Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I know it is not etiquette to reply to one's own post - However -

I have been in touch with Spyder and been informed that the car handles and rides best with a big arch gap. There should be space for a fist between tyre and arch. Any less and it will be riding on its bump stops. The bottom arm should point down and the top be horizontal.

Which sounds like a load of tosh to me!

Anyway I thought I would just like to warn all you chaps bouncing along on your bumps that you have a problem you did not know about.

Vince

I thought spyder had raised their suspension to suit the zetec sump....
the zetec is a lot deeper than the twink and the sump wouldn't last 2 minutes over the speed bumps if you didn't raise the car.....
either that or stick the engine through the bonnet.......maybe put some big air intake scoops....

theelanman wrote:I thought spyder had raised their suspension to suit the zetec sump....
the zetec is a lot deeper than the twink and the sump wouldn't last 2 minutes over the speed bumps if you didn't raise the car.....
either that or stick the engine through the bonnet.......maybe put some big air intake scoops....

Think again,
My Spyder Zetec below...



The weak point on the Spyder setup is the exhaust manifold routing which is a prime target for bottoming out, also somebody at Spyder decided that 60 or even 55 profile tyres were the way to go when they should actually be 65 profile to give the same diameter as the 80 profile on 13 inch wheels. The sump is at least an inch higher than the bottom of the exhaust manifold. I have an image of that somewhere, but it's not quite relevant to the original question.


I fixed mine by swapping to 65 profile tyres and a lot of trial and error with the adjustable spring perches.

Having seen many +2's in a state of undress, either being converted to Zetec or built to original at Spyder I can tell you that there's no intended raising of the ride height.

Towards the latter end of +2 production there were changes to the spring rates/length to raise ride height. You can't get away from the fact that a +2 is around 200 kilos heavier than an Elan and that it will ground out more easily if it has similar springing. The period brochure for a +2S 130 below clearly shows a bigger gap between front tyre and wheel arch than many people think is correct.



That said, the photo on the original post does appear to show an exceptionally large gap between tyre and arch. I would ask if the car had been up on jacks before that photo? I would also question the tyre size fitted?

Hope this helps a bit and doesn't add more confusion?

Just to add that 175/70 x 13 tyres have an overall diameter of 575mm and that the original tyres fitted to a +2 were 601mm overall diameter.

Spyder fan wrote:Just to add that 175/70 x 13 tyres have an overall diameter of 575mm and that the original tyres fitted to a +2 were 601mm overall diameter.

What is the diameter of the tyres you have fitted? Would they not raise the car without suspension mods?

I have 185/65 x 14 tyres on my +2, the overall diameter is 596mm which is pretty close to the original setup that measured 601mm as mentioned.

Spyder for some reason thought that 14 inch and 60 profile was the way to go, but this resulted in the large gap that people complain about (577 diameter). Interestingly if you change the wheel size to 15 inch and 60 profile the overall diameter will be 603mm which is almost exact to original specification. As I already had 2 sets of 14 inch wheels I decided to try 65 profile to get the desired result and it works very well. I have Yokohama C drive2 tyres which give good all round grip.

The effect on the ride height of fitting 65 profile rather than 60 profile 14 inch tyres is to raise it by roughly 10mm which is not very significant, but the visual aspect of adding 20mm of rubber inside the wheel arch changes an "up on stilts" appearance into something more acceptable. It basically puts the car back to standard ride height if the suspension is set correctly.

For information, the original tyre was a 165 SR 13 which had a 82 profile, hence the 601mm diameter. you can still buy Dunlop SP sport tyres with an 80 profile (596mm) and there are other makes available, but very expensive at ?189 each http://www.classictyres.com/item/389/16 ... --road--tl

Sorry for waffling on.... hope this is helpful?

Spyder fan wrote:Think again,
My Spyder Zetec below...

I dont know if its the angle of the pic but the wheels look big......
I know theyre 14".........maybe its an optical illusion

I dont know if its the angle of the pic but the wheels look big......
I know theyre 14".........maybe its an optical illusion

They are classic pattern genuine Minilites, they look quite different from the later pattern and are meant to mimic the original Magnesium Alloy racing wheels. The spokes don't intrude onto the centre hub in the way that the later patterns do, so they look chunky. I have shown both styles below, the gold wheels are on my S4 and are a Minilite copy by Minator, they look very different.

Click on the pictures to enlarge and you will see what I mean.