Shocks

[inno]

I'm shopping for OEM shocks and am perplexed by the dot issue. The parts book shows two shock types for my 90 SE, a white dot and a green dot shock. Darren (a very helpful fellow) at Dave Bean Engineering has researched the issue and has come up with nothing (not for a lack of trying). Does anyone know what the dots signify? The price for a white dot is $119, a green dot is $199. The price difference alone has got me wondering. I couldn't find anything in the manuals.
Also, there are different color schemes for the front shocks. Help...

Thanks folks,

Pete

[Skerd]

I don't know about the dots, but stick with OEM. I got all four from JAE a month ago and they have OEM and those adjustable spax ones and they definetly recommend OEM. They never mentioned colored dots.

[lotusespritworld]

Received this from Lotus Cars Ltd.

The dots on the damper as specified in the Lotus Parts Manual are for visual identification. Each damper change has a different part number and different characteristics.

The dampers in question are rears and the details are as follows

Going back to about 1988:

A082D4121F (identified by a green spot)
This was replaced by A082D4102F (identified by a white spot)
This was then superseded by A082D4146F (yellow spot)

All the dampers are externally similar - only difference is updated dampingcharacteristics.

These dampers are only available from Aftermarket sources. What the damping specifications are I do not know.

Hope this throws some light on the subject.

kato
Lotus Esprit World

[inno]

Thanks Kato, that definitely sheds some light on the subject.