47 replies to this topic

[P11 COV]

It's been a little while since Matt did my suspension refresh and full geo set up and I haven't officially commented on his work. Took the car over today for a post refresh check up so its prompted me to comment here.

Matt is a great guy, very friendly, helpful, honest and most importantly experienced and knowledgable about cars, race cars and vx220/Lotus in particular.

The cars handling is 100% better than before. (And it had been geo'd well before by Steve Gugliemi)

It still needs refreshed shocks and possibly the Nitrons and springs aren't the best for the car now but it is a joy to drive now and very quick on track.

I would recommend Matt for any suspension work, geo's etc but he will also so any other work and is working on a wide range of road and track cars as you can see here.

https://www.facebook...ewBentleyRacing

[leevx2.2]

Must admit went down to see Matt seems a top Man and i will be getting some work done buy him very soon .

[Mike (Cliffie)]

I like him and my car goes well too. Glad you are happy Paul.

[rob999]

Just to echo Paul's comments I can certainly recommend Matt and his work. It's back in for a few tweaks in a couple of weeks so I'll do a proper writeup then.

 

Big  so far...

[rob999]

Okey Dokey, where to start. Matt is a truely terrible bloke who knows very little about VX's...

 

I jest...

 

Having seen recommendations from Mike and Paul I decided to pop along to Matt's as I wanted to talk over a few things with my big ass tubby. I got in touch and Matt was more than happy for me to pop over and we just spent half an hour talking about my current setup and what I wanted to achieve. I've driven a couple of standard VX's before but in reality have very little to compare my own car to, so Matt very kindly said he would take my car out to see what he thought of it. (I suspect this could be the same for many owners, ie. not having any real benchmark to compare their car against).

 

Ultimately I felt my car suffered a bit too much from understeer and a lack of front end feel. I booked the car in to have a full geo (minus the corner weighting) as well as fitting a shiny new 1" ARB from Elise Parts (handily a two minute walk away). Matt had my car for a day and I could tell that he is a perfectionist as there were many fine tweaks to the setup even when I arrived later that afternoon. I could tell from the drive home how the car felt alot more planted on the road, and the ARB obviously helped here too.

 

Matt was really keen for feedback and after a few days I was happy although I felt there was still a little 'vagueness' on turn in. I knew that this was down to the steering arms/bump steer capability and decided to upgrade to http://www.elisepart...eering-arm-kit/. I booked the car back in with Matt and he spent the majority of the day fitting this and fine tuning everything.

 

Having now got some more miles under my belt I can honestly say it's made a huge difference even on top of the original geo. I can feel so much more through the steering wheel and turn in and cornering (at all speeds) has certainly improved beyond any doubt.

 

So overall, I am extremely happy. Matt is someone who is more than happy to discuss all the options, whatever your requirements are and I had total confidence from the off that he would do what's best for me. He is certainly worth the journey if you want your car set up correctly...or if you want any work doing on the VX.

 

Thanks again.

 

[VXT Tim]

What did Matt think of your car before he set to work?

[rob999]

Agreed that he couldn't really tell what the front wheels were doing. He also fixed a couple of issues while he was working on the car which I may not have picked up on otherwise.

[Zoobeef]

I think I'll be using him when I'm ready to get the vx set up properly. Need more shiney bits first though as I don't want to do that journey more than once!

[Sticky]

Just don't let him near your rear shocks

[Mike (Cliffie)]

Just don't let him near your rear shocks

Hey, it's not his fault.

[leevx2.2]

Well dropped car of yesterday at Mathew Bentley racing, picked it up today and well what can I say if you want your car set up so it feels like you are glued to the road and give you loades of confidence in your car then This is the place to go car is epic . I havnt driven a better handerling car I can still play and buy lots more goodies to make it better but bloody hell got to be the best money I have ever spent on my car ;-). Cheers Matt top job .

