How hard should Sprint standard suspension be?
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 5:53 pm
Now that I have covered several hundred miles in my Sprint FHC, I am disappointed in the very hard ride. I have no experience of other Elans so don't know if my car is extra hard, or if they are all like that. Road test reports from the sixties all mention how good the ride is - well, I am used to MGBs and Midgets, and the Elan feels at least as hard riding as any Midget I have owned. It doesn't seem to absorb road bumps, but leaps upwards each time it encounters one, giving a jarring ride on all but the smoothest roads. It is terrific on smooth roads with amazing cornering ability, but round here we have a lot of poor road surfaces.
The car has been built up using mostly new components and has a complete Spyder suspension set. The front springs are 1.9" ID rated at 70 lb.in. The dampers are Spyder adjustables. If you look at my photo taken with the car on the ground, the spring looks almost coil bound to me. Is that normal?
The rear springs are 2.25" ID again at standard rating. These don't look so near coil bound, but I can't bounce the car by pressing down on the top of the rear wheel arch. The rear dampers are Spax set at the minimum setting. Springs, dampers and wishbones are all new from Spyder. Rear bushes are original style Metalastic, with poly bushes on the front.
I know there is a wealth of knowledge to be found among the contributors here, and I have been trying to find an answer in the archive, but without much success. I would value some opinions please.
Mike
The car has been built up using mostly new components and has a complete Spyder suspension set. The front springs are 1.9" ID rated at 70 lb.in. The dampers are Spyder adjustables. If you look at my photo taken with the car on the ground, the spring looks almost coil bound to me. Is that normal?
The rear springs are 2.25" ID again at standard rating. These don't look so near coil bound, but I can't bounce the car by pressing down on the top of the rear wheel arch. The rear dampers are Spax set at the minimum setting. Springs, dampers and wishbones are all new from Spyder. Rear bushes are original style Metalastic, with poly bushes on the front.
I know there is a wealth of knowledge to be found among the contributors here, and I have been trying to find an answer in the archive, but without much success. I would value some opinions please.
Mike