NA Market Ordered: Sport or Touring suspension

[Nymare]

Another sport and Goodyear F1

Have Z51 on my C7 Corvette thus the preferred stiffer suspension

 

[SPoivre]

I went with sport for three reasons.

1. Most of the cars I have owned have been on the stiff side so I am just used to the stiffness.

2. The body roll in many of the videos with the touring suspension just seemed like a lot

3. I spoke to a Lotus engineer who told me to go for the sport suspension. He said I probably wouldn’t even notice the difference on the road.

My test drive was on the touring suspension and I found it perfectly fine for the street. (This was after I placed my order) So I will see if I made the right choice soon.

I also went with the Goodyears since I expect to be mostly driving on the street. If I start doing track days, I’ll get a new set of rims and better track tires.

 

[seriously]

Sport / Cup 2

Happy to finally be rid of adaptive suspension. Rather have a good single setup. I prefer slightly rigid and most reviews tend to comment how supple the rigid actually feels. Don’t plan to track much but would like to feel what Cup 2 s are like. I‘ll plan on replace with pilot sport 4S unless I really like them.

 

[Tpup]

As a data point I drove a sport car on Sat and can provide some context. I have a 991.2 C4S with PASM. The Emira was stiffer than the 4S normal mode and near the sport mode when it's on. I also have a 991.2 GT3 and the Emira reminded me of that car when it's in normal mode. I live in the land of crap brick roads and I'll go with sport. It felt like a nice setup to me.

 

[VL3X]

As a data point I drove a sport car on Sat and can provide some context. I have a 991.2 C4S with PASM. The Emira was stiffer than the 4S normal mode and near the sport mode when it's on. I also have a 991.2 GT3 and the Emira reminded me of that car when it's in normal mode. I live in the land of crap brick roads and I'll go with sport. It felt like a nice setup to me.

Thanks for the comparison and welcome to the forum @Tpup!

 

[GrahamClark_60-68]

For me Touring/F1 was the right choice. Car will be driven in So Cal and likely Washington state, with definite plans for PCH up the coast through Big Sur. Roads generally not in good shape in Washington plus the wetness factor, and not always that great in SoCal. May decide track it on very rare occasions as the opportunity arises but primarily for sporty driving on roads that may or may not be the best. I also echo one poster's sentiment of keeping the wife comfortable on longer road trips (me also!). I had the opportunity at Monterey car week last August to drive a Touring and ride in a Sport/Cup2 car on the same route, same roads, same day, same conditions, about 30 minutes in each car. A variety of road conditions were on that route including relatively smooth higher speed sections with gentle to winding curves, and much slower neighborhood sections, very windy, and rough in places. In that type of driving, which will be typical for me, I detected no noticeable differences between touring and sport on the smoother, higher speed sections, and way too much harshness for my tastes on the bumper, slower sections with sport. Greatly appreciate everyone's comments and actual drive time feedback of sport to optimize track/sportier use cases. For my use case, and actual seat time I experienced myself, touring works best for me.

 

[finny76]

Similar thinking for me. Roads around DFW generally are pretty good. Also for us Texans, an hours drive outside of most major cities will get you to some curvy roads.
I will probably only track the car 1 or 2 times and I don't push it to 10\10s when I do. So Sport and F1s were right for me.

I live in the FRISCO area and drive mostly on highways. I'm leaning for Touring but would there be any advantage to go to a Sports suspension?

 

[Newguy1354]

I live in the FRISCO area and drive mostly on highways. I'm leaning for Touring but would there be any advantage to go to a Sports suspension?

There seems to be differing opinions on that question. I would say sport would be better if you track it some. (and we have a lot of great tracks around DFW) I've seen several state that during normal driving both suspension setups ride similar except over lower speed moderately rough road.
For me, it's a "weekend car" that may see a track twice. So I hope sport gives more "feel" when I do drive it.

 

[finny76]

There seems to be differing opinions on that question. I would say sport would be better if you track it some. (and we have a lot of great tracks around DFW) I've seen several state that during normal driving both suspension setups ride similar except over lower speed moderately rough road.
For me, it's a "weekend car" that may see a track twice. So I hope sport gives more "feel" when I do drive it.

