Update on my Nitron suspension and a MASSIVE thank you to Nitron! [Archive]

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phoenixcsl

06-09-2012, 11:17 PM

Well I thought it was time I gave a further update to my car and the seriously excellent customer service that I have received from Nitron.

Further to my previous threads, a lot of it I won’t disclose on a public forum but initially I wasn’t too happy with my original NTR Sport Kit which turns out that I had effectively been sold to me incorrectly by a so called decent tuning company…no names.

After advertising the kit, Nitron contacted me regarding asking if there was anything wrong with the kit to which I gave them some honest feedback, Nitron then kindly invited me up to their factory in Oxfordshire in a attempt to rectify the problems which I initially had, I would like to point out they do not normally usually work on customers cars as they are committed to R&D of their products and working on race cars, so for that I was exceptionally grateful for their offer, so I decided to take them up on it, they plied me with tea and coffee and made me feel very welcome, Mark gave me a tour of the factory and even took some time out to give me a demo of their shock and how the valving works etc. I nodded and agreed with the comments he made, but a lot of it was suspension techno babble, but fair play to him, he explained it in retard terms so I would understand.

At this point, I would like to say a massive thank you to Mark, Ben and Emerson at Nitron, these guys pulled out the stops to get my car setup and handling like I wanted it to, again, they didn’t have to do this, and for me it means I will be a Nitron customer for a very long time as long as I am into performance cars they certainly will be my first port of call for suspension in the future, without a doubt.

So this was the original kit I purchased (from a so called reputable BMW tuning firm in the UK…), it was a NTR Sport Kit which I then added some Turner Motorsport Camber / Castor Top Mounts, it also had Rogue Engineering Rear Top Mounts:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/M3%20CSL/IMG_20120210_122528.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/M3%20CSL/IMG_4170.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/M3%20CSL/IMG_4167.jpg

I had the rear shocks serviced and the chaps at Nitron took measurements of the car etc, basically they worked on the car from 5am right through to 5pm that day, making them late for the Ten of the Best at Elvingdon where they were supporting the race cars, all this for me, bear in mind, I’m not a racer no do I have some crazy purchasing account with them buying loads of their products a year, I’m just the next person on the street who happens to have their product, this is proper customer service in my opinion.

They re-valved / serviced the front shocks and stiffened up the front springs, we also decided to move away from the Turner Motorsport Camber Plates, so they supplied me with their Billet Aluminium Camber top mounts, which in themselves are a lovely looking bit of kit, we also decided to change the barrel / rear spring combo and move to a full coilover kit, this then turned my NTR Sport kit into essentially a hybrid version of their NTR Sport + / Race R1+ kit to get me going, and for me to provide some feedback to Mark and the guys at Nitron.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_20120727_085204.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_20120727_075015.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_20120727_075012.jpg

Hybrid kit being installed:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_4919.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_4923.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_4967.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_4955.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_20120727_071116.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_4984.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_4941.jpg

Mark being crushed by my car and Emerson and Ben installing ;)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_4975.jpg

Car being Geo'd and Corner Weighted, 1411kg with just under 3/4 tank of fuel:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_20120727_1138011.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_20120727_1139331.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_20120727_1216531.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_4973.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_4972.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_4974.jpg

So, I spent a good few weeks rocking around on the revised Hybrid kit, the car was a lot better than before, but I still wasn’t ultimately happy with the high speed handling on the kit, so the plan was formed, Mark would take my car in for a week or two to finalise the kit and perform any additional R&D, also for Nitron to gain some further info on how to optimise their kits for M3’s / CSL’s, in the meantime Mark provided me with some free tickets to the Historic Lotus event at Brands, he even chucked on a bbq and to save me a journey from Surrey to Oxfordshire they happily took my car from me at Brands, so my friend and I had a great day getting sunburnt, watching the GT classes and seeing the stunning McLaren MP4-12C GT3 race car in action and we got fed, again it’s little things like that which make people like me very happy!

