[DML] Re: Lotus Esprit Rear Suspension

["John Dore" <dmcjohn@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Tom,

I agree with you - the original suspension design is very poor.

The later Esprit's had a much better front lower control arm, you 
can see a pic here:

http://www.delorean.ie/images/009_oblique_view_lh_jpg.jpg

Didn't Toby Peterson do something similar with his car years ago? I 
seem to remember him adding extra links on the front lower 
suspension in order to triangulate the arm, and he had good results.

But, your approach sounds great, to design a new frame. Are you 
going with a tubular design rather than the original stressed skin 
folded sheetmetal?

You might find the following 2 links interesting - a tubular version 
of our backbone frames, with proper double wishbone suspension:

http://www.banks-europa.co.uk/cars/chassis.htm

and

http://www.spydercars.co.uk/pg3_special_projects.htm

Looking forward to seeing the results, best of luck!

Regards,
John

--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Tom Niemczewski" <dmctom@...> wrote:
>
> Andy
> 
> That is exactly what I'm saying. The D suspension is such a bad 
design that 
> when trying to improve it I need to redesign pretty much 
everything. The 
> best thing would be to start from scratch but since the body of 
the car 
> limits the possibilities I will have to stick with the original 
design and 
> change as much as possible to make it work like it should.
> What I don't like about the current setup?
> 1. Sway bar should only work as a sway bar. The way it is designed 
it 
> controls the caster and toe and both those values change wildly 
depending on 
> acceleration/braking forces. Very bad design
> 2. Lower control arm should be "A" shaped, not "I" like it is now.
> 3. Lower ball joint carries the entire weight of the front of the 
car, yet 
> is very small. This is a very dangerous design.
> 4. Trailing arm bolts - no comments... it's this bad
> 5. Rear shock lower mount - horrible design where the mount is 
working 
> rotated almost 90 degrees from actual movement at the joint. 
Result - The 
> joint doesn't work, the bushing gets crushed, the shock is being 
bent
> 
> I was expecting something better in case of the Esprit as I've 
never seen 
> the suspension components. Seeing the pictures I can say YES, the 
Esprit 
> suspension is a very bad design too. At least when it comes to the 
rear. I 
> have not seen the front setup yet.
> 
> Andy, what is interesting is that it is very surprising to me as 
well! I've 
> always heard about the world class suspension from Lotus... but it 
seems it 
> was just words. In reality it doesn't look as good. It might be a 
bit better 
> than that on the D. Better materials, stronger components, but in 
the end it 
> is the same basic design... very poor design. I am VERY surprised!
> 
> I'll post pictures of my new frame soon. I am trying to fix as 
many mistakes 
> that Lotus have made as possible. More to come soon....
> 
> 
> Tom Niemczewski
> vin 6149 (in Poland!)
> Google earth: 52°25'17.30"N 21° 1'58.00"E
> dmctom@...
> www.deloreana.com

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