Alternative dampers and springs anyone?

[Turn7]

Im close to deciding on getting off the Bilsteins on my SV for an aftermarket setup.

Whenever I look around 7's at meets, its very rare to see alternatives fitted and I just wondered why.

Someone told me that generally Caterham owners are pretty conservative and dislike non factory stuff, IDK.

I know what Im planning, but just wondered who has played this game, thought about making the change or had anything to add ?

Edited by Turn7 on Sunday 31st March 16:07

[Sidecar Man]

I have a set of Protech on the front of mine. After breaking a sump.
A lot better adjustment and feels more compliant.
Thinking about changing the rears now.

[AndrewGP]

I would have a chat with Simon Rogers at Meteor Motorsport. Just give him a call and he'll happily tell you what options you have and with no hard sell either.

He is extremely knowledgable about 7s and I have chatted to him at length in the past when I was thinking of changing my 1st Caterham's Bilsteins to Nitrons. In the end I had to sell the car to fund our new house so I never did make the swap.

My current R300 Duratec sometimes feels slightly under-damped/oversprung on poor road surfaces so it's something I'm also interested in.

[Turn7]

Under damped and over sprung is how I feel as well.

I have also spoken at length to Simon.

I’m looking for others thoughts on the situation

[AndrewGP]

What did Simon advise you to do then?

I seem to recall his advice to me was to change to Nitrons which were specifically valved for the 7 and change the spring rates to a very slightly softer setup. I forget the exact numbers though.

[Turn7]

Simon’s advice was to mirror what a friend has, as his car and use are very similar to mine

Core one with digressive fronts and pregreasive rear springs ….

[gareth h]

Turn7 said:

Simon’s advice was to mirror what a friend has, as his car and use are very similar to mine

Core one with digressive fronts and pregreasive rear springs ….

I had that set up on my CSR (although may have been 2 way) it was a bit harsh for me on Simon’s recommended settings, but once the dampers were backed off it worked really well.

[Turn7]

Pretty much what my friend said, but it was only a few clicks and he was happy.

If I do the rear corner push down test on both, his car is compliant where mine is virtually solid.

Fine on a track, but not todays stty B roads, they need compliance to go quick on

[D7PNY]

I swapped mine to nitrons.

Didn't feel anything wrong with my bilsteins before but car was goign to need a setup anyway so man maths kicked in!

Car is transformed since! How much is directly related to the suspension and how much is the much better geometry I'm not sure but certainly have no regrets.

They ere purchased through Simon and he was very helpful with different settings (for road, track etc)

[Julian Thompson]

I haven’t had a car powered 7 in twenty years, so I’m not mister current affairs, but I did build a bike powered one with Nitrons that worked ok, but then again that car didn’t weigh much.

From my memory, the suspension is falling rate, which is a **bad thing** and means that many a sump gets wiped off.

There was a company many years ago called freestyle motorsport that did a very clever pushrod design, which made it properly rising rate. I don’t know if anything like this is available now, but if it was then this would be a great solution.

[DCL]

Just to add my experience to the mix - following Simon's advice, I went for softer springs on the rear and 3-way Penske. Night and day compared to the Bilstien. Thats not to say the Caterham is bad with the factory setup, but any improvements made are very noticeable, particularly if you are using the car on track.

[subirg]

Turn7 said:

Simon’s advice was to mirror what a friend has, as his car and use are very similar to mine

Core one with digressive fronts and pregreasive rear springs ….

This is the set up I got from Simon. I have an R500 Duratec. Previous set up was the Caterham race suspension. The Core set up is miles better. Can’t see any need for anything more fancy on road or track.