Tony J Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 I'm about to replace the front springs & dampers on my '95 1400 SS standard track... is there a better set worth considering other than Caterhams. Any advice welcomed Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philwaters Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 I think the Nitrons are meant to be pretty good - but not that cheap. (Raceline and The 7 Workshop do these I think) Other than that you can try Avo's (Freestyle Motorsport I think) Can't comment on either except the Nitrons look really nicely made. Phil Waters Zetec is in and running Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby dooby doo Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 Freestyle motorsport. Call Len Unwin on 07946 634021. HOOPY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 For Avo's, contact Avo' s direct phone number is on avouk.com - they seem to know their stuff. James Whiting sells Leda's, and he recons they are the DB's Nitrons seem to have a good reputation as well. Personally, I opted for Avo's as I could pick these up for nearly half the price of the Leda's, and they appear to be a decent unit - and Avo's will rebuild them if there are any problems (ask Chris Clark). Dave H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph7355 Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 Nitorns do look superb and the click stops are something to behold. Worth the asking price alone. Almost. PC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casbar Posted July 31, 2002 Share Posted July 31, 2002 I went for Leda's, but I bought them direct. They were about £20 a corner cheeper than JW, but you don't benefit from his fitting advice. Leda also provide a re-build and bits service, very helpful company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony J Posted July 31, 2002 Author Share Posted July 31, 2002 I had a look at the Avo's web site, they look good VFM I''l give them a call. thanks all for the advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaseb Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 Has anyone actually tried Nitrons yet? I got the impression they were just mock ups at the mo. The guy who makes them (or not yet as I suspect) used to be my boss at Spax so I imagine they will be very much along the same lines performance wise as Trakspax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph7355 Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 Someone will definitely be along soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philwaters Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 I am pretty sure that The 7 Workshop has fitted some. I have also seen them fitted to Raceline's Duratech car, and that is running about happily. Haven't had any feedback from them yet as they were only just fitted when I saw and started drooling. How embarressing Phil Waters Zetec is in and running Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 Nitron's NTR gas monotube shock has been in use in British GT for over a year and a half and several sets have been built for customer cars including TVRs and Caterhams. They have one set in existence for fitment to post '96 widetrack Caterham de dion's and I fitted them to my car on Tuesday night before running them at Oulton yesterday. Nitron is the brainchild of Guy Evans who is ex-Spax and White Industries. A 95 chassis will need different damper lengths because of the standard track and the top damper mount attaching to the wishbone bolt, but if asked Nitron would be able to rustle up something to fit. All Nitron's are essentially custom made, but Guy is building a catalogue of vehicle specific applications. Nitron have provided dampers to a project for a pre '96 widetrack ❗ Caterham which shows that anything is possible. The Nitron NTR damper is the culmination of a lot of design work. They are thin wall *STEEL* bodied, because the steel bodies do not expand appreciably with temperature unlike aluminium bodies, giving more consistent damping. All the fittings are made as light as possible and the finish is of superb quality. The dampers are of a high pressure gas monotube design, with a floating piston mounted in the end cap. The seal system on the pistons is also of very high quality, with a scraper/dust shield/seal system that is tested to extremely low temperatures so is suited to road car use in the British winter. Gas monotubes are completely different to a Spax type twin tube design which is based on production damper technology. A gas monotube is more expensive to build but much more consistent in behaviour. All racing dampers are gas monotubes. The roll call of gas monotube makers includes: Ohlins/Penske/Dynamic/White Industries. Koni predominantly make twintubes, but make a very small number of gas monotubes. The shimming system on the NTRs is built to a very fine tolerance which means that repeatability of dampers is extremely good. Nitron test all completed dampers on the dyno and will even take your old dampers and dyno them so you can see how you are altering your car's chassis behaviour. Guy claims the shimming is superior that used by Spax and others of that ilk and reckons that the internals are of similar quality to Ohlins/Penske/Dynamics/White Industries. Guy was reasonably complimentary about