So after further deliberation, a new kit somehow found it’s way onto my car…the last and best result, a Nitron Track R3 kit is now on the car, it has lovely remote reservoirs routed into the boot and under the bonnet, rebound, low speed and high speed compression damping, the kit itself is a work of art in my opinion.
After more deliberation on the spring rates the following were decided: 90nm/mm and 60nm/mm springs on the kit, we went for a ride height of 600mm front and 590mm on the rears(bottom wheel rim to wheel arch - which is approx -10mm and -20mm on std CSL height), of course the guys performed a full geo on the car and corner weighted it (I’ve never seen anything so mental) for me too, the corner weighting session was so much more advanced than I had seen at other places.

http://www.nitron.co.uk/shop/product/27/bmwe46-m3-csl-ntr-r3

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_5148.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_5149.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_5150.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_5152.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_5151.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_5167.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_5165.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_5170.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1103/TBMeech/Niton%20CSL%20Suspension/IMG_5172.jpg

I have to say that the car feels spectacular, much more balanced, the damping is excellent, the ride is stiff but not back breakingly so, when up to speed the car feels so chuckable and secure, so a very happy result.

So I would like to say massive thank you to Nitron, for going well past the extra mile to make me who is nothing more than your average joe public a very happy bunny, for always making me feel welcome when I went to see them, for laying on the tea, and for the chaps busting their nuts to get my car done, the constant communication and updates, it really is massively refreshing to get extraordinary customer service and a simply stunning product on the car.

shimmy

06-09-2012, 11:25 PM

83SY

06-09-2012, 11:31 PM

Are they as good as intrax?

phoenixcsl

06-09-2012, 11:37 PM

superb service and kit looks great

what worries me is that Nitron have been selling various options for E46 now for 3+ years. Are you saying the previous versions were not optimised for the car and spring rates etc werre all wrong and how can this be blamed on the 'tuning company' that you mentioned originally.

LeonB back in 2009-2010 had very similar issues and Nitron were all over the kit and car to sort it so youd think they should have got the data then!

It was superb service Shim, I can't fault the guys there at all, they seriously pulled out all the stops for me.

I was effectively told the kit would do a lot more than it actually does, the basic NTR Sport kit is realistically a kit designed for a standard ride height -10mm on a normal M3, not a CSL, I was told otherwise when I bought the kit, basically I was told it would lower the CSL up to 20-30mm which I now know the kit simply isn't designed to do, had I known this from the start I would have chosen the next kit up.

The old kit I had effectively is a adjustable shock with limited ride height adjustment, much more road biased, the spring / damper rates are very similar to the standard setup, you just get the additional rebound / compression combined adjustment, it's for people who want to retain a near standard ride height, obviously the shocks and valving are far superior to the standard shocks.

phoenixcsl

06-09-2012, 11:38 PM

Are they as good as intrax?

Don't know, never had Intrax myself, Shim did a comparison on the old Nitron Track 2 Ways and his Intrax earlier in the year...

But they have to be pretty comparable as they are both high end suspension.

Mark CSL

07-09-2012, 12:23 AM

Great to read this as i have a kit to order for a BMW M3 E92 tomorrow
its the Race R3 kit he is going for 3k +

cantfind1

07-09-2012, 09:05 AM

I have a Hybrid Nitron kit on my car aswell....

Ben was very helpful as I was not happy with the ride height and spring rates either....

They changed all the damper bodies and rods for shorter ones, revalved everything and provided new springs all round....120nm front and 56nm rear...

You are right when they say that the entry level kit does not lower enough...also spring rates are much the same as standard.

Suspension is now spot on, damping is superb and I can drop it to the floor if I want to!

I am running similar ride heights I think......what is your measurement from ground to top of wheel arch Phoenix?? I have different wheels to you....

phoenixcsl

07-09-2012, 09:18 AM

Great to read this as i have a kit to order for a BMW M3 E92 tomorrow
its the Race R3 kit he is going for 3k +

That's the final solution I have from Nitron, the Race R3 kit Mark, it's stunning, think the kit is circa £3k+ vat

There is some vids on YouTube of Tom Schirmer and a E92 M3 on the ring with the only mods being Race R3 suspension, looks bloody rapid!

I have a Hybrid Nitron kit on my car aswell....

Ben was very helpful as I was not happy with the ride height and spring rates either....

