Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Can anyone comment on the correct ride height/stance for a plus 2? I've looked at quite a lot of pictures of cars for sale and a significant number of them look as if the rear suspension is set very high with a large gap from wheel top to wheel arch compared to the front wheras others appear much more level with roughly equal wheel top to arch gaps front and rear. Just trying to understand what is 'normal' before viewing cars. Thanks

I think Chapman etc engineered longer travel into everything as much as possible.
Surely less travel has less sway, but doesnt account for occupants luggage etc. I will be fitting adjustable perches and the shorter 12” as opposed to the 14”
Albeit its a tough decision.

Suspension ride height I think depends on which side of the pond you are.
I have long held the belief that the ride height, both front and rear, on federal cars was bumped up higher to comply with the USA legislation at the time.
UK +2's generally have a lower ride height although some of the spring lengths that are being supplied are totally wrong (maybe US spec?)as I found out when I replaced my front springs bought at the time from Matty. The car looked as if it was on steroids!
I had to send them back for a refund and then I had some made to my own spec by a spring manufacturer in order to get a sensible ride height.

Alan

My 1971 plus2 S130 with original, standard suspension and one year old donuts is just over 24 inches from ground to highest point on the rear wheel arch lip ..Tony

There are lots of old UK pics of tall +2’s.
Lots of USA with low, but the majority, is opposite. Mostly squat in UK, and tall USA.
I haven’t paid attention to Australian, or Canuckleland as there are not really good photos from either.

Hi

I thought the car was at the correct ride height when the wishbones were parallel to the ground?

Berni

The is no paper trail to suggest a change of ride height during production or for the USA for the +2. (Unlike the Europa)

I do agree there was a change of height during production. I don't agree that there is any intentional difference between UK and us cars. My late UK s130/5 was 26" to wheel arch on the original springs/shocks.

My guess would be a change of suppliers, with resulting in slightly different characteristics like ride height.

Of course this is just my personal opinion, so probably wrong....

BERNI - SPOT ON MATE!! D
Sorry about the capitals - finger trouble................

Berni

Correct ( as in the manual )

John

Thanks guys, much help as always, what a great web site !!!!

berni29 wrote:Hi

I thought the car was at the correct ride height when the wishbones were parallel to the ground?

Berni

Correct but that only works if you are fittiing a supplied spring of the corrrect length and rate to start with!

With the car weighted

Agreed about all those variables!

Here's how mine sat when I bought it:


I don't know if it had the correct springs at the time, and reasonable doubt is possible as the dampers were not original but a set of Konis that had probably been installed in the '70s or '80s.

And here's how it sits now, with TTR adjustable springs/dampers. I did aim for basically level arms, but had to guess a bit as I wasn't able to properly weight the car during the setup. The front seems slightly lower than the rear, just enough to give it an 'eager' look and the front bumper is too ridiculously low to offer any protection from anything.


I like how it looks (and more importantly, how it handles!) but again, I don't know how the current springs compare to what was original 52 years ago.

I've also fitted the TTR setup now. Currently has about 6 1/4" ground clearance to front cross member and flat section of floor in front/behind wheels. This gives me ~25 1/4" to top of front wheel arches and ~24 3/4" on rear. Suspension arm are a angled a few degrees down but no much.

This setup gives to give good neutral front to back weight balance when driving, its not quite as low for appearance as I'd like. But I can still ground the exhaust out through bigger compressions/dips. So its about as low as can reasonably run it. (Unless make new gearbox bracket so can raise the exhaust a bit more.)

Not sure about the +2's but the main dealer in Sydney had to use some raised front suspension in the smalll Elans to be able to register the cars then remove back to standard after being passed. Maybe some were never put back to standard in OZ.