16 replies to this topic

[Mobile Chicane]

Hi all,

 

I'm looking to do a suspension refresh as a winter project, but not sure which suspension to get.  I'm not a serious driver, looking to eke out microseconds out of my lap times - I just want safe fun with the car on the track.  My car has 23k miles on the clock, and still have the factory suspension on, which as far as I'm aware, is fine and in full working order.  You can see what my current suspension is like from my avatar.

 

What do you recommend?  Many thanks in advance!

Edited by Mobile Chicane, 21 October 2019 - 10:37 AM.

[chris_uk]

from experience i can recommend Gaz Monos, they are very nice on the road and are very capable on the track too. about £1000 a set with your choice of spring rates. 

 

Other options such as nitrons, quantums etc are ok too. 

[sford]

Depends on budget. 

 

You could go for some exige Bilsteins that would give you similar to what you had originally. Pick them up from Junks I imagine. This may lead to a slightly larger than desirable front wheel gap.

 

There are then the aftermarket options starting with Gaz Gold Pro's (GGP). I've not used or experienced them but from what I have read on the forums over the last 10 years, they're ok but a bit budget. Seems to be a lot of returns on them. Next up you have the price range of around £900. You have the Quantum Zeros and Nitron Street Series (NSS). When I did mine (very occasional road and track use) I went for the Nitron's but only because there was a deal on and they were slightly cheaper.

 

Next up are the Gaz Mono's, not to be confused with the GGP. Chris Redman uses these and has nothing but good to say about them. 

 

After the 1k mark you move onto the more glamorous Nitron Club Sport and NTR ranges, Quantum Racing etc. 

 

What is the budget you were looking to spend? 

 

My experience of the NSS has been good. They are the second model so NSS2 and have adjustable rebound/damping https://www.elise-sh...9918860336fad96. They have been relatively fit and forget for me without any issues. You need to replace the mounting brackets at the front for the wider damper but these are included with the suspension. I added a stiffer anti roll bar at the same time. On the road they are stiffer than the original suspension I had but then that could be because they haven't done 80k miles. You can obviously wind the stiffness off and they are comfortable and not crashy. On track I wind their stiffness back up depending on how the day is going. The anti roll bar stays on the same setting and I just alter the stiffness of the shocks. I wanted something simple to adjust without spending the day under the car fiddling and have what I wanted. I'm sure spending more would get me a better shock but they aren't the limiting factor (the limiting factor is me). I needed to be careful when setting their height as the springs become loose at full droop if run too low. 

[chris_uk]

I sell the Gaz Monos for £1065 delivered in the UK.

[Ormes]

Must say I've been very happy with my NSS for road and track!

[pete-r]

The setup is more important than the brand, but for other elements like value retention of you want to sell them on or rebuild costs etc Nitron or Quantum would be my choice.

[Mobile Chicane]

Yeah, the Nitron Street Series is looking good for £730 for the full set.  Don't care about the brand or re-sale value, I just want something that keeps my arse on the road while having fun.

[pete-r]

Mate of mine runs NSS and they are great

[Rosssco]

Yeah, the Nitron Street Series is looking good for £730 for the full set.  Don't care about the brand or re-sale value, I just want something that keeps my arse on the road while having fun.

 
You'll need to add VAT to that.

[Mat Jackson]

I’ve got NSS - been great. But - if your original set up is all ok, are you sure you want to change?


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[The Batman]

I can supply Nitrons, bilsteins or Gaz

 

PM me

[FLD]

I think a lot of dampers feel like an upgrade as people have swapped knackered billies for new shocks. I did this with GGP's. They were OK and a lot better than the 15 year old billies they replaced but they weren't all that. I swapped these to Nitron multiways and these are epic. Obviously come with an epic price too but I really do rate the Nitrons.

[siztenboots]

Didn't Gaz have a terrible reputation for failing?

[FLD]

Yep. GGP mk1's were recalled and replaced with mk2's due to several failures.

[TFD]

15y old OEM suspension replaced by NSS and 1" ARB.

NSS on almost full soft and ARB on 75% hard and for my road use it feels more planted, way less crashy (mord comfy) and less bodyroll. Gives more confidence.

But thats feelings.... no diehard science.

[WrightStuff]

Just to add a bit of balance.

I always sing the praise of Nitron and talking to people I get the impression that the Nitron build quality is much better than Quantum in terms of issues per mile, even if the Quantums may shade them in dynamic ability.

 

My fronts have recently broken. One with a broken spring and one with an oil leak.

They've never been serviced (oops) and this is the first issue of any type in 9 years and 40k miles.

I'll be buying Nitron again.

 

Chris

 

[900fc]

I have Nitron NSS on my VXT and very pleased for road and occasional track days. As other members mentioned, very important is the correct geometry setup after shock replacement. Nitron NSS will drop the car about 1-1.5" depending the setup you want, therefore very important to get the geometry right. They are not uncomfortable on the road, do a good job, just be very careful with speedbump and garage entry (if steep ramp).

Can do wrong with the Nitron or Quantum (my friend has it on his Elise S2 and very similar to Nitron).

 

Cedric