480 Turbo lowering

[spree]

Ok, so I know that the Turbo (is it just the turbo? If so what are the differences?) apparently benefited from having its suspension set up by Lotus. So thats good. But I have also noticed that a lot of people then go and lower it.......

Personally, I would to do lots of research now though before I lower any car as I have had mixed success with it in the past. My Toyota Celica GT4 truly benefitted from lowering springs combined with uprated dampers, top mounts and uprated anti roll bar where as my Clio Williams was rubbish lowered, I ended up going slower down any road that wasn't totally flat and I felt that it gave me less feel for when the back was about to break away on a corner. It also caused me to crack both the front wings and damage the exhaust so I put it back to standard and I resumed tearing up the streets in my old style. Boy those cars can handle, renault sport sure know how to set up a car and for the road it was awesome, the only thing I really think you could do is maybe use stiffer, standard height springs just to eliminate some body roll.

Now the 480 turbo has handling set up by lotus. So by lowering it you are going to interfere with that but without having a nice budget (or experience) to play with all the options to get it totally right and if there are not matched springs and damper sets available then this makes it even harder. I have read quite a few posts on here about people lowering it and then not quite liking the handling.

I have also recieved some great info by PM from Piper1st who recommends slightly uprated standard dampers ie KYB sports on the front and Bilstein Sports on the back combined with the springs that only give a modest 30mm drop so that you still retain some sort of comfort and poise. This sounds to me like a sensible choice on a road car and probably the best option but I am interested to hear from everybody about their experiences.

How do people rate the standard handling compared to other cars like A clio Williams or a 205 gti for instance. (Known to be among the top handling front wheel drive cars along with the likes of the honda integra dc2? And who thinks that they have dramatically improved it and got it just right without too many ill effects?

Is there some consensus on the alignment that you should ask for when you go to get it setup?

Any preference/experience on the best wheel and tyres size for any given setup?

Enlighten me please?

[glasgowjim]

spree contact " derek " as he can advise you on the turbo set up.
Personally I found 40 mm too low .
The lower you go the more the panhard rod is out.

[mardell]

With any lowered car there is there plus and minuses.

I had a Megane F1 R26 before the volvo (big drop down I know but at £900plus fuel bill a month and two mortgages it was time to go) this had tweaked suspension over standard and I dare touch it, yet the driveability was affected by a change of tyres.... going from michelins to toyos upset it......so back to original pilot2's it went.

I drove the 480T for a good solid 4 months before lowering 40mm, I do 120miles a day with journey to work and back with mixed roads (m1/dual carriage/village) and very different driving styles.

Un known village roads gets me annoyed when i hit potholes as its quiet harsh, but other roads you dont really notice. as for driving hard and fast, round milton keynes it will happily annoy most modern well spec'd cars, keeps traction at the best of times unless coming into boost of a bend then you'll just sit in a cloud of smoke. But the car itself sits nice and flat at most fast speeds into bends.

Its a very well setup car from standard, and even -40mm springs and new shocks it keeps its composure BUT it does have its moments on the bumpier of roads UK has to offer.

[Robou]

The two lowered cars I've driven didn't really please me. Not only because the ride was bumpy, partly due to the seats which aren't up to the job, but also I didn't observe any contribute to the roadholding. A nuisance was the fact that one practically had to come to a standstill at nearing a roadbump, of which many are spread over todays roads.
A small advantage in roadholding was achieved by mounting a strutbar, although this also changes the Lotus design. It makes throwing around corners a little sturdier, sort of.
I have the strong feeling that lowering mostly is done from a cosmetic point of view. If you're not on the track, leave it be.

[spree]

Well a strut brace certainly wouldn't hurt and wouldn't change the setup, just make it stiffer.

Our 480 has a tendancy to understeer with quite a bit of body roll and I think slightly uprated shocks and stiffer springs or springs with only a -20mm lower might be a good upgrade...but I cant judge anything by 17 year old suspension..

I would be more tempted now to replace everything to totally standard but new and then go from there before tweaking anything. Even the the standard springs must loose some springy-ness (technical term...) after a while....

Thanks for the comments guys, its all interesting stuff.

[ted clutch]

your comparing 17 year old stuff with new. big difference. dampers can start to go off at 50k miles. standard stuff will be a big improvement. they were set up pretty good, any more and it becomes bumpy, originally is lift off oversteer so your dampers are probably gone. the back end usually breaks away first.

