Track orientated suspension for my S1?

[L100NYY]

:wavey: :idea:

Just wondered if anybody could advise on the best suspension package to put on my S1 for trackdays and sprint work?

I will be :driving: the car on the road but I am finding the current set up to be a wee bit too soft for my liking.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Regards.

[tuscan_thunder]

I know that what I'm about to suggest will meet with disagreement from nearly everyone else here, but I do have first hand experience with it:

Avo.


there is a single adjustment on the dampers, which varies the stiffness dramatically between the 'softest' and 'hardest' settings. the ratio is fixed.

on the softest setting, the dampers are too soft. on the stiffest, I'd wager that they'd be great on track - certainly far to stiff for road use.

add the correct diameter springs in something like 400lb and 500lb and the car will be trackable and more than bearable for road use.

(add in that Avos are less than 1/2 the price of Nitrons and whilst Nitrons are, I'm sure, better dampers, I'm personally unconvinced they are twice the damper)

[L100NYY]

tuscan_thunder said:

I know that what I'm about to suggest will meet with disagreement from nearly everyone else here, but I do have first hand experience with it: Avo. there is a single adjustment on the dampers, which varies the stiffness dramatically between the 'softest' and 'hardest' settings. the ratio is fixed. on the softest setting, the dampers are too soft. on the stiffest, I'd wager that they'd be great on track - certainly far to stiff for road use. add the correct diameter springs in something like 400lb and 500lb and the car will be trackable and more than bearable for road use. (add in that Avos are less than 1/2 the price of Nitrons and whilst Nitrons are, I'm sure, better dampers, I'm personally unconvinced they are twice the damper)

Thanks for that Tuscan, that does seem like an attractive propostion, how much are AVO's and Nitrons?

[tuscan_thunder]

mine, fitted and with a full alignment (decent garage to set up and 4 hours labour) was £520 with a bit of haggling.

Nitrons, unfitted from Eliseparts.com are just over £1000 I think.

::edited: Nitrons are £1100 from eliseparts.

>> Edited by tuscan_thunder on Monday 11th July 16:03

[L100NYY]

that is a BIG price difference, as you say they can't really be twice as good as the Nitrons!

I don't think that I can justify spending over £1000 to be honest, unless someone can convince me otherwise?

[tuscan_thunder]

if you're tracking it, I suggest you fit stiffer springs. this will not affect the ride too much but will affect the roll stiffness and traction in the wet.

by 'softening' the dampers on the road, you can maintain ride comfort.

Demon Tweeks stock a range of springs in the correct diameter and length and then you can pick your stiffness. Others here will have a better idea than me as to rates, but I'm sure 400 front and 500 rear should be about right.

[Buster44]

I've had Nitrons on my S1 Elise and previous Cerbera.

You get what you pay for IMHO. The Nitron has a very low nose force allowing the use of very stiff springs, but still retaining an excellent ride quality enabling them still to remain compliant for road use. They are also rebuildable which is a factor worth considering if you're planning to keep your Elise for the long term.

Never used AVOs, but other shocks around this price that I have used can't really compete on performance with Nitrons.