Bilsteins - said that they were very repeatable and their characteristics didn't change over time. A five year old Bilstein damper is still probably as good as new and the left hand one is probably doing exactly the same as the right hand one. Guy was less complimentary about the valving that Caterham specify for the Bilsteins. Caterham used to deal with him when he was at Spax and they were always asking for the damping to be made softer and softer. He was rather surprised by the dyno plot we took from my Bilsteins. First driving impressions are excellent. Oulton park was drenched in water all day yesterday and I was running big fat ACB10s - not the best combination. The car felt fabulously surefooted, with excellent grip in the corners and under braking. The most telling characteristic was the extra grip at turn in - at Lodge it was really possible to grab the car by the scruff of the neck and get it into the apex - at Knickerbrook trail braking through the first half of the chicane was the most natural thing. I tried a few different click adjustments, starting with a mid-range adjustment for the drive up. On the motorway trip in the morning I was fairly certain I had the rear dampers set too hard, so I started by backing them off. This first attempt gave a very manageable drive which probably closely matched the outgoing Bilsteins. Two clicks stiffer just brought the whole of what the back end was doing into focus. The fronts were about right at mid-range. So... Nitrons do exist. As far as I can judge they are of excellent quality and are good value compared to similar products. Nitron are a nice bunch to deal with. Here's hoping they are quick around a sprint course ❗ *thumbup*253 bhp, up and running *thumbup*New boingy bits Edited by - Peter Carmichael on 1 Aug 2002 14:38:54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph7355 Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 Told you. They are lovely quality items though. They're on my list for next year's little project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 [sigh] How much then?? [/sigh] Worcs L7 club joint AO.//Membership No. 4379//Azure Blue SLR No. 0077//Se7ens List Tours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 One *thumbup*253 bhp, up and running *thumbup*New boingy bits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross_H Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 I had ohlins on my cerbera, which were fab, and a mate of mine now has nitrons on his cerbera red rose, they seem almost as good, if not better in some respects. Nitron equipped tvr tuscans are dominating the tuscan challenge this year. I've also heard very good things about guy from a tvr related source, very much in line with peter's experience. I'm going to get some for the blackbird next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 One 🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔 For all 4 I hope. ****e ❗ ❗ ❗ ❗ ❗ ❗ Think I might have to wait a while for them then. Worcs L7 club joint AO.//Membership No. 4379//Azure Blue SLR No. 0077//Se7ens List Tours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph7355 Posted August 1, 2002 Share Posted August 1, 2002 But the click stops Nige... PS I'll get a Pace thing done over the weekend. Still haven't had chance to mail Neil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Oh, I'm not saying it's going to have to wait indefinately, it's just that I've managed to increase my wish list to about 10 grand now. I'm pretty sure that's not really what the car's all about but equally I'm not sure it's possible to live without these, a pair of DTH TBs, new exhaust (shiney shiney one), one of them loverrrrrley Stack dashes (with data logging), second set of wheels and tyres, bigger back brakes, etc....... Everything I want is in multiples of ONE's Worcs L7 club joint AO.//Membership No. 4379//Azure Blue SLR No. 0077//Se7ens List Tours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph7355 Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 You're being easy on yourself Nige. You should be adding sequential gearboxes, alternative power sources and the like to make things add up properly. Only the Stack dash in your list is a proper 1+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted August 2, 2002 Share Posted August 2, 2002 Only the Stack dash in your list is a proper 1+ Ooh, I dunno. A set of wheels and tyres will come in at around the "1" mark I reckon. Granted the exhaust and TBs are only about 6/10ths of a "1" but I'll probably buy them together.... I have a plan to go all "Stacky" but it seems incompatible with my wife's holding of the finances. Dammit. Have to start some shady saving... involving the palming away of a tenner from each 100 quid I get out of the cashpoint. That's the only way it's possible now. 😬 I suppose I could just get out there and enjoy it as it is. To be honest, I'm feeling left out. The Se7ens list is on it's way to Finland at the moment.... without me. We're moving Hotel Marston so we can't afford the time or money this year. Damn and blast. Still, we're already fully booked up for the Autosports weekend. Worcs L7 club joint AO.//Membership No. 4379//Azure Blue SLR No. 0077//Se7ens List Tours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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