Nigel Fryatt
Lotus Elise
S1
Year: 1999
Mileage:
51,300
Current Mods: Elise S2 Suspension (Bilstien shocks,
Eibach springs) plus full suspension set-up
Sick of the suspension problems he was suffering on his beloved Elise S1, The Boss opts for a common Lotus upgrade – the set-up from the S2, involving Eibach and Bilstein bits
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The news suspension set up ready for
fitting |
As a former Caterham Seven owner, I was quite used to changing
suspension set-ups. Indeed if you compete with a Caterham – as I did in
sprints, hillclimbs and the odd circuit race – you get used to changing
most things on a regular basis. However, when it came time to hang up
the race boots, I did think that would all be behind me. That was one
of the attractions of the Elise; it has a great deal of the same appeal
– being a stripped, lightweight, dynamic, driver’s sports machine – but
I did assume it would be much more of a ‘park and drive’ beast. Annual
servicing, perhaps the odd new set of tyres but with nothing more
technical than the odd wash and polish.
There is, however, only so much banging and crashing one man
can take.
The original Lotus Elise S1 design was a fundamental step
forward, a car in true Colin Chapman-like tradition in many respects,
with its glued together boxed-section chassis, mid-engine format and
with poise and balance higher up the ‘must have’ list than outright
power. That it was clothed in a stunning, curvaceous body was a bonus.
As with all cars, it was built by the manufacturer to a
specification that would meet the intended list price and, as such,
there were areas where suppliers built components to a price first and
a specification second. In the case of the S1 Elise, that means that
even after moderate mileage (and in my car’s case, none of it on a
track) the OE spring and damper combination was well past its sell-by
date and couldn’t actually cope with the odd discarded cigarette
packet, let alone man-hole covers, drains and the normal inundations
and minor craters that litter our roads. On anything other than smooth
surfaces, my 50k mileage Elise would crash and scream, there being
little if any compliance. It was spoiling what was otherwise a great
car.
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It's
not a simple swap job, but if you have enough know-how (or know the
right people) it is relatively straight
forward |
The problem was then exacerbated when it came to replacing the
odd mix tyres the car had arrived with; Pirelli up front and Toyos for
the rear, or was it the other way around? Whatever. The answer, from
experience, was a set of the Yokohama Advan Neova tyres, specifically
produced for Lotus, for the Elise. These tyres are handed, so you need
four different tyres for the S1, and they look superb (yeah, OK, but be
honest, that does matter even if it shouldn’t). Of course it now meant
that the Elise had more grip, could be pushed harder, but on sweeping
fast corners it also produced a particularly unpleasant squirming rear
end. Further investigation revealed that one of the rear OE Konis was
now weeping oil, presumably realising that it wasn’t part of my grand
scheme anymore.
A call to Max at Lakeside Engineering soon had the answer.
Lakeside had been servicing the car before I bought it, and since they
came recommended by my former colleague on Cars and Car Conversions
magazine, Art Markus, that was good enough for me. For fast road,
occasional but not extreme track use, the answer from Max was to
upgrade to the Elise S2 suspension, which involves Bilstein struts with
Eibach springs. Now where had I heard of that combination before? Ah
yes, on my Caterham Seven!
It’s not quite a straight swap as you also need S2 brackets
for the rear, available from any Lotus outlet, but if you have the
right equipment, you could do this yourself. Needless to say, that was
not my plan and I left it to Lakeside to fit while I stood back and
watched. The S2 strut and spring combination actually lowers the car
10mm, although it looks to me as though the rather knackered original
springs had sagged over time and so the ride height difference is
imperceptible. But when you get behind the wheel, well…
Before that, however, the car was taken to have its
suspension correctly set-up. For a car like the Elise, this is
essential but to be honest it’s something that any car that has
significant changes to its suspension should consider. Of course,
having your geometry correctly adjusted is not something you can see;
you don’t bolt it on, you can’t polish it and you can’t show your
mates. But for some, and certainly for this Elise, it’s one of the best
‘performance products’ you can buy.
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It's always a good idea to get everything
balanced and aligned for best results |
Max took me over to tyre specialists, Merritt’s of Woking. Now
this is no ‘quick and cheap’ tyre outlet and their Hunter DSP600
suspension geometry rig has to be state of the art for road cars. The
car sits, or almost floats, on four ‘pads’ linked to a computer. Each
wheel then has a multi-adjustable clamp fitted to it, along with four
frying pan-sized reflective plates, which point towards the two camera
arms that are connected to the same computer. Now that’s as technical
as I can get! The rest is some kind of strange high-tech magic. The
computer’s camera sends a laser beam to the reflective plates, catches
the multitude of reflections, analyses the results and registers the
camber, caster, and toe-in on each individual wheel accurately and
quickly and records the results on the computer screen so even the most
inexperienced operator – or in this case, me – can see what is going
on.
It was pleasing to see immediately that my Elise is a
straight car and the settings weren’t that far out, although the rear
camber understandably needed adjustment. The rear on the Elise has a
simple but effective suspension set-up where there are a group of shims
fitted to the top arm of the suspension. Add (or subtract) shims and
you alter the camber. One shim equals
around 15min and for the Elise the ideal range is between 1deg36’ –
2deg00’ negative. If you want more than 2deg negative, for serious
track use some people remove all the shims and machine the face
further.
The sensitivity of the whole system was further emphasised
when Max explained that the tolerance for toe-in at the front of the
Elise is a mere 1min. Now I’m no expert, but I just cannot see how you
can get that kind of accuracy without a full computerised
set-up.
Off the ramp and onto the road and I cannot say that the
result has merely improved the Elise. It’s not improved, it’s been
transformed. And that’s transformed in an ‘England rugby union team at
the World Cup’-type of transformation. The car actually rides British
roads in comfort, and while it’s not actually ‘softer’, it is certainly
far more comfortable, much more compliant. The Bilstein/Eibach
combination is now working for a living, the suspension copes. Add to
that the fact that I now know that all the wheels are pointing in
exactly the right direction and at exactly the right angle and the car
feels sharper, but is actually easier to drive quickly. Keeping the
four wheels connected to the tarmac, always a concern for a lightweight
sports car, and not bouncing off manhole covers, means the Yokohamas
can get to work, properly.
One gruesome thought is that I’ve been in motoring journalism
for longer than a lot of PT readers will have actually been around, and
while I’m not overtly cynical, I’m not easily impressed. But trust me,
if you have an S1 Elise on original suspension, change it. Now. At
around £500 for the struts and springs, plus the brackets, £120 for the
suspension set-up by Lakeside and then throw in a further £480 for a
set of Yokohamas fitted and balanced, this is not a cheap conversion,
especially when you consider you can pick-up a tired Elise S1 for as
little as £7-£8000. However, you’ve got to trust me; your car will
handle better, ride better, respond better to your driving and as a
result, you’ll be much quicker. Maybe you can’t polish it or point at
it, but this is one very worthwhile modification. NF