Likewise.
For me, it's going to be a weekend car, possibly with one track day a year (I also own an NSX). I've read that the Sports model isn't as rigid as some other cars, so if the difference isn't too noticeable, I'm considering switching from Touring to Sports.

FYI... I'm ordering aftermarket wheels with PS4S tires, which means I'll probably be selling my OEM wheels with the OEM tires (just gotta decide to get the PS2S or F1's for better resale/demand)

 

[Newguy1354]

Likewise.
For me, it's going to be a weekend car, possibly with one track day a year (I also own an NSX). I've read that the Sports model isn't as rigid as some other cars, so if the difference isn't too noticeable, I'm considering switching from Touring to Sports.

FYI... I'm ordering aftermarket wheels with PS4S tires, which means I'll probably be selling my OEM wheels with the OEM tires (just gotta decide to get the PS2S or F1's for better resale/demand)

In that case I would go Sport PS2, as the voting is way F1 heavy. So I would think more people would want a track set of wheels with stickier tires.

 

[Lotustoronto]

In that case I would go Sport PS2, as the voting is way F1 heavy. So I would think more people would want a track set of wheels with stickier tires.

This ^

 

[1stLotus]

Likewise.
For me, it's going to be a weekend car, possibly with one track day a year (I also own an NSX). I've read that the Sports model isn't as rigid as some other cars, so if the difference isn't too noticeable, I'm considering switching from Touring to Sports.

FYI... I'm ordering aftermarket wheels with PS4S tires, which means I'll probably be selling my OEM wheels with the OEM tires (just gotta decide to get the PS2S or F1's for better resale/demand)

Chiming back in as I recently rode as a passenger in a base Caymen at Thunderhill and now I feel back to square one .

This primarily will be a weekend car and road trip car for me, not sure if I want to track it. Definitely want to hit the twisties with aggressive driving. When riding in the Caymen, it felt soft with body roll. Granted that was on the track, but wouldn’t the sensation be similar on fast canyon carving?

Suspension like hp can be a slippery slope - you’ll always want more! I.e. those getting a sports suspension might feel they want tighter suspension thus adding a roll cage, lowering springs etc.

I definitely want to do long road trips and enjoy the good sound system. Wondering if that would be compromised if getting a sports setup.

 

[GrahamClark_60-68]

Just ran into this article about a drive-along with Gavin at the Hethel track, with touring/F1s. Yes it's two years old so was early-on, but it was interesting to read Gavin's thoughts about the Touring suspension and body roll, a perspective I had not heard before. "I’m detecting hints of body roll – just enough of it – and we discuss how they tuned it. “I prefer a bit of roll,” says Kershaw, “and nearly all drivers benefit from it. The best cars take an initial stance, so the driver knows instinctively where and when cornering has started and how it builds up. If a car corners dead flat, you don’t feel the small differences you need. Ayrton Senna always said the hardest Formula 1 cars he drove were the active suspension types because you had to guess where the limit was. They felt nervous – and nervousness is the very last thing we want in a new Lotus.” https://www.autodaily.com.au/2022-lotus-emira-ride-along-review/

 

[1stLotus]

Just ran into this article about a drive-along with Gavin at the Hethel track, with touring/F1s. Yes it's two years old so was early-on, but it was interesting to read Gavin's thoughts about the Touring suspension and body roll, a perspective I had not heard before. "I’m detecting hints of body roll – just enough of it – and we discuss how they tuned it. “I prefer a bit of roll,” says Kershaw, “and nearly all drivers benefit from it. The best cars take an initial stance, so the driver knows instinctively where and when cornering has started and how it builds up. If a car corners dead flat, you don’t feel the small differences you need. Ayrton Senna always said the hardest Formula 1 cars he drove were the active suspension types because you had to guess where the limit was. They felt nervous – and nervousness is the very last thing we want in a new Lotus.” https://www.autodaily.com.au/2022-lotus-emira-ride-along-review/

This is super helpful - thanks! Makes a lot of sense and experience that personally with my brothers Miata. The car is very planted with its roll cage but broke loose one time in the twisties without feeling much if any load in the beginning.

