Springs

[Geoff C]

My Standard springs are starting to look considerably worse for wear and my dilema is as follows, should I:

 

Have the current springs sandblasted and re-powder coated? (I have somewhere local that will do this)

 

Uprate them all round, if so what is the recomendation for a SLR, 5+ track days a year and moderate road use. I was thinking about 250lb front and 150 > 175lb rear.

 

Or keep the progressive rear springs, which I have been informed are well suited for the car and just uprate the front. Or would this upset the overall balance?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Geoff

[Harry Flatters]

Before going to the expense of sand-blasting and re-coating, check out the cost of new springs. I put 300lb front springs on for approx £20+VAT each.

 

Steve Mell

PTM 88

[jonhill]

Geoff,

 

I was unhappy with the amount of understeer I was experiencing in my SLR on track, so I phoned a couple of racing teams for a recommendation. I stressed I wasn't bothered about compromising for the road, and wanted a track setup. This is what was recommended:

 

Front: 250lbs or 300lbs with 5/8" (aka 16mm) arb.

Rear: 200lbs

 

Since I already had the 18mm arb on the front (std fitment) I ended up with:

 

Front: 250lbs with 18mm arb

Rear: 215lbs

 

 

I haven't tried this setup out on the track yet, but on smooth A roads things look very promising. Early application of throttle on (say) a roundabout initially produces mild understeer, but further throttle eases the back of the car out in a very balanced manner. Before, this would have produced ever increasing amounts of understeer, with the car responding more like FWD.

 

On B roads I have to say the car is now too stiff, and bounces around too much to inspire confidence at speed.

 

You don't say that you're unhappy with the balance of your car, so if you like the balance, but want to make it stiffer all round, you should do the same at both ends. If it was me, and I was concerned about a decent road setup, the first thing I would change I would be the rears 90/150s for linear 150s and see how that felt. Then maybe stiffen the front, and tune things with the rear arb.

 

As Steve pointed out, springs are cheap, and they make a huge difference to the feeling of the car, so it's worth experimenting. My 215lbs springs from Caterham were only £15 +VAT+P&P each. I'm in Swindon, and if you're near by, you're welcome to try your bum in my passenger seat.

 

Jon

 

 

 

[Geoff C]

Thanks guys, I was thinking there would'nt be much price difference in refurbing the old springs and buying new ones and for £15 to £20 a corner I think I have made my mind up.

 

Thanks for the offer jon, I visit Swindon quite regularly for work and would definately be interested in a passenger ride.Would you say it was the rears springs on your car that makes the ride too stiff on B roads or just a combination of front and rear?

 

I am not particularly unhappy with the set-up at the moment so maybe I will start with the back like you suggest, as that is all in bits at the moment, and then stiffen up the front later.

 

Geoff

[jonhill]

Geoff,

 

I tried the 250s with the 18mm front arb first, keeping the std progressive rears. This was a handful on bumpy roads, with the car feeling very nervous and wanting to jump off line at the front. The stiffer rears made the ride bouncier, which just made things even worse.

 

I also tried the 13mm arb, with 250s on the front and std proggy rears. This front combo is softer than the std setup (150s with 18mm arb) and gave the car a good grip balance front to rear, and was very compliant and great on bumpy roads. I tried it on the track too, but found it too soft and it took too long to settle in the corners, but was very progressive and easy to balance on the throttle.

 

Mail me next time you in the area, and we'll go for a bounce around the lanes.

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

[jonhill]

Another advantage of buying new springs is that you can mix and match them with your old ones, and have more combinations to experiment with.

[EFA]

Guys, I would think 215lbs is way too much on the rear. I would say 175 is about the max you want to go to. Dial out the rest of the roll with a soft rear ARB.

 

250lbs on the front is about right with an 18mm fr ARB, but a bit more spring and a bit less ARB may be even better.

 

Fat Arn

The NOW PROVEN R500 Eaterid=red>

See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green>

 

[Geoff C]

Jon, Arnie, Steve

 

Thanks for the advice , I think I am gonna go with 175lb at the rear and 250lb front for now and I can play with the ARB settings also to fine tune.

 

Now all I need is my own private airfield.smile.gif

 

Geoff

[Bob Corb]

Arnie

 

Got to agree with you re 215 rears, Caterham supplied me with this set up together with 250 fronts and 5/8 ARB and a (cant remember which) rear ARB. When I lowered the car onto the floor the rear suspension hardly drooped at all!! Consequently (with the rear ARB one off softest) it oversteered everywhere! I've since changed to progressive rears and put the rear ARB on softest and its a different car. Unfortunatley since the cars wayward antics out of the box and the poor weather since the change I cant bring myself to hurl the car about to much.

 

I think an hour or two at Bruntingthorpe should sort that out.

 

I've noticed that some R500's use assister springs at the front, can anyone explain what thats all about??

 

Bob