Re: [DML] Re: Rob Grady's Personal Lower Suspension (Tangent: Lotus Esprit suspension)

[Michael Griese <mike.griese@xxxxxxx>]

Where are you getting your information about Esprit CV joints?  That has not 
been a common complaint to my knowledge.

 --
Mike




________________________________
From: content22207 <brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wed, November 9, 2011 8:35:40 AM
Subject: [DML] Re: Rob Grady's Personal Lower Suspension (Tangent: Lotus Esprit 
suspension)

  
Early Esprit owners actually have bigger problems in the back: eating up CV 
joints at a prodigious rate because Lotus, in a fit of genius engineering, tried 
to make the drive axles double as lower suspension links.

Lotus has a long history of screwing things up.

That is why the company was going bankrupt when John DeLorean showed up with 
fistfuls of taxpayer money for he and Colin Chapman to abscond with.

Bill Robertson
#5939

--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Justin Mettee" <jamettee@...> wrote:
>
> Given all the complaints, design similarities/differences to various other 
>automotive applications, etc., I decided to search for what the DMC's cousin of 
>the time used for front suspension.  I figured if Lotus based the chassis of the 
>DMC heavily on the Esprit of that time, then there should be similar parts & 
>geometries, right?
> 
> Well I found this: 
>http://www.lotusespritturbo.com/Lotus_Esprit_Turbo_Chassis.jpg
> The Lotus Esprit Turbo chassis on the assembly line, I believe during the 
>slightly later era (early/mid 80's).  (The above is from the websitee 
>http://www.lotusespritturbo.com/Lotus_History_Toyota_GM_Years.htm).  Interesting 
>how similar the upper front (& rear) suspension look similar, but the lower is 
>completely different & triangulated, but this is a later generation & more 
>performance-oriented car.
> 
> So I look further for the earlier Esprit 2.2 (1980-81) & find this site: 
>http://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/38109-at-last-shes-stripped/ .  Down 
>a little way, you see the front suspension & it is pretty darn similar to the 
>DMC.  The one thing I see that is marginally better than our application is the 
>layout of the swaybar places the front mounts further outboard & likely 
>restrains the fore/aft movement of the LCA better than the DMC does.  Not 
>optimal, but probably a better driver setup than a DMC.
> 
> I wonder if Lotus owners have the same hard-braking control issues & LCA 
>failures that the DMC is prone to?
> 
> Justin Mettee
> VIN 2075
>


 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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