 for the springs. Bargain and very good bang for the buck. I have had a ride in the Nitron and Olin suspended cars and I really do feel you would realistically only notice the difference if you were totally track orientated with highpower/brake set-up and a lot of skill behind the wheel!!! ie: not me!
