Omega Owners Forum

Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: tango on 11 December 2011, 20:44:03

Title: elite suspension
Post by: tango on 11 December 2011, 20:44:03
hi all
just wondering if someone of you can provide some info on my elites self leveling suspension
basicly i want to know how it is set to work
for example
when i put something heavy in the boot , is it suppose to raise the height from the rear to match the front,
and if yes then once raised does it sit there and for how long
or does it reset on when ignition turned off and raise again when igniton turned on.
also regarding the front, are the front self leveling or are they fixed and used as a guide for the rear.
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: Omega32E on 11 December 2011, 21:28:36
Will try and explain this and if there are errors I am sure somebody will be along to correct them.

The shocks are pumped with air that is provided by a compressor that is mounted under the offside front wing, the level is controlled via a valve mounted on the offside on the rear axle, from what i understand the compressor only runs when the ignition is first switched on. The compressor also has a relief valve which releases air till the vehicle has attained its correct pressure/height for the given load on the car. So when you first start the car the compressor runs puts air into the rear shocks controlled via the valve and released via the compressor as needed, the compressor does not run again until the vehicle is stopped and restarted.

Think thats how it works :y
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: TheBoy on 12 December 2011, 08:40:49
Only rear has self levelling. This is active any time the ignition is on.

A compressor mounted behind drivers headlight, or mounted under the car about halfway down (depending on engine) pumps up air bladders in the rear shocks, or relieves pressure in air bladders to lower.  This is monitored continously when the ignition is on.  It not a fast acting system, so it can take a minute or so for it to attain the correct height.

Many Elites have had it disabled due to peopl'e fascination with pattern shocks ;)
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: tango on 12 December 2011, 09:44:46
Ok so if the front is fixed
And assuming all is working fine
Will I be correct in saying that
If I put some lowering springs in the front
The rear will adjust itself to the required level
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: henryd on 12 December 2011, 09:52:55
Ok so if the front is fixed
And assuming all is working fine
Will I be correct in saying that
If I put some lowering springs in the front
The rear will adjust itself to the required level

No, the rear will stay at the same height as before.
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: Entwood on 12 December 2011, 10:03:21
Ok so if the front is fixed
And assuming all is working fine
Will I be correct in saying that
If I put some lowering springs in the front
The rear will adjust itself to the required level

No, the rear will stay at the same height as before.

and you will have a very unstable vehicle.

By playing with just the front suspension, purely for "looks" at a guess, you will have a totally unbalanced and IMHO, dangerous, setup.
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: TheBoy on 12 December 2011, 10:20:34
Ok so if the front is fixed
And assuming all is working fine
Will I be correct in saying that
If I put some lowering springs in the front
The rear will adjust itself to the required level

No, the rear will stay at the same height as before.

and you will have a very unstable vehicle.

By playing with just the front suspension, purely for "looks" at a guess, you will have a totally unbalanced and IMHO, dangerous, setup.
Kinda depends.  My MV6 is like that, to make it more 'pointy' on cornering, and to overcome that Omega understeer on sweepers.

The MV6 does have factory sports suspension at the rear, though, albeit now on Bilstein B4 shocks.


Although I certainly wouldn't be lowering the front and using Elite rear suspension, that would be far to twitchy for me.


That said, I think I may try popping some Irmscher springs on the rear of the MV6, just to see how I get on, as I am reasonably happy with TBE's setup.
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: henryd on 12 December 2011, 10:33:18
Ok so if the front is fixed
And assuming all is working fine
Will I be correct in saying that
If I put some lowering springs in the front
The rear will adjust itself to the required level

No, the rear will stay at the same height as before.

and you will have a very unstable vehicle.

By playing with just the front suspension, purely for "looks" at a guess, you will have a totally unbalanced and IMHO, dangerous, setup.

Also the auto leveling for the HID headlamps will be all to hell as well.
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: TheBoy on 12 December 2011, 10:40:25
Ok so if the front is fixed
And assuming all is working fine
Will I be correct in saying that
If I put some lowering springs in the front
The rear will adjust itself to the required level

No, the rear will stay at the same height as before.

and you will have a very unstable vehicle.

By playing with just the front suspension, purely for "looks" at a guess, you will have a totally unbalanced and IMHO, dangerous, setup.

Also the auto leveling for the HID headlamps will be all to hell as well.
Nah, it'll cope (unless one end is on the deck, and other end is jacked up like a monster truck)
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: henryd on 12 December 2011, 11:04:51
Ok so if the front is fixed
And assuming all is working fine
Will I be correct in saying that
If I put some lowering springs in the front
The rear will adjust itself to the required level

No, the rear will stay at the same height as before.

and you will have a very unstable vehicle.

By playing with just the front suspension, purely for "looks" at a guess, you will have a totally unbalanced and IMHO, dangerous, setup.

Also the auto leveling for the HID headlamps will be all to hell as well.
Nah, it'll cope (unless one end is on the deck, and other end is jacked up like a monster truck)

Really ?,I would have thought with the front 30 mm lower and the back where it should be the lights would be pointing down lower.
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: tango on 12 December 2011, 12:16:56
thanks for replies everyone
but still a bit baffled as getting mix responses

surely if the elites suspension is designed to  SELF LEVEL
and it it uses the front as a guide
then i dont see why it wont lower the rear itself to compensate

Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: Kevin Wood on 12 December 2011, 12:28:16
thanks for replies everyone
but still a bit baffled as getting mix responses

surely if the elites suspension is designed to  SELF LEVEL
and it it uses the front as a guide
then i dont see why it wont lower the rear itself to compensate

It doesn't use the front as a guide. In fact, it doesn't even measure the level at the front. It just jacks the rear up or lets it down as required to set a constant ride height at the rear. Lower the front and it won't change the level at the rear at all, the car will just end up raked towards the front, which may upset its' handling.
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: tango on 12 December 2011, 12:37:31
ok that explais it better
so how would i go about lowering it if i wanted
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: TheBoy on 12 December 2011, 18:34:52
ok that explais it better
so how would i go about lowering it if i wanted
If you want it lowered, it has to be stiffer. That means new shocks and springs all around, and loosing the self levelling.
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: TheBoy on 12 December 2011, 18:35:57
Ok so if the front is fixed
And assuming all is working fine
Will I be correct in saying that
If I put some lowering springs in the front
The rear will adjust itself to the required level

No, the rear will stay at the same height as before.

and you will have a very unstable vehicle.

By playing with just the front suspension, purely for "looks" at a guess, you will have a totally unbalanced and IMHO, dangerous, setup.

Also the auto leveling for the HID headlamps will be all to hell as well.
Nah, it'll cope (unless one end is on the deck, and other end is jacked up like a monster truck)

Really ?,I would have thought with the front 30 mm lower and the back where it should be the lights would be pointing down lower.
It'll cope ;)
Title: Re: elite suspension
Post by: feeutfo on 12 December 2011, 22:54:27
Trouble with sl shocks is they are crap as dampers ime. Levelling is great but the amount of roll is very poor, and not just in corners. Sl is not independant enough imo.

When loweing, it really should be for performance that is needed from the driver, rather than... Fashion? Shall we say. Any load carrying will compromise a lowered car. Compromise being key. A direction only the owner can decide.

Personally looking at air bag in coil spring set up for the rear of mine, hopefully with the on board pump and sensor tweaked to slightly above the new lower ride hight. Mine is a bit too low at the back due to extra load of lpg tank. Although might need to space the springs out. We'll see.
 But main thing is the suspension performance is sooo much better with sl shocks and springs removed.