A Well Sorted S2 Elan Rear Suspension.

[ceejay]

Sharing with other elan owners, the rear suspension set up of my elan S2.
Some details are noted on the image.
Other details: Narrow wound springs (80lb rate) sitting on adjustable spring platforms.
Shocks - Koni Sport Special D - Just rebuilt.
Not Visible: Rear ARB - adjustable blade type.

Description of Rear suspension set up.

The S2 elan drives and handles as good as it is ever going to get with the mods that have been carried out over the past few years. The toe adjusters allow pin point toe accuracy, the camber adjusters allow exact 1deg Neg on each side - Some may say it is a lot of time and expense to go to, but the difference with the way the S2 handled after the mods were quite amazing.... a different car.

And of course you cant just mod the rear of the elan, equally important is the front on the S2, which has also had some considerable mods... but that's another story for another day.

In fact the S2 is a total delight to drive fast on twisty and winding alpine roads, as witnessed just a week ago when a group of sports cars made up of two big Healey's, three Lotus elan, and one MGB covered a distance of 391KM for the day, on a driving loop through the picturesque Victorian Alpine country here in Australia. And as per usual, the elan cars were the stars of the drive.

Unfortunately the other white (And very quick) S4 elan and the MBG are missing from the shot taken at the Eskdale Pub where we had lunch.

I hope to organise another big Alpine drive when Spring rolls around again in few months... maybe we'll do the Big Snowy Mountains Drive again.
Enjoy.

[JonB]

A couple of questions for you.

Do you have any pictures of the rear ARB and how it is fitted?

How important is the rear camber compared to rear toe in and the fitting of the ARB?

[ceejay]

JonB
I wrote a book about building the ARB, I sold a few, and I guess there are some out there who have built and installed the ARB. You need a well equipped workshop to manufacture the bits...or know of someone with a lathe and a mill etc.

Before I did any of the rear suspension mods, I thought the elan handled pretty well as it was. But I was really amazed at the difference that the whole suspension package has made to the S2, it steers and handles brilliantly.

The first mod I did years ago was the narrow wound springs and adjustable platforms (Rear) - that allowed ride height adjustment and corner weight adjustment.
(Front suspension is also fully adjustable)

And of course the car runs a bullet proof CVDS system.

Next on the list was the Toe kit which allowed dead accurate toe settings - Then after that, we did the inner threaded camber adjusters on the A arms, this enabled the setting of one deg neg on both sides of the rear suspension. That mod alone provided a definite improvement in the handling... I just love the way the elan corners now, especially with the very sticky street tyres currently fitted.

Several years ago during the second rebuild/restoration of the S2, we built the ARB and then fitted that... There is much less body roll, and yes in the dry I believe it does help to give an edge to the handling. BUT, I have had one scary moment in the wet, where the car went into snap oversteer.. the ARB at that time was set on a hard setting, should have been on fully soft setting, or if the car is driven quickly in the wet... perhaps disconnect it.
My S2 is never driven in the wet cold months of winter it is a summer time car, so the ARB stays on.

I cant advise you or anyone that what I have done is the way to go, I am only passing on what our experience has been with each mod that has been applied over a very long period of time. But I am impressed with the way the elan drives and handles now.

There are two other items that complete the handling package for any elan. That is the Aeon rubber bump stops, these items are absolutely a must have item fitted to each rear strut rod. The other is the alloy riser that sits on top of each of the rear strut tubes, and brings the Aeon bump stop into play just that little bit earlier when cornering.... also a big improvement in handling and when driving over rough roads. (Rohan will agree with me on that one)

I would not just do one thing and expect a huge improvement, It should be considered as a package... but don't ask me to supply an ARB, the details are in the book we wrote, but we have supplied a few camber adjusters and two adjuster kits, without sounding to commercial.

The subject of fitting a rear ARB to the lotus elan will open up a lot of debate, there are pros and cons which ever way you look at it, I happen to like them. I have included a couple of pics for you.

[prezoom]

It appears you are using blades that are adjustable. On one or both arms? If so, are you experiencing much blade deflection on intermediate settings? Is cockpit adjustable next?

[danielmo]

It seems to me that the two adjusters at the chassis end of the a-arms could have been used to adjust both camber and toe. The toe adjuster in the a-arm looks like to would introduce stresses on the otherwise solid a-arm. Am I missing something in the picture?

[ceejay]

It is far easier to have separate adjusters for toe and Camber. And no, the toe adjustment is so small that there is no stress put on the A arm, and once the adjustment has been done the lock nuts are nipped up, the rear tube of the arm is solid again - there is no huge movement applied, the mods are all about "tuning for optimum settings". That is what makes the difference to how your car will steer and behave.

[Elanman68]

Is the book on how you made the ARB still available? I've searched the forum, your site and resource hub but haven't been able to find a live link to purchase/download it so far.

Thanks.

[Davidb]

My reaction was the same as danielmo--my car was modified in the sixties with rod-ends on the outer ends of the rear a arms--I adjust both camber and toe using these. However, I can see that having a separate toe adjuster would be convenient. I have a set of Dunlop Optical Alignment gauges which make checking toe-in very simple.

My car has an original 26R rear sway bar which is not adjustable of course but I realise that by using the clamp fittings that you have used I could make mine adjustable. Of course, as Chapman supposedly said, "If we make it adjustable, they will adjust it wrongly"!

[ceejay]

DavidB
You are on the right track then. I also meant to add that the rear A arm bushes are made from red Urethane, which is the correct grade for automotive suspension bushes.The inner steel threaded adjusters are custom fabrications, I avoided rose joints or rod ends as they would be to harsh for road applications, and when they wear, they rattle.

"And as far as the famous Chapman quote, "If we make it adjustable, they will adjust it wrongly"!
I don't subscribe to that theory at all... Chapmans quote was probably well meaning in the day, but technology has moved on, we are all better informed today about suspension tuning and set up.

Being able to align suspension with the optical or Laser aligning also provides the accuracy required.

[661]

For the record, what toe in did you find your car most happy with ?

[ceejay]

Before we began the journey of setting up the optimum rear suspension set up on the S2, the camber was way out, with 0deg one side, and 1/2+ deg the other side, toe in was also all over the place, with one parallel, and the other with slight toe out... it was a bloody mess.

So now we have 1Deg Neg Camber both sides on the rear with 2mm of toe in each side.
With all of the other tweaks that have been carried out, the S2 is a really nice elan to drive when having a blast on twisty and winding mountain roads, knowing it is not going to spring any surprises on me.

On the recent 390 km Alpine sports car tour I organised, we had two S4 elan, my S2 elan, two Healey 3000's, and a sole MGB. Despite the fact that one of The big Healey's is a powerful rally modified car, it was no match for the Lotus elans anywhere long the route.
It says something to have an exceptional handling, well balanced car with the right amount of power, will run rings around more powerful cars that are not so well sorted in the suspension chassis departments.

[snowyelan]

2mm at the rim or at the tread?
Thanks,

[ceejay]

Mate, the toe and camber settings were all checked and re-set on a professional laser aligning bench, the aligning trammels and or laser heads or what ever you want to call them are attached to the rim during the procedure, so I guess you could call it at "the rim".

[Elanman68]

Is the book on how you made the ARB still available? I've searched the forum, your site and resource hub but haven't been able to find a live link to purchase/download it so far.

Thanks.

Seems my question has been overlooked in this genuinely interesting discussion.

[snowyelan]

Thanks ceejay,
Are your rims 14"?