[Terminus]

Has anyone heard details on how much stiffer the sport suspension at maximum ride height is over the stock suspension in the US spec Elise?
I am trying to decide (before it is time to actually put my order in) which way I want to order it.

 

[Evl]

Has anyone heard details on how much stiffer the sport suspension at maximum ride height is over the stock suspension in the US spec Elise?
I am trying to decide (before it is time to actually put my order in) which way I want to order it.

I don't have anything specific, just some rumors about "10%" stiffer, which I'd take with a pretty big grain of salt. Anyway, regardless, it shouldn't matter what ride height setting you are at as to what the stiffness is; the spring constant remains the same, you are just adjusting the hight of the spring perch.

 

[Randy Chase]

According to Lotus engineer Nick Adams... it's "a lot stiffer. Stiff enough that people may be disappointed in how harsh the ride is, if they were not expecting it."

 

[John Stimson]

Re: Re: US Elise Sport vs Regular Suspension

I don't have anything specific, just some rumors about "10%" stiffer, which I'd take with a pretty big grain of salt.

What rumors? Someone posted the exact spring rates for the standard and sport suspension. They happen to be about 10% apart.

Anyway, regardless, it shouldn't matter what ride height setting you are at as to what the stiffness is; the spring constant remains the same, you are just adjusting the hight of the spring perch.

Sure it matters. If you lower the car enough that the shock contacts the bump stop frequently due to normal suspension travel, then the ride is going to get a lot harsher. Bwoingbwoingbwoind turns into bwANGbwANGbwANG!. According to others, some Lotus representatives have even cautioned against using the perch locations below the LSS locations without switching to stiffer springs.

 

[Evl]

Re: Re: Re: US Elise Sport vs Regular Suspension

What rumors? Someone posted the exact spring rates for the standard and sport suspension. They happen to be about 10% apart.

Sure it matters. If you lower the car enough that the shock contacts the bump stop frequently due to normal suspension travel, then the ride is going to get a lot harsher. Bwoingbwoingbwoind turns into bwANGbwANGbwANG!. According to others, some Lotus representatives have even cautioned against using the perch locations below the LSS locations without switching to stiffer springs.

Hey cool, don't know how I missed that thread, nice to see some real numbers.

Re ride height mattering, I had meant within the limits of "reasonable" adjustment, certainly when you hit the bump stops, you will have a non-linear spring rate with a very rapidly rising spring constant when you hit the stops/ground.

 

[Nochmal]

Re: Re: Re: US Elise Sport vs Regular Suspension

What rumors? Someone posted the exact spring rates for the standard and sport suspension. They happen to be about 10% apart.

Does anyone know how much stiffer the damper valving is? One would expect that it likely is proportionately stiffer...but it might be even stiffer than that...

 

[LarryB]

The 10% stiffer springs and .2" lower ride height isn't bad. What we don't know if they went with the harder bushing they use in the Euro car or the softer one in the std version we're getting , along with the damper valving.

 

[Vantage]

Click the link from John's post (exact spring rates). It states that the bushings are unchanged.

 

[NMRJock]

The suspension is the biggest decision I have to make before ordering my car. I would much rather have a neutral car than understeer and I don't want to regret my choice forever. The LSS is a lot of money though.

 

[LarryB]

From stock (Euro) bushing, most likely that's the stiffness we're hearing about comes into play. The 10% stiffer springs should more then make up for a .2" drop. Would doubt they go way stiff on dampers. Lotus added .4" of suspension travel to the std car, if that carries over to the sport package, they'd still have another .2" over the Euro cars.

 

[LarryB]

From all the write ups I've seen to date the std version is a very reponsive, neutral, tossable handling car. The understeer would only come into play when you start bumping those rather high limits.

 

[NMRJock]

From all the write ups I've seen to date the std version is a very reponsive, neutral, tossable handling car. The understeer would only come into play when you start bumping those rather high limits.

And that's where I would be really upset to be plowing.

