S1 Suspension Upgrade Help

Pedro · Post by **Pedro** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:30 pm

Hi Guys,

I am sure this has been asked before, so I'll apologise now for going over this again.

However can someone advise me...I would like to upgrade my tired old koni shox to the Bilstein shox. I can see the S1 to S2 upgrade kit at elise parts, but it's expensive. I may be able to buy Bilstein shox of an S2 111R with fairly low usage cheaper. Are these the same shox, and can I use them on the S1..?

Cheers,
Pte

Baggy · Post by **Baggy** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:35 pm

No they're different & you can't fit them.

you can use S2 ones but must be a K series S2.

Call Bell and Coleville. they sell a full kit incuding new front brackets, new bolts with springs fitted ready to go for £450 delivered.

just mention seloc group buy when you call.

only thing is they only do it at that price to give you 130/130 ride height (standard lotus setting) If you want to change your ride height best bet is probably Steve B on SELOC...he sells kits at whatever ride height you want.

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:25 pm

^+1

Steve Butts is the man.

BiggestNizzy · Post by **BiggestNizzy** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:13 pm

what is the corect ridehight with the bottom wishbones sitting level on a horizontal plane ? I have aquired some S2 K-series Bilstein's and want it set right, rather than just dumping it onto the deck.

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:21 pm

"Correct" is whatever you want...

Early S1s were 165 laters were 140 I think. Most run 120 or slightly lower if memory serves.

s333fee · Post by **s333fee** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:00 am

hi,

we have just done this as well.

have a k series s1, got our from eliseparts, springs were not fitted, although Geary did say that so do, you can do it yourself, if they springs are fitted as it is easy enough, but get the brackets right as this will really affect the ride heights. ( was running 164 front and 110 rear !!! ) Ours were in the wrong holes at the front and the brackets were upside down at the rear. You live and learn.

see here for some of the help others gave me

http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vie ... highlight=

and here

http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vie ... hp?t=11621
if in doubt ask questions the guys & gals here are great and really helpful.

you will need ring and open ended spanners and ratchet set to speed things up. might be an idea to do your brake hoses ,and red clutch pipe at the same time as you will have the wheels off anyway if they have not been done.

we took the clam off to make things easier for the front break pipes
Someone more knowledgeable may give a better insight but a garage would be helpful at this time of year and a spare pairs of hands as well.

S333FEE Support team

Baggy · Post by **Baggy** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:22 am

Those that know set their cars up with 10 -15mm rake ie with front 10-15mm lower than the rear. for a road car would suggest somewhere between 115 & 130 to clear speed bumps. I was happy enough to go with the 130 and I've never bottomed out.

woody · Post by **woody** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:30 am

BiggestNizzy wrote:what is the corect ridehight with the bottom wishbones sitting level on a horizontal plane ? I have aquired some S2 K-series Bilstein's and want it set right, rather than just dumping it onto the deck.

Niz, you'll need to u2u steve butts on SELOC of the correct mounting brackets, springs and damper body/spring pan circlips for your intended ride height. BTW, your wheels look good on a 90mm-ish front ride height

Oh, and ride height is measured from the extreme front and rear of the sills.

Pedro · Post by **Pedro** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:44 pm

Fantastic thanks Baggy,

I ordered through Bell & Colvill, £450 delivered, with the springs fitted at 130 ride height all round, brackets & fixing bolts included. This is about £200 cheaper than elise parts

Did you notice a big difference Baggy..? I am hoping it will really improve the handling on my S1, presently on the old Koni shox & can be a bit scary when road conditions change

Cheers,
Pete

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:05 pm

Did you get the rack raisers?

If not it will be a little bit fussy over the rough stuff, not too bad but odd to begin with. The difference is the clonking will go and the ride will be much nicer

Pedro · Post by **Pedro** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:13 pm

Rack Raisers ..?

Rich H · Post by **Rich H** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:30 pm

Hlep prevent bump steer.

Little metal plates to raise the steering rack so the steering geometry stays the same. I had some but couldn't shift the rack bolts (Lack of weetabix) so I left them out.

don't worry about it at 130mm it will be fine. Mine is 115, the further fomr stock the more pronounced it will be, but its just a bit odd and you get used to it.

Pedro · Post by **Pedro** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:44 pm

Thanks Richard,

I called Bell & Covill back and they said they will add a pair of the rack raiser plates in for me, I assume a pair will be enough..?

Cheers
Pete

hiscot · Post by **hiscot** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:54 pm

rack plates
only fit one side at a time, if you undo all the bolts together the rack will drop

Baggy · Post by **Baggy** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:59 pm

All STOP

I'm not 100% here & am fully prepared for a flaming but I think rich has sold you a dummy on the rack raiser plates.

Your car is a 97 (early S1) so should be sitting at 140mm all round.. you shouldn't need to raise the rack to go to 130 as far as I know.

I was told by Steve B that you only really need to raise the rack when you go down to between 100 & 115

I would recommend getting your tracking checked as a minimum (beacause any change in ride height will affect the toe pretty dramatically) and a full geo wouldn't do any harm if you haven't had it done for a while.

Did I notice the difference?....hell yes.....but my koni's were absolutely knackered.

For further discussion

I thought the Bump steer issue is all relative to the factory settings. Lotus dial bumpsteer into the standard setting so that if you hit a bump mid corner and the suspension compresses the goemetry tends to straighten you up rather than have you oversteer into the inside. To eliminate bumpsteer I thought you had to replace the rack to one with different lengths of steering arms.

The raiser plates are just to set the rack height relative to the wheel hub height to maintain the best fit mean toe in/out through the susp travel.

Unless I'm mistaken?????