2005 – Base vs. sport package

[masheen]

i don't mind at all the level of comfort provided by the sport suspension on my elise. but i do mind two things:

(1) when driving on a typical street around here, over small bumps and concrete expansion joints, the car sounds like it's hurting. it doesn't sound like "thump" it sounds like "bang". it makes me feel bad for driving the car on the street sometimes.

(2) sometimes it feels like i can take really bumpy turns (which there are plenty of here) faster in my prelude than in the elise (the elise skips sideways, can't put power down, and generally feels tortured, while i don't even know there are bumps there in the prelude). and even if i may be deceived there, it is definitely more fun to take really bumpy turns in my prelude than in the elise.

so, in my opinion, my elise would be a better car for the street, if it had slightly more compliant suspension.

but i don't want to compromise its track abilities.

ideally, i would be able to easily switch between two settings, "street" (which would be softer than the sport pack) and "track", which would be harder than the sport pack.

i may eventually go with an aftermarket set-up that gives me something like that.

i feel it was still the best decision for me to go with the sport pack when i got the car because:

(1) i knew it would be a while until i was ready for aftermarket and until aftermarket was ready for me.

(2) i wanted to live for a while with the car the way it was designed to be

(3) i wanted to drive the car on the track soon after i got it, without having to do anything: "right out of the box".

(4) i wanted to have a reliable set-up that i can always return to later if my aftermarket explorations do not work out.

if i were buying the car used now, having all the knowledge that i now have (whcih would have been impossible to have when i was getting the car), i would get the base car and change the wheels, tires, springs, and shocks. it would be cheaper, faster on the track, more fun on the street, and more comfortable on the street.

[Toad]

I originally started out with the base suspension,and then upgraded to the sport pack wheels/shocks and springs/A048's. When I first got the car I did not anticipate the the number of track days I would do with the car (I've done around 25 in the past year or so). Much of the info is very subjective, but I much prefer the sport pack setup,as I feel it is more communicative to me on the track compared to the base setup. Sure it feels a bit harsh on the street than the base setup, but I don't drive the car too much on the street anyway. I've no expertise in shock tuning so the LSS suspension is fine for me.

My only issue has been the price/wear on the A048's,but I suppose that comes with the territory.

[usofrob]

Originally Posted by masheen

i don't mind at all the level of comfort provided by the sport suspension on my elise. but i do mind two things:

(1) when driving on a typical street around here, over small bumps and concrete expansion joints, the car sounds like it's hurting. it doesn't sound like "thump" it sounds like "bang". it makes me feel bad for driving the car on the street sometimes.

(2) sometimes it feels like i can take really bumpy turns (which there are plenty of here) faster in my prelude than in the elise (the elise skips sideways, can't put power down, and generally feels tortured, while i don't even know there are bumps there in the prelude). and even if i may be deceived there, it is definitely more fun to take really bumpy turns in my prelude than in the elise.

so, in my opinion, my elise would be a better car for the street, if it had slightly more compliant suspension.

I drove my base suspension car on the streets up there, and I would describe my experience was very similar to yours. Very jarring sometimes when going over expansion joints. But, I bet the base suspension is a little better in the bumpy turns, yet I still feel very uncomfortable when taking any turn with a known bump in it.

I'm hoping the new Ohlins that I'll hopefully be getting later this week will allow me to set it to softer for around town, and then stiffer for autocross/track.

[lotuson74]

i REMOVE the suspension and put in cast iron rods pumped up with 800,000 psi of pressure in the tie rods for the 4 piston holly double pumper cams that giv es me all I need to beate all of the people on this silly phourume!!!!!

[lotuson74]

SORRY - I just want a used Pontiac that will get me to the job I got fired from :-(

[CFRA_7]

Originally Posted by usofrob

I drove my base suspension car on the streets up there, and I would describe my experience was very similar to yours. Very jarring sometimes when going over expansion joints. But, I bet the base suspension is a little better in the bumpy turns, yet I still feel very uncomfortable when taking any turn with a known bump in it.

I'm hoping the new Ohlins that I'll hopefully be getting later this week will allow me to set it to softer for around town, and then stiffer for autocross/track.

I look forward to your review of the Ohlins. That's what my friend wants to replace the sport package. You can answer the question if its better on both the street and track.

[polar]

Originally Posted by CFRA_7

I know but at least with the Elise I'll have someone to run with.

if you bought earlier, there will be 4 lotus, you, rick, robert and me (john h)

[polar]

CFRA,

base susp, sport pack susp and track pack susp all have too much lean and too soft on track. you will se a while exige S at CFRA at infineon on 19th. it has track pack, watch how much lean it has. when rick followed me, i had nitrons. he can attest to you that my car corners flat everywhere.