Just found out my dealer has a sports and touring so I’ll be able to do my first side be side comparison, albeit the sports has the cup2s.

 

[seriously]

Chiming back in as I recently rode as a passenger in a base Caymen at Thunderhill and now I feel back to square one .

This primarily will be a weekend car and road trip car for me, not sure if I want to track it. Definitely want to hit the twisties with aggressive driving. When riding in the Caymen, it felt soft with body roll. Granted that was on the track, but wouldn’t the sensation be similar on fast canyon carving?

Suspension like hp can be a slippery slope - you’ll always want more! I.e. those getting a sports suspension might feel they want tighter suspension thus adding a roll cage, lowering springs etc.

I definitely want to do long road trips and enjoy the good sound system. Wondering if that would be compromised if getting a sports setup.

Track and canyon driving put very different load on the car and shouldn’t be compared. You will go nearly full brake pressure, load up the suspension, carry as much speed as you can, use the whole track testing the lateral grip and gas as much as you can without losing grip on the track. You do that in most cars and you get a lot of body roll. You do that in the canyons and it won’t end well for you at some point.

If you want a comfortable cruiser with occasional spiceness I think you go touring suspension. I think that’s definitely one of the use cases for this freshly designed lotus.

And I definitely think you can go overboard with suspension. More firm is not always the right answer. Weight, frame design and suspension setup all impact the feel in the twisties and there are optimal setups for different purposes.

 

[1stLotus]

Track and canyon driving put very different load on the car and shouldn’t be compared. You will go nearly full brake pressure, load up the suspension, carry as much speed as you can, use the whole track testing the lateral grip and gas as much as you can without losing grip on the track. You do that in most cars and you get a lot of body roll. You do that in the canyons and it won’t end well for you at some point.

If you want a comfortable cruiser with occasional spiceness I think you go touring suspension. I think that’s definitely one of the use cases for this freshly designed lotus.

And I definitely think you can go overboard with suspension. More firm is not always the right answer. Weight, frame design and suspension setup all impact the feel in the twisties and there are optimal setups for different purposes.

Love the input. What a great community we have

 

[GrahamClark_60-68]

This is super helpful - thanks! Makes a lot of sense and experience that personally with my brothers Miata. The car is very planted with its roll cage but broke loose one time in the twisties without feeling much if any load in the beginning.

Just found out my dealer has a sports and touring so I’ll be able to do my first side be side comparison, albeit the sports has the cup2s.

Will be interesting to read your feedback, although not sure your dealer will let you get anywhere close to the limits Gavin pushes it to!

 

[Adam Brouillard]

From what I’ve read the difference in spring rates between the two is only 5 to 10% so you aren’t going to see a big difference in body roll. Not that body roll is bad thing though. It means you have some compliance to absorb things. It seems the main difference is the sport has a good bit more damping so it will certainly feel “faster” as the body will react more quickly to driver inputs. Since they didn’t also lower the ride height on the sport though you aren’t going to see an across the board performance improvement. Other than, of course, the additional grip that would come with running cup 2s.

The sport will theoretically be faster during during quick transitions and the touring will theoretically be faster over bumpy surfaces and curbs. I would bet on most tracks they would probably run comparable times, assuming they were running the same tire.

I’ve personally ordered the touring. That’s the only one I’ve gotten to drive so far but the damping felt about right for the spring rate. I’m sure the sport is probably still comfortable on most roads though and will make the car feel more “sporty.” You probably can’t go wrong either way unless you have really bumpy roads around you and can’t stand a little extra harshness.

 

[1stLotus]

Tested both and will give my two cents later today.

Question….
Is the Cup2s softer therefore smoother when riding on the road, meaning F1s would be harsher?

I tested sports with cup2 and tour with f1 back to back.

Wondering if sports with f1 would feel more bumpy.

 

[Time2Fly]

As I understand it Cup2 are just a lot stickier. Which is great for the track or warm clean roads. It doesn't handle water well.