Well I got up at four o’clock this morning and headed south with the sat nav pointing for Nitron
Twas a nice easy drive down and in two and three quarter hours I was sat outside waiting for them to open bright and early.
As I waited outside I was greated by nearly everyone who arrived for work with a smile which you dont get very often these days.
Anyway, I must say everyone there is fantastic, firstly myself and Nitrons new engineering manager (ex Penske) went out in the car whilst I tried in vein to describe how the car felt and what I was unsure of, we then swapped over and he drove the car and explained how the dampers were set up and how the car was reacting to changes in the road.
Once we had chatted about my use of the car he then came up with the best settings for the dampers and the the lads set to work on the car.
So I got… full new set of eibach springs at lower spring rates, new rear helpers at lower spring rates, the car had very little rear droop so we got a load more of that and a complete re valve to nitrons newly developed settings.
Once the dampers were back on the car myself and Darren went back out in the car to do a before and after runs down Nitrons local test route.
The car is transformed on the road, it soaks up the bumps really well and feels totally compliant at speed on rougher surfaces where it once jiggled and bounced, its also stopped taking off at every opportunity now too which is a bonus
Also the car still feels much more stable and does not roll like it does as standard, I guess I’ll find out more about that at Anglesey as obviously everything is a trade off So I expect it will pitch more than it did with the last set of springs.
The thing is though it now feels more progressive, not like its ready to kill you which is also a bonus
Once we were happy with the dampers the lads re checked the car, re set the ride height, gave it a full geo and got her on the scales
Well it was better than I thought tbh, exige S super touring with half a tank of fuel, gt3 exhaust and 211 rear panel, 935kgs… the rear diffuser was off at the time so guessing thats a couple of kgs?
If I got some forged wheels and a race battery I could get her to 920kgs with half a tank and still have sound proofing and cup holders
And working on 20 litres of fuel at 15kgs if I run her on fumes she only weighs 920kgs now
Anyhow come half past three it was time to wave bye bye and set off home, the shat nav said I would arrive home at 6:18pm…
No chance, what a load of shite motorways are, I could not do that every day thats for sure Got in at eight, pissed off and tired!
I needed a pee so bad I was considering pissing in the bottle of water I took with me. I figured knowing my luck a coach of teenage girls would pass me at the time and I’d spend a night in the cells for exposure so I thought better of it.
I did see Bill oddie driving a bright orange S1 exige heading south just before seven though. I had my arm out of the window waving but I dont think is sight is what it used to be.
Hope it works out for you Andy. Took me about 3 and a half hours to get back from Brands Hatch yesterday, I know how you feel.
Although I did mine on Ohlins
I ignore Elise Coupes as a matter of principle! M6 North was definately busy though
On my way to the Edwards Boyz, who are servicing the car. Strangely enough, given this thread, they’ll be sending the dampers off to Nitron for a service as one of them is leaking oil (damper, not Martin or Steve!)
What exciting lives some people live.I was at WORK.
The sun was shining, it was warm. Tomorrow(Sat) I will be OFF and it will be pissing down.
Well, done Boothy, sounds like a great result.
Mr P, I take it if the Edwardsz are servicing your car you won’t be available to change my oil and fettle ( cash in hand) as I ventured elsewhere?
Oh i,m sure you could if like me you were hourly paid !!
Did a 14 hour day in the artic yesterday and loved every traffic jam .
Ps. and the view in traffic jams is surprisingly good ! [/quote]
Fair point, you cant get talk sport in the car though as all you hear is the engine so I get fed up listening to music, did see one fit bird but that was it.
Dad, you not coming then? thats a shame, my first organized track day and your not going to be there
[quote=Mr Pesky]I ignore Elise Coupes as a matter of principle! M6 North was definately busy though
On my way to the Edwards Boyz, who are servicing the car. Strangely enough, given this thread, they’ll be sending the dampers off to Nitron for a service as one of them is leaking oil (damper, not Martin or Steve!) [/quote]
M6!!! Left Manchester Airport at 5 last night… Got back at 10! 5 HOURS!!! Normally it takes 1.5 hours
Boothy, I have the same NTR’s as yours… and had the same positive experiences at Nitron. Guy, Jamie, Pete and all made me feel very welcome… they used my car to help develop these evolved NTR’s over the month I left it with them in March. (They also developed the ‘K’ series Rear Toe Links that I had fitted!)