 

[LarryB]

Set up my MR2 to understeer for a while... that didn't last long.

 

[James A]

A little oversteer in an autocross is fun and can be a very fast way to set up your car. Oversteer on a track day can scare the heck out of you and at worst back you into something that is not moveable. A little understeer on the track works for me!

 

[NMRJock]

A little oversteer in an autocross is fun and can be a very fast way to set up your car. Oversteer on a track day can scare the heck out of you and at worst back you into something that is not moveable. A little understeer on the track works for me!

I notice that your signature says that you're ordering LSS. Do you expect the LSS cars to understeer?

 

[235home]

I was considering ordering my car with LSS and then buying the standard wheel/tire set up separately.

I would change to the sport wheels/tires for auto-crossing and back to the for street wheels/tires to attempt to get the best of both worlds, and to not wear out the racing tires in my street driving.

My question is: by buying the car set up for the sport package would I have to do anything other than a wheel/tire change to get the standard wheels and tires to work properly on the vehicle? Would differences in camber, etc. settings create any problems? Are there other problems of which I need be aware?

(I am hoping to get a quick response because I have to finalize my order with my dealer tomorrow)

 

[Randy Chase]

I have heard from Nick Adams at Lotus that it can be a little weird to run components of the LSS separately, specifically the LSS rims on a non-LSS car.

However, you are doing the opposite. You will induce more understeer and remove oversteer with the smaller front rim.

I think it's not a big deal and you should feel safe making that decision of ordering the LSS. However, you may want to hold off on ordering those stock rims... you may find some wider fronts available either from the LSS or aftermarket.

 

[Evl]

I'm hoping to pick up some stock base rims from someone puting aftermarket rims on. I think both the stock and LSS rims look beter than just about anything out there, and figure it should make a goot street/autox combo. Not too worried about the narrower fronts, but you bring up a good point w/ the camber changes and so on.

 

[Jay]

I was told at the LA show that the LSS will be a harsh ride and really best to be used for an aoutocross/track-only weapon. 'only 10%' may seem minor, but it sounds like it crosses a driving comfort threshold. Otherwise I'm sure they'd make it a stock suspension given it is supposed to work out to 1.2 g on a skid pad.

as far as trying to get the car to turn in better, even simple adjustments like tire pressure can have a big effect. Or try a smaller rear tire. saw a nice wrtieup on a 350Z where they essentially did just that by increasing the fronts and decreasing the rear tires sizes. That and a sway bar made a huge difference.

So my order will be for a non-LSS model. I'll spend the LSS dollars on a set of rims and tires (Hoosiers perhaps) and see what I learn driving the car. Most drivers, including myself, are limited by the spacer that fits between the steering wheel and the seat. LSS sounds cool, but the 'stock' suspension is going to take a lot of practice to drive at 95%.........

 

[mslpilot]

I'm probably half the driver you guys are?

Very high speed has been my previous experience. I'm getting the world's greatest handling sports car. I'm not going to compromise for a little better ride at the last minute and ever worry about harshness with LSS. I figure everyone here will have a numb ass three hours after they relinquish the keys to us. I want the best handling car produced, period. Forget some exotic suspension package aftermarket. Steel hoses, cooling blah, blah, aftermarket race engineered whatchmacallits. Nope, the best Lotus makes is just dandy for me! Anyone can add those to their Honda, or mom's saturn. So what if they can still drive my pants off in their ricer, I'll learn and learn, and go to track days, and go through tires like I own Yok'. I'll get mine now, the best they've got and learn from scratch on what I'm sure is the fastest around the track capable of anything I'll meet for a long time? Word back from Barber Day is 5 sec faster than Porsche C2. I'm buying my stopwatch today. Hey I'm not goin' all this way to stop short for some measure of comfort? Like the standard suspension is going to be luxurious or something? $2480 we'll spend more than that on a second set of rims? Buy it I say. All will fear us, or at least our potential........hahaha