>Interesting, we started with 18 psi all round, and increased the pressure
>at front to try to increase crispness. We started with 18 psi because
>that is stock recommendation, why did Lotus recommend such a low tire
>pressure? To improve comfort,or to improve handling of poor stock tires.
Any manufacturer-recommended (car manufacturer or tire manufacturer)
pressures are more designed to prevent law suits than to be genuinely
helpful, particularly regarding performance use. IMO they are to be
virtually ignored.
>Sounds sensible, but I assume that the ride will become a bit rougher,
>that is okay for me, but my father is a "softie" ;)
That's true but it's all about trade-offs (all of it.... suspension settings,
tire pressures, even driving technique). There is no optimum unless your goal
is very specific (which it can't be here because you have a variety of driving
conditions and driver preferences).
One way to approach it is to decide what type of road surface and quality you
want to optimize for and then set everything up for that. For instance, say (as
you've indicated) the roads aren't too good and you expect unevenness, pot
holes, bumps and waviness. That would favor setting the car up the way your
father likes it, i. e., soft enough to be able to absorb most of that and yet
controlled (shocks would be key.... probably soft in jounce and harder in
rebound... unfortunately, not separately adjustable characteristics except on
two-way competition shocks... very expensive.... that's one reason why on yours,
I recommend soft shock settings... at least you get the soft jounce).
I believe in softer setups for street performance driving anyway for the reasons
above. A very hard setup will, besides being uncomfortable, be hard on all the
components (everything sees shock loads all the time and eventually, things
fail, develop cracks, bend, etc.).
>> Hope this helps.
>It helps a LOT(US), as your answers usually do :-).
Thank you. You're on sort of an "island" there without too many people around
who understand or even desire the type of car you have so I wanted to help you
fill the gap a bit.
Rod
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