Yep, the new valving and lower spring settings (400/500) are just great… very compliant indeed! with no harshness and bouncing at all. I would strongly recommend anyone who needs their Nitrons servicing gets the new valving fitted including Bill Oddy!
Hi Neil, its probably best to phone nitron and speak to guy. He will be able to give you a good idea and obviously discuss what they can do for you. I’d strongly reccomend it.
Are you already running nitrons?
Pete, the car is transformed, i love it, a big thanks must also go to MarkA from here as he had a hand in developing the new settings.
[quote=Boothy]Hi Neil, its probably best to phone nitron and speak to guy. He will be able to give you a good idea and obviously discuss what they can do for you. I’d strongly reccomend it.
Are you already running nitrons?
Pete, the car is transformed, i love it, a big thanks must also go to MarkA from here as he had a hand in developing the new settings. [/quote]
Yep, Mark and I spoke at length early this year about all his input into developing the NTR’s. Clever guy indeed! Thx Mark!!! They only used my car to get the S2 ‘K’ series droop travel heights sorted, as well as developing the rear Toe Links (works of art too! )
They are just SO SO different now and SO compliant! Personally I cannot recommend Nitron highly enough for their product and also their customer service. If anyone wants a ride in my car to see what I (we) are talking about, no probs. Sorry it’s not the Exige!
I must say when I saw the nitron toe links I did a little pant wee, they are the best looking toe links I have ever seen, they say Nitron on them and match the shocks
Neil, I am not sure you can get alot more complient on the road than the stock billy tbh, I would say mine feel as complient but then I have not driven on stock for about twelve months so its hard to say, I wanted to lower the roll of the std set up whilst still allowing the car to be driven quickly over surfaces other than a very smooth track and I have got that for sure.
That said the nitron is a much wider shock than the std one so I am guessing something can be done, if you speak to them I am sure they will give you loads of advice as to what can or can’t be done. They are real Lotus enthusiasts down there.
[quote=Damon][quote=Boothy]Hi Neil, its probably best to phone nitron and speak to guy. He will be able to give you a good idea and obviously discuss what they can do for you. I’d strongly reccomend it.
Are you already running nitrons?
Pete, the car is transformed, i love it, a big thanks must also go to MarkA from here as he had a hand in developing the new settings. [/quote]
I took the car up to my local test road today to see if I could drive it once more without fear of death, I have not driven it now for over twelve months.
Well what a difference! the car is stunning, it flew over that road with ease, I had forgotten how great it was I have always said for a road only car the Billys are hard to beat but there is no way I could of got it over there any quicker on Billys, the new nitrons are so complient, Steph commented on how much smoother it is than her Mini.
With my old spec the lack of rebound control would cause the car to bounce like mad which was frightening so you had wind them up so hard the impact bump caused crashing and the steering would get pulled around in your hands making the car very difficult to control at speed, also the lack of rear droop caused the car to take off over the slightest hills and they were very noisey as you kept hearing the dampers bottoming out at full droop.
Now even on very uneven surfaces you can feel the dampers working while the car stays level and the steering hardly pulls so you can almost drive it with your fingertips, also it just seems to go where you want and be much more predictable (famous last words those) rather than feeling like you are driving the grim reaper.
The big problem I had with the Billys was I found the car pitched and rolled quite alot especially on track and that was the reason I went for the Nitrons in the first place, at the M65 end of the grain road there is a nice round about to test this out and after 3 or 4 laps with Steph stuck to the side window I can confirm the car stays very level and feels very nice
Probably about an 8.5 on the ‘Oh my god you idiot’ o meter.
So in a nut shell if you do trackdays yet still want to be able to enjoy your car every day you could do alot worse than speaking to Nitron.
Got in at eight, pissed off and tired!
Hope it works out for you Andy. Took me about 3 and a half hours to get back from Brands Hatch yesterday, I know how you feel.
Got to bloody work in the morning too.