Re: [DML] Lotus Esprit Rear Suspension

["Tom Niemczewski" <dmctom@xxxxxxxxx>]

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@xxxxxxxxx
www.deloreana.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Soma576@xxxxxxx>
To: <dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 8:33 PM
Subject: Re: [DML] Lotus Esprit Rear Suspension


> Tom,
>
> I am confused.  Are you saying Lotus had no idea what they were doing (or 
> purposely messed up) the D suspension, or are you saying the Esprit 
> suspension is bad design too?
>
> That's surprising because Lotus design has always been considered 
> world-class. Especially around the the time of DeLorean.
>
> Andy

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