[Graeme Lambert]

Well dropped car of yesterday at Mathew Bentley racing, picked it up today and well what can I say if you want your car set up so it feels like you are glued to the road and give you loades of confidence in your car then This is the place to go car is epic . I havnt driven a better handerling car I can still play and buy lots more goodies to make it better but bloody hell got to be the best money I have ever spent on my car ;-). Cheers Matt top job .

 

Did you not take mine for a spin as well then?

 

Pick mine up tomorrow - think I might do it at lunchtime as can't wait to see what it's like after all this work.

 

G

[leevx2.2]

Well dropped car of yesterday at Mathew Bentley racing, picked it up today and well what can I say if you want your car set up so it feels like you are glued to the road and give you loades of confidence in your car then This is the place to go car is epic . I havnt driven a better handerling car I can still play and buy lots more goodies to make it better but bloody hell got to be the best money I have ever spent on my car ;-). Cheers Matt top job .

  Did you not take mine for a spin as well then?   Pick mine up tomorrow - think I might do it at lunchtime as can't wait to see what it's like after all this work.   G

Should be good mate even for a tubby ;-)

[ArticMonkey]

I went there yesterday (lee had to copy me) to have my quantums set up and have uprated tow links fitted along with a geo. I was made to feel very welcome with a cup of tea pushed in my hands while I heckled scuffers' in the first 5mins. Matt might be young but he spoke with more experience than many well weathered tuners. He persuaded me to go for an uprated 1" ARB and set to its stiffest setting. EliseParts is but a stone throw away so went over to buy all my parts then back to get the car on the ramps. After helping him with the fitting of my toe links (to save time) he set my ride heights to a logical setting. Not for looks (Amy ) but for function so the car now sits at 120/130. Camber was adjusted in a big way and the whole geo was carried out with the tried and tested string method. As with most 13 year old vx's there were some small issues he was easily on to and gave me all options on how to rectify. One being my track rod end which in the end needed the grinder treatment. Again as EP is over the road we had a new rod end in 5mins. Other problem was possible sagging lower wishbones (could also be a slightly bent wish bone) which didn't allow for uniform heights on one corner. Not an issue as ill be spending my money with this man in the winter for a full suspension refresh. I was only after a minor geo as I've just bought this car (want all four wheels pointing in the same direction) yet he still wasn't satisfied admitting he was a perfectionist. Ill be getting it fully corner weighted latter this year so was more than happy with his efforts thus far. Overall I had a really easy funny day, full of banter and a professional attitude. Even when I had Matt under pressure (having booked a track day that afternoon, to put his work to the test) he still delivered and allowed me to settle up the next day. From just the little amount I had done the car performed fantastic at Snetterton and what I lacked in power (having just sold my SC) it made up for in the bends and braking zones. Solid as a rock when lent on but so predictable and chuckable it was funny. Like Lee has said, there's so much more this man can offer for little out lay to improve the car even more. His forward thinking and enthusiasm for the work he does gives me great confidence and has helped me understand things that little bit more. He has my business for the foreseeable future.

Edited by ArticMonkey, 16 July 2013 - 09:47 PM.

[Sticky]

Sounds good Stu Matt has been nothing but brilliant with me and my issues. Nothing is too much trouble and there is always a solution.

[Mike (Cliffie)]

I am so pleased to hear all these positive comments about Matt and his work.

 

He has done all the set up this year on my TA car and has been epic in his dedication and attitude and the results have been good for us.

[rob999]

Hope you enjoyed the view out of the rear of the unit

[rob999]

Just wanted to say thanks to Matt for shuffling his schedule around this week so he could inspect a car for me.

Did a thorough inspection on Wednesday and gave me great feedback along with the couple of things that needed immediate attention.

Really appreciated and highly recommended of course. **

Edited by rob999, 22 February 2014 - 10:08 PM.

[Zoobeef]

Think my next job is going to be visiting matt. Quantoms, bump steer kit and fully set up. I'll prob stick a 1" anti roll bar on before going too. See what difference that makes.

[Sticky]

Think my next job is going to be visiting matt. Quantoms, bump steer kit and fully set up. I'll prob stick a 1" anti roll bar on before going too. See what difference that makes.

You won't be disappointed!