I am restoring my elan plus 2 130/5 and I want to refresh all the suspension and put new bushes, new dampers and springs.
I have read about Paul Matties suspension with stiffer springs and adjustable dampers as a improvement in handling. I have read this combination makes the plus 2 agiler than the elan.
Can someone recommend me a good combination in suspension?
I bought mine from Tony Thompsonwith adj spring seats, works very well for me and a supple ride. David
You basically need to decide what direction you want to go:
- Full standard setup (Factory spec Spring and dampers, fixed spring perches)
- Standard but with adjustable perches or adjust dampers
- Fast Road setup (Different springs and dampers, adjustable height)
- Full Race setup
What you want to go for will depend on your use and personal preference. Once you know what kind of setup you want you need to select a supplier, I suspect for fast road each supplier has a slightly different set of spring rates and damper settings. Also probably price.
If you can provide more info on your use case for car and preference then people might be able to make some further recommendation of options to consider.
I want the car for fast road. I’m restoring the car and I think the stock setup is poor. I’m looking for an upgrade but i don’t want a hard car. Comfortable but fast road. 
While the Elan needs stiffening up for fast road use on modern tyres I find the Plus 2 with its wider track and longer wheel base is excellent on the road for hard dirviing with standard springs and shocks and modern sticky tyres ( eg Yoko A048R track day tyres).
Note the Plus 2 standard spring rates are close to the Elans typical fast road spring rates. This was due to its heavier weight and greater full versus empty load difference. This suits modern tyres better.
You can stiffen it up if you want but you will lose some of the beautiful suppleness and vice-less handling of a Plus 2. If you have a standard setup and believe the handling is no good I would question the condition of springs and shocks, alignment and bushes etc rather than conclude you need to go to a “fast road” stiffer setup.
cheers
Rohan
I have to agree with Rohan here, my own +2 responded very well to a suspension rebuild to standard spec, I would say it’s just about perfect for fast road use, a really compliant ride with , as Rohan says, vice less handling. I know I’ve had over 25 years with the +2 versus only a couple of months with the elan, & therefore know the cars characteristics much better, but at the mo, & I know this is going to be controversial 
, I’d throw the +2 through a series of bends with much more confidence than I would the elan 
If the stock setup is good. What is a stock setup? Which dampers and springs are the stock? Spax, Gaz or Koni?
I agree with the comments 
. I have raced and developed my Elans handling over 30 plus years and had my Plus 2 also for 30 plus years with both road use and track days.
The Elan is quicker around a track as its lighter and stops and goes quicker and can be thrown in tight stop start corners more easily. But in fast sweeping bends on the track it can be a handful even on the stiffer race suspension. My Plus 2 on standard suspension in the same fast sweeping bends is much more stable and comfortable on the limit which is as fast or faster than the Elans limit on a stiffer race suspension and on similar tyres
Stand spring specifications are in the manual and springs to these specification they can be obtained from the usual suppliers.You can get them made by your local spring company if you have a good one. The front springs should be hot formed using the best material available as they are highly stressed and sag badly overtime if cold formed or made with poorer quality material. Thus adjustable spring seats are a benefit to compensate for spring collapse overtime.
The original dampers were made by Armstrong and are NLA. The various suppliers supply from the big makers you listed and you basically get what you pay for.
The one suspension mod the Plus 2 responds well to is poly bushes as with its longer suspension arms deflecting more than the Elans and you get some situations where you can feel this - eg. power on off transition in the rear suspension is where I notice it most so the inside bushes on the rear A frames are a good candidate for poly bushes. The others are less critical.
cheers
Rohan
Last time I looked, the only front shocks available for a Plus 2 were the adjustable type. It was a while ago so this may have changed by now but it did mean that ‘standard’ was no longer achievable and fitting new suspension also meant having it setup afterwards. Or fiddling yourself 
Thank you for the answers but has someone experience with some suplier? I have hear about millers shocks (ttr made them)
Has someone experience with Tony Thompson suspension? At the front gaz and in the rear Koni with thiker spring?
I have TTR shocks on my Elan Gaz front and Koni rear. They work well with a stiffer suspension. They are adjustable so if backed of to soft should be OK for a road car.
cheers
Rohan
But this set up is not the original!!! 
I am looking for a good compromis between comfort and performance. I have seen the TTR shocks adjustable in the front and in the rear suspension thicker springs with adjustable platform also from TTR.
You talk about modern tyres for the plus 2, but I don?t see choice. 165 R13 Michelin XAS FF is a good alternative.
I?m confused
You cannot buy original shocks. You can buy springs to the original rates.
If you want a “standard” plus 2 suspension then you need springs at original spring rates and the “road” shocks from any of the big suppliers - TTR, Matty, Kelvedon, Sue Miller etc. This gives you a comfortable and good handling car.
You can stiffen up the suspension a little with higher rate springs which will tighten up the handling at the expense of a little ride comfort. With modern sticky tyres like the Yokos below and a bit stiffer suspension there will not be much new or old that will go around a corner quicker and easier than a Plus 2
Yokohama 175/60 x 13 or 185/60 x13 A050R would be my favorite tyres if you dont do many miles and dont drive much in the wet and want a top handling car on the road. These are smaller in diameter than standard but with a 5 speed box and 3.55 diff its fine even at motorway speeds.
cheers
Rohan
Unless your doing a whole host of upgrades you will be better off just fitting new shocks from any of the usual suspects,you could fit the standard rate springs front and rear and see how you get on.For road use most Plus2 owners will tell you the standard set up takes some beating,as Rohan mentions modern tyres will make a huge difference.
Hi Rohan,on springs did you ever have a look at the eibach double spring system with a main and tender spring,when you were developing your cars
regards
Paul
Hi Paul
I looked at various progressive spring arrangements but not specifically the Eibach one. In the end I conclude I wanted to stick with the standard Lotus progressive rear spring arrangement ( which was about 30 years ahead of its time). The Aeon rubber spring is a critical part of the rear suspension. People who remove it or replace with a bump stop as the standard Aeon spring does not fit in the smaller diameter springs don’t really understand its function
It forms the second element of a progressive spring arrangement at the rear with a soft initial rate from the steel spring and then a firmer and progressively increasing rate from the Aeon rubber spring. For My Elan i space this rubber second stage progressive spring down by 20 mm so it comes into play a little earlier which cures most of the over steer on the limit that Elans suffer from especially on modern tyres. A rear anti roll bar would do a similar function. The later Plus 2 had this 20 mm spacer as standard from Lotus which is where I got the idea from.
I also played with stiffer Aeon springs at one stage ( they come is various lengths and spring rates) but concluded this upped the rate to much when they came into play and made the car to twitchy. I like a race car that is easy to drive as i am not Jim Clarke 
Others in Europe run much stiffer set ups than me and it is very much personal taste and skill that dictates what you can do so maybe a stiffer Aeon rubber spring would suit them.
At the front there is not much room to do anything fancy with modern progressive spring designs so just a stiffer roll bar for a road car on modern tyres is all you need I believe and stiffer springs and roll bar if wanting to stiffen it up a little for road or racing.
When Lotus designed the Elan they were the best in the world at suspension design ( maybe they still are) so you change it with lots of thought only where other things such as modern tyres grip level requires it.
cheers
Rohan
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