Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Alan

When you have a minute, would you be able to post a photo of your spoiler please?

Many thanks
Gavin

My +2 has always been wandery on highways. Perfectly balanced,it will roll off to the right in the right lane and to the left in the left lane.I also noticed that when stopped the steering is so light that you can turn the wheel with one finger. The answer to me, too little castor. First thing is to replace the wishbones, as everything that happens is bound to move in the direction of decreasing castor[impact loading and wear will no doubt push it back, increasing toe and reducing castor, you can adjust the toe...]

One can also shim the wishbones, about .1 IIRC forward of the rearward top wishbone at the pivot and then forward of the upper ball joint rotates the upright about 1 degree.

It feels much more solid on the highway with no apparent bad habits. It is not an American car level of castor so there is little to fear there, and the attitude change at the trunnion is very small. It probably affects some low speed handling, but again, not that I can notice.

Almost all new cars have far more castor and power steering to make up for it

gav wrote:Alan

When you have a minute, would you be able to post a photo of your spoiler please?

Many thanks
Gavin

I think this photo gives a good idea, it's a simple bib spoiler taken from a Europa as mentioned.
Click on the photo to enlarge

Andy will love you for posting that one....looks like he's practising line dancing!

Has anyone tried to lower the front of the car slightly to see if this affects high speed stability?

It's interesting to note that caster was reduced on later frames. I always though my s2 was a bit heavy on steering effort at low speeds but tracked nicely at elevated speeds.

Bill

I recon, based on no evidence whatsoever, that letting the under bonnet air out with suitable bonnet vents would be a definite good start.

Simple thing to try - dial up a little more toe-in. I have no idea what the actual setting is, but my tracking bloke said he would put in a little more and it really helped. Still a problem in strong side winds, but less 'nervous'.

Jeremy

Alan

Thanks for the photo

Where did you get your Europa spoiler from?

Cheers
Gavin

gav wrote:Alan

Thanks for the photo

Where did you get your Europa spoiler from?

Cheers
Gavin

Hi Gavin,
It came from Boss Motors, SJ Sportcars do them as well, but most likely they source from Boss