Nitron NTR vs Nitron 46 Racepro

[SAJ]

Anyone know how much of a difference there is between these two?

[seriouslylotus]

Fair bit of diff really
Give me a call and Ill happily chat it through with you.....
One is 40mm and the other is 46 dia pistons, so valving etc is also changed, but quality is the same regardless
What is your intended use??
Cheers
Dave
07852 680267

[j2 lot]

Don't know anything about the racepro but I wondered if the NTR was ott for road use on the Europa - it's actually spot on adjustable so you can get the set up you want for the road and still able to be hardened up for track use.
I'm guessing the racepro is more hardcore and unless you're looking for track bias the NTR is probably as far as you need to go.
My opinion is really one sided though cos I have no knowledge of the racepro.

[SAJ]

Fair bit of diff really
Give me a call and Ill happily chat it through with you.....
One is 40mm and the other is 46 dia pistons, so valving etc is also changed, but quality is the same regardless
What is your intended use??
Cheers
Dave
07852 680267

Dave,

What is the benefit of it being 46mm over 40mm. Currently i'm looking at fast road use, but I don't want to buy again for the track in the future when I eventually get around to doing track days. I only want to do the suspension upgrade once and I normally like to buy the best that I can afford at the time regardless of whether I actually need it or not so long as there is actually a distinct advantage over the NTRs.

I noticed that the 46 Racepro come in fast road, track, track pro and race just like the NTRs so most likely if I was going to get anything it would be either fast road or track depending on how much of a difference there is between the two.

[seriouslylotus]

In plain terms the 46mm damper has a bigger piston, so for a given damper movement shifts more oil throught the valving. The same movement will move less oil in the 40mm damper. So with the bigger 46mm piston its easier to control the valving with very snmall damper movements so they are even less likely to feel hard (harsh) on the road. However
Nitron have spent many hundreds if not thousands of hours on R&D so you really have nothing to worry about regarding which to buy. Its really down to budget, They also have a full 16 person team (at last count) back at base in Witney Oxforshire ( as well as engineering centres in Japan and America) with some truely talented people in that team, One is an ex developement engineer from Penske, so that R&d is certainly not salesmans puff.
For 2011 Nitron have made it possible to buy any of the Lotus kits with Nitron or Eibach springs as an uograde, so the actual differance between two dampers of the same description ie 46mm fast road or 40mm fast road is £200.00
So as an example an S1 Elise with the NTR40 Fast raod would cost £995.00+ vat inc delivery the NTR46 Fast road will be £1195.00+ vat.
Personnally I would always go for the 46mm dampers, but thats just me, Many many people buy the 40mm dampers and are very very happy with them.
I suppose my view is a bit american - 'there aint no substitute for cubes'
But before you spend your hard earned cash you should really decide what the intended use is, Or if you are just like me then its I've seen,I like, I must have, no I neeeed those 46mm Nitrons!!!
Give me a call if you would like to chat it all through, No obligation to buy I just like talking all things Lotus to anyone that will listen!!
Cheers
Dave
07852 6870267

[robin]

Is the standard suspension not much cop on these then? I say that because if you're going to do track days later, you could consider postponing any purchase until you're actually tracking the car?

Cheers,
Robin

[seriouslylotus]

Nothing wrong with good condition standard suspension.
But remeber that the manufacture, Lotus in this case have to make many compromises when building cars, as do all mauufacturers. With the Lotus dampers its price! You get what you pay for.
They will work on track but will quickly be overcome. On the road they have to be able to cope with all the surfaces they 'may' encounter, which ultimately is a compromise.
With the After market dampers like Penske, Nitron, Ohlins etc as they are more complex they can cope with more varing surfaces that the standard dampers and are therefore less of a compromise due to the adjustable nature and sepecific valving a springing for each customer
Some people would never tell the differance between worn out standard suspension and new top of the range supension, But thats because they dont need/ dont use the capabilities of the car. But many do.
Hope this helps
Dave

[j2 lot]

Standard suspension is exactly the same as the S2 Elise ( Bilsteins).

[robin]

Bilsteins will be fine until you take it on the track, unless the ones you have are shagged, in which case looking around at all your options is the prudent thing to do.

If and when the time comes to go for an after market kit, be sure that the droop travel at the rear is adequate and that you agree the ride height you're aiming to use with the supplier up front. That way when the ride height cannot be achieved without the springs rattling about at full droop, you've got some leverage to get them to fix it.

Cheers,
Robin

[tut]

Thanks Robin, just checked the droop travel, but minimum droop and full droop are both the same, so I suspect that I am knackered.

tut

[seriouslylotus]

Thanks Robin, just checked the droop travel, but minimum droop and full droop are both the same, so I suspect that I am knackered.

tut

Hi Tut
Please explain minimum droop and full droop?

[tut]

Sorry Dave, just S_E humour directed at myself for a different piece of equipment. Normally accompanied by:-



tut

[SAJ]

Very close to putting in an order for the Fast Road Nitron 46RacePro today, just not sure if I should jump up a level to the track spec ones or not.

[Mike Scib]

Very close to putting in an order for the Fast Road Nitron 46RacePro today, just not sure if I should jump up a level to the track spec ones or not.

Are you going to track it and if so how often?

[SAJ]

Very close to putting in an order for the Fast Road Nitron 46RacePro today, just not sure if I should jump up a level to the track spec ones or not.

Are you going to track it and if so how often?

I will track it at some point but for but to be honest the car will be on the road more than anything else so I decided to order the Fast Road setup. If I start tracking it a lot i'll change them but as they are going to be stiffer than the stock setup anyway I think they will be good enough for me on and off track.