Elan S4 Rear Shockers

PostPost by: miked » Thu May 06, 2004 4:56 pm

A little advice required. I know very little about suspension etc so go easy. I have AVO adjustable platform and adjustable damping type units on the front. I obtained some fast road springs from Tony Thompson. They were shorter and replaced the big long ones that made the front sit up high. I have standard Monroe (spelling?) inserts in the back with the normal springs. The car is a fresh restoration (2500 mile done).
Since fitting the TT springs and adjusting the hight and putting four clicks on the damping the car feels great at the front. The back feels underdamped to my limited knoledge of supsnesion. When I hit a fastish bend I am nervous about the way the back sits down. Also in a staright line at speed the rear of the car feels a bit nervous as if the back is reacting very slightly side to side.
I am not wanting to go silly (bit of a Sunday driver realy) but would like the back to feel a bit stiffer and not so nervous. My plus two did not feel so hairy at the back.

Question is this the little elan character and will a set of Koni rear adjustable insert (or others) make a good difference to what I am feeling. Any feedbak would be appreciated as I love the car, just feel I am not geting quite the full experiece. Maybe the new Monroe are softer that they were 30 years ago?

Mike
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PostPost by: nebogipfel » Thu May 06, 2004 6:07 pm

I have just ordered Spax inserts for my own car having been told by two people who should know that the standard units supplied nowadays are not up to the job and are certainly inferior to those originally fitted by Lotus (Koni are OK of course)

The back end of your car should not feel nervous
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PostPost by: rgh0 » Fri May 07, 2004 10:40 am

The Elan is inherently more nervous in feel than the plus 2 with its shorter wheelbase and narrow track you cant get away from this. However if you have changed the front with stiffer springs and shocks and left the rear standard I would expect it to feel more unstable at the rear than it normally is.

What is the front spring rate ? You need to increase the rears by a similar percentage to keep the front to rear spring rate ratio similar. The Dave Bean catalogue has a number of recommended setups and I would stick to one of these as a starting point or talk to TTR about the rear springs they recommend with the fronts they supplied. Adjustable inserts at the rear will help set the rear damping to match the spring rate.

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PostPost by: miked » Fri May 07, 2004 3:46 pm

Rohan and john, thanks for you advice and replies.

I have ordered some Spax from Demon Tweaks at ?209 delivered. I was told by by Tony Tompson that the car would be improved for fast road by the fitting of the shorter fast road springs at the front and upgarding the rear dampers to Koni type but retaing the original spring. At the time I only went for the shorter springs becausee the car was sat up too high at the front. I also only bought the AVO because they had none of the old non adjustable at C Neils.

So I have probaably caused myself some grief not looking deeper in when doing the restoration. However we live and learn.

thanks Mike
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PostPost by: miked » Mon May 10, 2004 4:06 pm

Rohan and John,

I pulled the back end apart yesterday and pulled out the Munroe units. Operating them by hand is silly easy. I can move them very easily. I have felt stronger one's on motorcycles. It is small wonder that I was dithering about. Having spoken to others I was advised that they were Ok to go for an MOT with. This is disapointing as the advice I was obtaining from a lot of people when I was doing the restoration was that Mr Chapman had it right, keep to stock items and you will have an acceptable Elan. Not a track one but good road going. Sad that quality has drifted!

The Spax have not landed yet, will let you know how I get on.


Thanks Mike
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PostPost by: nebogipfel » Mon May 10, 2004 6:04 pm

Hi Mike

Yes the originals as used by Lotus were modified Ford units and were certainly fine for road use. I think basically the ones sold as OE nowadays are inferior and are not the same spec' as used when the cars were built.
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PostPost by: stubbs » Wed May 19, 2004 9:21 pm

:rolleyes: Hi, does anyone have any front road springs for sale for my 73 Sprint, I am on bit of tight budget at moment, regards Martin
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