Following my recent trackdays at Spa and Donnington I thought it would be interesting to post some info I have noticed since having the NITRON ‘rose jointed’ bushes fitted to all my wishbones.
Like all the Nitron stuff, these are beautifully made to very high spec, a finely machined rose joint with two rubber sealed hard anodised aliminium end caps that fit beautifully into the wishbone carriers.
I am amazed just how such a ‘simple’ and value for money upgrade can transform the whole feel of the car. It now seems much more ‘connected’ between a steering wheel input and reacting, with no ‘vagueness’ at all, especially either side of neutral steering wheel input. I found it much easier to place the car on the road/track… almost so natural it was hard to believe no real work was required to achieve a much more precise result.
The bushes are totally quiet and since they are sealed both ends having applied the supplied NITRON grease to the rose joint, they are protected from the elements and I am certain will have a very long life.
They are working in the ‘vertical’ sense so with the reduced friction will allow the wishbone to pivot and move up and down with much less friction…
… that then allows the damper to react more precisely to suspension movements etc. And they stop the wishbone ‘twisting’ or moving horizontally with the lateral loads applied during cornering which means the wheel stays where you want to put it with your steering input!!!
They do look an awesome piece of kit - but it always concerns me when I see ‘For Racing Use Only’ on things - if some muppet runs into your car on the Queens Highway - insurance co’s are always looking for a way out - notice Pagid have same words on their pads.
I have ‘declared’ them to my insurance company… they are not bothered about that at all!!! As well as all the other bits I have ‘declared’!!! Including my Ozzy flag!!!
I have a similar JSR set on the R-eleven and would agree with pete although my race car has to run standard lotus, I find these fine for normal track use
No argument with how good spherical joints kits are but unless you really, REALLY love Nitron to the exclusion of all else I’d find it very difficult to justify these over the original JSR kit plus the best part of �100 in my back pocket.
I would say beware, unless you are competing. Less forgiving than rubber and with any impact could result in chassis damage when rubber may not, as it has some give. Considered these myself but went for new rubber bearing in mind the above.
Just my 2p
Middo - is it just seriouslylotus or all Nitron dealers? Notice post on seloc from Dave:
"Nitron are offering inner bearing kits at a special price of �316.00 + vat until midnight on the 29th January 2012.
(A saving of 20% or in money terms �94.80 inc vat)
Limited stock so be quick!!! First come first served!!! "
Scoob - valid point but I’m going to say that the likihood of this is low and whilst the consequence may be high, I can risk assess it as low. NVH is the real issue for me as i use my car entirely on the road.
JSR items are the same price as the Nitron ones now, they used to be 325 plus VAT, so cheaper than Nitron when at normal retail price.
In fact, they are now the Nitron ones, as it was uneconomical to order in sufficient quantities, as opposed to buying from Nitron when required. We are able to supply them at the same price as all the other Nitron dealers, but go to Dave as he’s advertising this deal.
