US Sport Suspension = LSS ??

Jim,

Check out this thread: LSS. It's short for Lotus Sport Suspension. Pretty sure what your thinking of is the motor sport package.

US cars get the Sports Pack.

"LSS" has never been used by anyone at Lotus for the US car that I'm aware of.

LSS is what they call our version of the sports package in the UK. It's a bad habit we've picked up calling it LSS.

Larry, just for clarification, is the UK LSS package comprised of the same components or is it substantially different?

Thanks,
Jim

Same components.

Nathan968 said:

Same components.

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Wrong! The European LSS is different than the US car. The dampers are fitted with adjustable upper spring platforms threaded onto the damper itself, offering a wide range of settings for any use. A stiffer ‘Motorsport’ adjustable anti-roll bar has also been fitted.

The link below gives specs of the Elise 135R:

http://www.fast-autos.net/lotus/lotus135r.html

Obviously we are not getting the same suspension as on the 135R as that is a Rover powered car. A new LSS has been developed for the Toyota engined Elises. As far as I know the LSS we are getting is the same set up as on the S2 Exige.

Jim-

Pretty sure the 111S LSS packages is pretty close to what we're getting. Same tire/size. We get Rimstock Vs OZ for light weight wheel. Given we've pick up 200lbs, not sure how spring rate, damper or bushing compare (but it will be different). For those items it's not a excat match. In terms of pricing and execution it's the same approach. The 135R is a different model designation, its standard suspension may be a bit different then the Euro LSS package.

Lotus Sports Pack... Lotus Sports Suspension? Sounds pretty close to me.

It was nicknamed LSS by some...and I agree that when I used the term LSS with someone from Lotus, they said "the what?"


Lotus in England had/has two suspensions. The Sports Suspension and the Dynamic Suspension. The Dynamic is the one with the adjustable struts and is not being offered to the general public as a standard option.

I case someone didn't notice it says Lotus Sports suspension in the order guide (shown in this thread).
I think the confusion occurs as LSS is specific to each Elise variant.

Nathan968 said:

Obviously we are not getting the same suspension as on the 135R as that is a Rover powered car. A new LSS has been developed for the Toyota engined Elises. As far as I know the LSS we are getting is the same set up as on the S2 Exige.

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So you believe the S2 Exige will also come with the cheaper suspension? Some how I doubt this as the current speculation is that the Exige will cost more than $60k US.

We can only compare to what we know is currently available in Europe. The 135R is not a Motor sports Elise. But it is a more focused car and come standard with LSS. The LSS on the 135R is superior to what is currently being offered here in the USA and can be setup to work well on the street or track. Granted the Toyota Engined car is heavier, but this should not mean that having treaded adjustment on the on the spring dampers is not possible or that an adjustable sway bar could not be made to work on our heavier car.

Bottom line is we are getting the cheaper version of LSS in the USA. Our LSS will not be as versatile as that currently offered on the 135R.

Ok, we can only go by what we know, but based on current speculation, you say I am wrong?

All we know is that the sport suspension on the USA car has five position height adjustment rather than threaded collars. That's all.

The Euro 111R is not available with sport suspension yet, and the S2 Exige is not for sale yet. People on SELOC are complaining that we can order LSS in the USA and they can't, and you are complaining that the USA car has an inferior version of the LSS.

Bottom line is, you can't claim our suspension is inferior to the european version until there is a european version. We'll just have to wait until LSS is available for the 111R and we start to get our cars. Then, we can see if they are indeed the same parts or not. If it turns out I'm wrong, you can feel free to say, "I told you so!"

Derek said:

So you believe the S2 Exige will also come with the cheaper suspension? Some how I doubt this as the current speculation is that the Exige will cost more than $60k US.

We can only compare to what we know is currently available in Europe. The 135R is not a Motor sports Elise. But it is a more focused car and come standard with LSS. The LSS on the 135R is superior to what is currently being offered here in the USA and can be setup to work well on the street or track. Granted the Toyota Engined car is heavier, but this should not mean that having treaded adjustment on the on the spring dampers is not possible or that an adjustable sway bar could not be made to work on our heavier car.

Bottom line is we are getting the cheaper version of LSS in the USA. Our LSS will not be as versatile as that currently offered on the 135R.

Click to expand...

Nathan968 said:

Bottom line is, you can't claim our suspension is inferior to the european version until there is a european version. We'll just have to wait until LSS is available for the 111R and we start to get our cars. Then, we can see if they are indeed the same parts or not. If it turns out I'm wrong, you can feel free to say, "I told you so!"

Click to expand...

I am simply comparing to the current Euro car. The facts I've stated speak for themselves, adjustable sway bar (Euro car) vs. non-adjustable sway bar (US car) adjustable upper spring platforms threaded onto the damper (Euro car) vs. shims for height adjustment and no adjustment for dampening(US car).
Which suspension would you rather have Lotus offer on the US car?

If the new Euro LSS does not offer the same level of versatility of the current offering then it would mean they went cheap there too. Either way I prefer current Euro LSS suspension to the US LSS.

I think you will find that *all* variants will have the same basic Bilstien damper, the differences between them only being valving changes and spring rate changes. These are NOT expensive dampers.

as for adjustable platforms, they come with multiple grooves in the body giving a choice of platform position, or alternatively, you can have threaded tube collars fitted over the body to provide threaded adjustment.

Racing Dynamic’s dampers cannot be used as std fit as they are not homologated for road use, (and why the hell would you want to?)