They changed all the damper bodies and rods for shorter ones, revalved everything and provided new springs all round....120nm front and 56nm rear...

You are right when they say that the entry level kit does not lower enough...also spring rates are much the same as standard.

Suspension is now spot on, damping is superb and I can drop it to the floor if I want to!

I am running similar ride heights I think......what is your measurement from ground to top of wheel arch Phoenix?? I have different wheels to you....

That's the thing I loved about them, I spend hours with them getting it just right, Ben etc are so helpful, and you end up with a kit which is tailor made for what you want.

The entry level kit is just realistically an adjustable shock / adjustment upgrade, fantastic if you want a near standard ride height.

I'll find out and report back Jules on the ride height from floor to wheelarch, it's 600 / 590 from bottom of rim to w/a.

It's essentially 10mm lower at the front and 20mm lower at the rear over a std CSL.

karbonkid

07-09-2012, 10:56 AM

O'Neill

07-09-2012, 11:31 AM

That's the final solution I have from Nitron, the Race R3 kit Mark, it's stunning, think the kit is circa £3k+ vat

There is some vids on YouTube of Tom Schirmer and a E92 M3 on the ring with the only mods being Race R3 suspension, looks bloody rapid!

That's the thing I loved about them, I spend hours with them getting it just right, Ben etc are so helpful, and you end up with a kit which is tailor made for what you want.

The entry level kit is just realistically an adjustable shock / adjustment upgrade, fantastic if you want a near standard ride height.

I'll find out and report back Jules on the ride height from floor to wheelarch, it's 600 / 590 from bottom of rim to w/a.

It's essentially 10mm lower at the front and 20mm lower at the rear over a std CSL.

I have the NTR sport+, no problems with ride height 585mm from bottom of wheel rear and 590 front.

Top marks to Nitron for their customer service.

shimmy

07-09-2012, 01:41 PM

Great write up Toby and glad they sorted everthing out for you, some effort indeed. Hats off to Nitron! Im sure they are reading this.

What ride heights could you & cantfind1 not achieve with the NTR kits then?

@shim what issues did Leonb initially have. Was this ride height related also?

I can't remember. He felt the car was just not handling well on circuit, and Nitron were the ones I think installing etc. I'll drop him a line and ask.

So why do Toby and Cantfind1 have totally different ratio springs front to read?

phoenixcsl

07-09-2012, 03:09 PM

Great write up Toby and glad they sorted everthing out for you, some effort indeed. Hats off to Nitron! Im sure they are reading this.

What ride heights could you & cantfind1 not achieve with the NTR kits then?

Thanks Alex, how you keeping mate? Thanks for all the info you supplied to me when I was having my initial troubles :thumbs:

Ride height wise, I could only just manage to get a standard ride height on the NTR Sport kit, would never go any lower.

So why do Toby and Cantfind1 have totally different ratio springs front to read?

It sounds like Jules is running a more track focussed setup on his car 120 nm/mm is a fair bit stiffer, I wanted a compromise between road and track.

shane@mbtech

07-09-2012, 03:14 PM

Nitron are a great kit, but my gut feeling is that they need to test and develop a product more before release to customer.

A lot of the Evo lads had similar issues.

Glad to see your car is all sorted. And great to see such great aftercare from nitron. They seemed like great guys when I met them.

karbonkid

07-09-2012, 05:07 PM

I can't remember. He felt the car was just not handling well on circuit, and Nitron were the ones I think installing etc. I'll drop him a line and ask.

Right. Be interested to hear back.

Thanks Alex, how you keeping mate? Thanks for all the info you supplied to me when I was having my initial troubles :thumbs:

Ride height wise, I could only just manage to get a standard ride height on the NTR Sport kit, would never go any lower.

Your welcome. I know what a headache all this can be. Sounds like you are all sorted now thou. But all this not to track her? :(

phoenixcsl

07-09-2012, 05:53 PM

Your welcome. I know what a headache all this can be. Sounds like you are all sorted now thou. But all this not to track her? :(

Yeah all good fella, oh I will be on track, might try and do a couple now before the winter sets in.

s.mac

07-09-2012, 11:31 PM