Nitrons for road use

[thinfourth]

Considering new shocks and i am wondering how well nitrons deal with road use as i have heard that some of the better shocks on the market don't have beefy wiper seals and can get fooked up by road rubbish

Also what are rebuild costs roughly


Oh and any other recommended brands

[r055]

...50 quid each for a full refurb by Nitron once the adjuster stops clicking

[mckeann]

...50 quid each for a full refurb by Nitron once the adjuster stops clicking

plus vat and delivery. 250 quid all in IIRC.


they arent great in terms of the adjusters seizing up with road grit. I suppose if you dont mind maintening them then they could be better.

[tut]

I dont know why they have never changed that *&%$£*** adjuster knob, it is too small and in a stupid position to be able to get to.

In the end I gave up on both cars and just kept it on the same settings for road and track. With the previous Ledas I had no problem as they had a large adjusting wheel fitted to the side. N1 has 400/500lb springs, so the Nitrons are better off on a lowish setting anyway, and it is not always a good idea just to harden up when you are on track as traction and compliance can actually decrease. They have now been on for five years and over 100,000 hard miles in that period without a re-build.

I think N3 has the standard road springs on, the Nitrons were on when I bought it, and they are excellent on the road set around 6 and 8 from soft. (I always count from lowest setting). I just leave them at this for the track, and although it does not corner as flat as N1, it does not seem to make much difference, the tyres give out around the same point.

tut

[tut]

ps Further to the above, I did actually have them adjusted for the first track at Dijon on FF6. As I can not lie under the car anymore, two friends did it for me, one side each.

When I got back home I found out that the nearsides were set to 5 and the offsides to 19, so they had got the correct number of clicks, unfortunately one was from fully hard, the other fully soft.

I must have just naturally adjusted my cornering technique to suit............



tut

[fd]

Assume you mean for the caterham . . . if you mean for an elise I would recommend NOT buying them for pure road use . . . there are cheaper and much better suited to road use alternatives . . .

From elise experience, they are too strongly sprung and too heavily damped . . . great on the track . . . not on the road . . .

I also notice that a lot of caterhams are quite softly sprung, harking back to the days when they fitted linger travel, softer springs and dampers . . . seems to work quite well . . .

Also, my caterham is both quite heavily damped and sprung and it's not pleasant on the road . . .

I recently moved from Nitrons back to S2 Billsteins on my Elise and it's night and day better . . . better grip on bumpy corners, car is more settled, better braking on bumpy roads, better ride comfort . . .

$0.02

Fd

[alicrozier]

When I got back home I found out that the nearsides were set to 5 and the offsides to 19, so they had got the correct number of clicks, unfortunately one was from fully hard, the other fully soft.

I must have just naturally adjusted my cornering technique to suit............

IIRC the FL and RR were set to hard and FR RL were soft which made it pitch and wallow over the hard diagonal and dive left under braking...not what you need doing 150 plus at the end of the straight at Dijon.
Not nearly as scary to drive as N1 when the rear subframe was goosed though. On power it pushed right, off power dived left. I think Robin managed one out lap of KH. Changing up a gear required simultaneous application (then removal) of about a quarter turn of lock...

I agree with FD though, my S2 was miles better on the road with standard suspension than with Nitrons...

[tut]

You know more about the bloody set up of my car Ali than I do..........

Even more of a handful than I thought, which of course must make me even more of a driving God.



tut

ps for the record, Robin was not being a pussy, just reckoned he valued his life.

[SteveBanks]

You could also look at the new cheaper Nitron Racing Reds, no idea if they're any better than the similarly priced S2 Bilsteins though:

http://www.eliseparts.com/shop/index.ph ... cts_id=729

[thinfourth]

Yeah it be for the 7 so it will be softer and longer travel then an elise

As to 400/500lb springs they seem crazy hard as a 7 uses 250front 150/170 rear

[mac]

When I got back home I found out that the nearsides were set to 5 and the offsides to 19, so they had got the correct number of clicks, unfortunately one was from fully hard, the other fully soft.

I must have just naturally adjusted my cornering technique to suit............

IIRC the FL and RR were set to hard and FR RL were soft which made it pitch and wallow over the hard diagonal and dive left under braking...not what you need doing 150 plus at the end of the straight at Dijon.
Not nearly as scary to drive as N1 when the rear subframe was goosed though. On power it pushed right, off power dived left. I think Robin managed one out lap of KH. Changing up a gear required simultaneous application (then removal) of about a quarter turn of lock...

I agree with FD though, my S2 was miles better on the road with standard suspension than with Nitrons...

All the best drivers drive with that kind of damper set up - McKeann nearly died laughing when he saw what I had "adjusted" them too. Like Tut I can't adjust them either unless I have the wheel off (very limited grip in my fingers)

I'm considering getting a softer front spring and moving the front spring to the rear on the S2. I find it hard to get a nice road setting, softening them off I feel they are under damped, stiffening them up I feel like they are under sprung. (on track they rock!)

Hoping the softer spring helps the road handling.


Mac

[thinfourth]

Oh and any places to get them cheap?

[Andy G]

worth speaking to Dan at JPS