[spree]

Yeah, I recon it needs the lot replacing.......got quite a bit of creaking going on from the rear at the moment! Other things I have noticed are the car kind of wobbles about a little on the suspension and there is a little bit play I think in the steering. Well, more of a slight vagueness to centre that I don't recon should be there. There is also a knock if I turn the steering wheel hard left to full lock and I dont think the shocks cope that well on harsh roads.

Considering that it is all pretty much past its prime I would say that the car still handles pretty well though!

[bkf_uk]

Ok ive got a 440T not a 480 but the suspensions the same on them both.

Ive lowerd the 440 mainly due to the fact the original suspension was dead and new standard parts cost the same as the lowering parts.
I replaced the front struts with KYB Gas struts that are slightly stiffer and replaced the rear shocks with standard boge ones.

From what i have heard and read bilsten rear shocks are a bad choice, they knock, idealy konnis are the better choice (but standard seen to do the job fine for me)

I am using -30mm BOGE springs which i aquired from fleabay for £70 along with the KYB's i also bought on fleabay for £20 the pair (real bargain!!)

I find my 440 nolonger bodyrolls in corners and seems to me to handle better, i thought in the past that the car could of done with castors put on the wing mirrors the body roll was that bad. The car hapily goes over speedbumps at 30 (although i do let off to about 20 as i dont want to change the shocks again in a hurry) and is happy with most roads, although major potholes are rather unpleasent to hit. another thing i find with the car lowerd is that the front end doesnt start to lift on the motorway, i found at 70 the stearing would become rather light and vauge, now it's as far as im concerned perfect. i also found that due to the stiffer front suspension that the wheel spin from having a richmod (and an autobox) is much more reduced due the front end not jumping into the air.

[felyx]

i agree with glasgowjim , lowering your car without correctly shorting the panhard rod which then makes the car CRAB down the FOOKIN rd is a pointless exercise in handling improvements a friend lowered his chav 106 by 40mm and it moved his rear axle approx 12mm to the nearside . HALFORDS SHOULD BE SHOT

[Iroll480]

Don't forget that the camber will be out of line also if lowered too much. The special lotus designed supportarm bushings can''t cope either and will shear prematurely. It's a pity you can't adjust the camber though.

[spree]

I would only be interested in the springs that give the smallest lower. I understand this is -30 with Lesjofors springs or the Boge one's mentioned above.

[piper1st]

If you lower a 480, your always going to be trading off less body roll with reduced comfort! If you don't want to loose comfort, don't lower the car. If you do lower it, budget to up-rate the shocks at the same time, as old standard shocks will die very quickly on lowered springs.

I thought the handling was amazin' when i lowered my turbo! It improved the look of the car cosmetically and almost no body roll through the corners. The ride was stiffer and so more uncomfortable, had to go slower over speed bumps, but the advantages in handling far out weighed the disadvantages for me! But as mentioned, i was comparing with an old standard setup! Some opted for the -40mm (SPAX i think) springs, which were too low IMHO and started to sag very quickly resulting is jelly like handling!

I have also recieved some great info by PM from Piper1st who recommends slightly uprated standard dampers ie KYB sports on the front and Bilstein Sports on the back combined with the springs that only give a modest 30mm drop so that you still retain some sort of comfort and poise.

no no no, Bilstein's shocks on the front, KYB sport shocks on the back! very important!

[piper1st]

Here are some suspension photos i took of the set up on my turbo ...

BEFORE


AFTER


Ride height:

[Murf]

Volvo did their own sports suspension kit, although its super rare. It included slightly lower springs (20mm?) uprated dampers and a shorter panhard rod to keep the geometry correct. I had several lowered 480's. More than 30mm drop i found impractical as the rear wheels would rub on the arch lips when i had 4 people in the car. Koni make the best suspension for any car ive ever had so i would try and get koni's if they make them. From memory i had bilsteins on the fronts and boge on the back of mine.

[LIP]

Hi to all
if anyone does track down some 20mm lowering springs for the 480, give me a shout please.
I've looked around on the net for 20 mm springs but had no joy as i too felt any lower was too much
& i've widened my rear wheel arches.
Think if you just want the car to look a bit lower get some side skirts made to fit.
LIP