24 replies to this topic

[Gary G]

Hi guys, first of all here is the primary reason for changing the suspension:




Corrosion to the spring seat on the damper body These are not replaceable parts so new dampers were required; I thought i'd give the S2 Exige kit a go (inspired by christurbo) as opposed to replacing with OE.

Shelled out a few quid and these turned up at my door:


All went well in the fitting (nice and easy job) and I took a few pics and measurements along the way:



I measured the OE ride height from the chassis as 145mm front and 140mm rear with suspension droop 52mm and 61mm approx respectively. See OE pic below:




With the Exige kit (above) on I measured the front and rear as being 5mm higher than OE (150/145) with reduced droop (similar droop to what Nitron recommed). Not really what I wanted with regards to ride heights I measured from the top of the arch through the centre line of the wheels to the bottom edge of the rim before and after also and the difference between OE and with the exige kit was 8-10mm. All figures approximate but shows that the ride height has definately increased

However, despite this and my geo being out the car felt pretty good! Much firmer than OE and for the better....just need to somehow sort out the ride height issue.

Edited by Gary G, 22 August 2006 - 04:20 PM.

[Gary G]

Was thinking about these: http://www.elisepart...products_id=302 Initial thoughts are that I will have a problem with the front offside due to the abs braket see pic:


Unsure whether there is much difference with the rear mounts:



Any thoughts, comments or opinions appreciated.....Unless you tell me to go buy nitrons! haha

[MEAGY]

i dont think those S1 mounts will fit mate IIRC

[Gary G]

I have a feeling you're right MEAGY which means either dicking around with custom suspension mounts or buying nitrons

[MEAGY]

Gary G, on Aug 22 2006, 18:29 , said:

I have a feeling you're right MEAGY which means either dicking around with custom suspension mounts or buying nitrons

im looking into custom mounts, i reckon you could only do about -20mm that front & back tho! & im pretty sure the back mounts are welded onto the rear frame?

[rasputin]

i would think that set up is the same as my vxr
same shocks anyway,vxr seeems to sit higher than standard turbo
you could get sum eibach lowering springs
http://www.europerfo...&sub_category=1
shame they dont make one for vxt

ian

[Gary G]

Ian, I dont think they would fit mate as they are designed to be used with the OE VX220 dampers not S2 Exige. I'm not so worried about the rear ride height, would just like to drop the front and give the car more rake for high speed stability.

Edited by Gary G, 22 August 2006 - 07:21 PM.

[h8ten]

I seem to recall reading somewhere on here that someone's suspension, that they thought was original, had washers welded above the original mounting holes to increase the space between the top and bottom mounts, sorry I can't be a bit more specific.

[VIX]

h8ten, on Aug 22 2006, 20:21 , said:

I seem to recall reading somewhere on here that someone's suspension, that they thought was original, had washers welded above the original mounting holes to increase the space between the top and bottom mounts, sorry I can't be a bit more specific.

clicky.

[Gary G]

Thinking about this a little more I reakon the rears are not an option but the fronts are a possiblity. Does any one know why the car is 5mm higher after fitting the exige kit? Could it be due to less pre-load on the springs? ....starting to wish i'd have just splashed out on nitrons now lol

[Gary G]

After doing a bit of digging I definately think the rear mounts are a no go;


This is from VX resources but to me the top left pic with the mount circled looks to be from an elise; see bolt holes and shape. The other images clearly show the mount welded to the rear subframe.

[MEAGY]

Gary G, on Aug 22 2006, 22:08 , said:

After doing a bit of digging I definately think the rear mounts are a no go;


This is from VX resources but to me the top left pic with the mount circled looks to be from an elise; see bolt holes and shape. The other images clearly show the mount welded to the rear subframe.

yes they are definately welded, but i may well make upo some steel plates that can be welded properly to the original mounts so effectly dropong the rear 20mm.
is possible to do the same for the front, the drivers side holds the abs thing so looks a tight squeese from the top of the shock already!

[colgy]

Gary G, on Aug 22 2006, 21:01 , said:

Thinking about this a little more I reakon the rears are not an option but the fronts are a possiblity. Does any one know why the car is 5mm higher after fitting the exige kit? Could it be due to less pre-load on the springs?

....starting to wish i'd have just splashed out on nitrons now lol

This was mentioned before here: http://www.vx220.org...pic=41355&st=20
Seems to be an increase of 5mm in height. Although Thorney spoke about lowering springs being available for the turbo around june time (in an old post). Maybe these combined with the stiffer shocks would provide a reasonable budget compromise if their now available?

[christurbo]

Quote

This was mentioned before here: http://www.vx220.org...pic=41355&st=20
Seems to be an increase of 5mm in height. Although Thorney spoke about lowering springs being available for the turbo around june time (in an old post). Maybe these combined with the stiffer shocks would provide a reasonable budget compromise if their now available?

Ding!

[P11 COV]

Gary G, on Aug 22 2006, 21:01 , said:

Thinking about this a little more I reakon the rears are not an option but the fronts are a possiblity. Does any one know why the car is 5mm higher after fitting the exige kit? Could it be due to less pre-load on the springs?

....starting to wish i'd have just splashed out on nitrons now lol

The question i asked in that other thread about the VXR suspension (is that the same as the Exige shocks?)

Does anyone know why?

[Gary G]

Its got to be the preload, I cant think of another reason.

[colgy]

Does that mean the exige has less pre-load if it sits higher, maybe due to its lighter weight? I thought vxr and exige had the same suspension? Is pre-load used to alter the handling or just take up 'sag'? So many questions....

Edited by colgy, 25 August 2006 - 06:48 PM.

[Gary G]

I'm not sure how the exige sits or whether the vxr shares the same suspension or not (would be nice if someone could clarify) but the exige could have different suspension mounts for all I know thus making the dampers sit higher up in the chassis and giving a lower ride height. Who knows lol. I think mine is sitting higher mostly due to the fact that the exige springs are stiffer than OE and therefore there is less pre-load on them resulting in a fractionally higher ride height. In fact I could probably bring it back down to OE ride height by changing the springs back to OE but then that defeats the purpose and they would not be correctly matched to the damper. Does anyone know whether the Eibach ERS motorsport springs fit directly on these dampers?

[Gary G]

Just had another thought....If you took the Exige spring off the damper and measured its length then you could fit a shorter ERS spring with similar rates. Not sure how well they would work with the dampers as the ERS spirngs are only available in limited sizes (lengths, OD/ID and rates) and the length in particular may cause a problem as they aren't availale in mm...Inches only. So if the Exige spring measured 10" without any preload then fitting a 9" ERS coil with similar rate would achieve approximately 25mm lowering....but then of course you have to consider whether the spring will sit correctly and not dislocate on full damper extension. ...man this is all too complicated, where's the best place to order nitrons! haha

[christurbo]

Good thinking Gary - I think that Idea would defo work!

Edited by christurbo, 25 August 2006 - 10:23 PM.