Gareth my codriver is kicking me to get the Honda Exige ready for some tarmac rally events this season. The car ran pretty well on the last event as it is but I’m finally getting round to the last piece of the development jigsaw… dampers.
Most of the events I choose are based at circuits but run sections on the infield and service roads so the surface isn’t always such smooth tarmac and traction is very important. Some events are road based with plenty of undulating tarmac.
The car is currently running on Track spec 40mm Nitrons that it came with (400f, 500r springs I think?). They’re pretty good all round but on fast undulating roads they dont give the same level of confidence at speed as the Ohlins (that I used to have on my last car, Kermit).
I also have a set of newly rebuilt 2 way Cup spec Ohlins (revalved with 458f, 571r springs) sat in the garage. They were destined for Kermit, I did one track day at Donny with them then took them off before I sold the car. The problem is that to fit them to the S2 K series chassis I need to send them off to have them rebuilt again with shorter length eye shanks
So the dilema is…do I have the Ohlins modified for a few hundred quid or do I sell both sets of dampers and buy a set of 46mm 2 or 3 way Nitrons
For the mixed use I have I would probably be looking at a track spec Nitron as the higher spring rates on the race ones might not handle the bumps as well. The compromise to that is that I may loose some handling on the faster smoother circuit based events. What are peoples road driving experiences like with the 46mm race Nitrons, can they handle B roads with confidence?
I know what my Aussie and Brummie mates will respectively say
Ok really stupid question but are you not better with totally standard lotus stuff?
For undulating and broken surfaces I thought they were about as good as it gets, after all the lotus test track was a right mess.
I’m off to hide while everyone laughs at me.
It’s a reasonable assumption Boothy but when you try the Bilsteins back to back with the Lotus Sport Ohlins on a B road it’s night and day. The damping characteristics of the Ohlins are so much better once you’ve set them up for the conditions.
Warrington Council kindly provide lots of uneven road surfaces for testing them on.
I’ll ask Dave if he has any 2 or 3 way Nitrons for demo.
[quote=wesj111]It’s a reasonable assumption Boothy but when you try the Bilsteins back to back with the Lotus Sport Ohlins on a B road it’s night and day. The damping characteristics of the Ohlins are so much better once you’ve set them up for the conditions.
From a codrivers point of view it doesnt really matter! Better to enter an event and start driving it, rather than worry about which dampers to use…When I ring you next, you’ll be asking me if you should have the car wrapped in a different colour!
There is another bonus for keeping the same dampers…when you don’t win your class you will still have 1 excuse left!!!
As you can tell, there’s lots of serious motivational conversations in the cockpit during events usually around “can’t you pedal it any faster you tart”. All part of a fun day out.
Hey don’t worry, even if I had a set of 46mm TTX dampers I’ve a Wikipedia full of other excuses for not wining
Do you think if we approached rallying seriously (codriver learnt left and right & driver learnt how to drive a manual car!) we might actually get any better?
