for Evora • S • 400 • GT cars
We are first going to acknowledge that the Lotus Evora is a wonderful car with phenomenal handling. That being said, we’re going to make a great car even better.
Our solution begins with the factory damper bodies but unlike other aftermarket alternatives, our shocks retain the original upper spring mounts, exactly as the Lotus engineers intended. We then gut the damper and rebuild it with the best internal hardware available. Our shocks can be ordered with either HethelSport’s proprietary fixed valving or an externally adjustable valve centered around our same proprietary fixed valve specs.
The Challenge:
We all know the Evora has great street manners, approaches its handling limits with grace, and as a double duty street/track car, can tackle most road courses well. But there are flaws. Most annoyingly, in complex curves and transitions, the body will porpoise–meaning that the weight transfer will load one end or one side of the car during compression and as it unloads, will add an overwhelming amount of energy to the rebound causing the car to "pogo" or load-up much more than ideal. This happens with side-to-side weight transfers but also equally important, in front-&-rear weight transfers such as throttle steering, left-foot braking, or brake modulation. This is less noticeable with constant radius, single apex turns found at road courses like Laguna Seca but at complex, “rhythm” courses such as Sonoma Raceway, these transitions become a liability at 8/10ths driving and beyond. We have traced this characteristic, not to the valve settings or even the spring rate, but instead to the quality of the internal damper components and their ability to control rebound and the second & third+ oscillations.
Our Two Solutions:
Tier 1 | Enhanced is effectively an Öhlins damper in a Lotus Evora Bilstein shock body utilizing our proprietary custom valving and adjustable spring perches.
Tier 2 | Performance takes our Tier 1 shock and adds adjustable valving through an external adjustment knob.
The Details:
Our Tier 1 | Enhanced shocks begins with a set of original Evora dampers. The shock body gets disassembled, cleaned, inspected, and prepared. The damper is then rebuilt using an Öhlins internal piston, valve shimming, rod guides, and o-rings. The damper is then filled with Öhlins shock fluid and pressurized with the same nitrogen gas found in original Öhlins shocks. (About Öhlins)
Our Tier 2 | Performance shocks take the Tier 1 design and shortens the damper body (the overall length of the shock remains similar to the stock originals), and adds Öhlins adjustable shafts & adjustment knobs, end eyes, adjustment needles, and bump rubbers.
Both Tier 1 & 2 include adjustable lower spring perches that allow ride height adjustment without any shock or suspension disassembly. While these perches can be used to lower the car, the intended purpose is to corner balance the car for precise & predictable cornering near or at the limit.
Eibach is having difficulties meeting dealer demands and the specific springs we utilize may not be available. We may substitute Hyperco springs which, while less known in the consumer market, are equal in tolerance & performance and highly regarded in professional motorsports.
Both Tier 1 & 2 dampers include HethelSport spec’d Eibach or Hyperco springs. The old-school philosophy of super stiff springs and a focus on the primary oscillation dampening is antiquated. Modern, sophisticated race and performance street suspensions are based on a strategy of a softer rate spring (which provides more grip, sooner) with high-quality primary and secondary damping, and that is exactly how our suspension partner and test driver has designed our solutions. The results are an impressively confident & controlled street ride (exceptionally close to the factory comfort) with awesome control, predictability, and grip on any road race track surface.
Unlike other aftermarket Evora shocks, our dampers reuse the factory chassis spring retainer and upper shock mount. Other shock companies discard these and replace them with the generic, universal spring retainers they have habitually used for the past 40 years because that is what their parts bin is full of. The weakness with this approach is that both the dampening and spring loads are all concentrated on two pinpoint spot locations of each upper mounting bracket. Our dampers utilize the factory mounts and spread the weight of the car and all the suspension loading onto the factory mounting bracket exactly as Lotus engineers originally intended for the street cars.
New for Fall 2022, we are now refinishing all shock bodies with new durable paint and Bilstein decals—while the bodies are renewed, the assembly will look near new with brand new Eibach Springs.
Are Öhlins TTX shocks better than our HS Bilstein/Öhlins?
Read our F.A.Q. here to find out!
Tier 1 or Tier 2?
We believe Tier 1 is a fantastic upgrade to any Evora and for most people, it will be all they need. This solution provides vastly improved control, a comfortable ride, and is ready to go. For those that like to experiment, fine tune their suspension, or just want the added flexibility & fun of an adjustable damper, Tier 2 is the answer. Again, for most situations, we recommend Tier 1 as the best value while Tier 2 offers adjustability allowing the best track-specific performance.
Build & Tuning:
Our shocks are designed and rebuilt by a best-in-the-business suspension shop authorized & certified to sell and service Öhlins, Bilsteins, Penske, Koni, Moton, JRZ, Hyperco, Eibach, Hyperco, and more. HethelSport reached out to Öhlins headquarters in Sweden for a recommendation and the result confirmed that our suspension partner is one of the best in the country. We have been working with this partner since the beginning of 2017 and have the utmost trust and faith in their expertise and craftsmanship. This partner currently supports countless professional race teams, VSA racing Evoras, Singer Porsches, and high-performance restorers throughout America.
We have tuned these shocks with Tony Colicchio of TC Design. Tony is a championship race car builder & driver, winning his class at the prestigious 2017 25 Hours of Thunderhill and is the 2016 NASA Western States ST3 Champion. Tony has been a trusted friend of ours for nearly 20 years, working on both our Exige S and now, our Evora. If you need a competition car built or tuned, or a true racing coach, contact TC Design.
Exchange Basis:
Our shocks are sold on an exchange basis. In the rare case where original shocks are not available, we may be able to offer our shocks on an outright basis for an additional cost. This may also be extended to international shipments where the cost of returning cores is prohibitive. Please keep in mind that this is a rare exception as we need cores so we can continue building more shocks.
There are two ways to handle cores:
We can ship new in-stock sets to you after receiving your cores, or
- We can take a core-deposit, ship new shocks to you, and refund the deposit upon receiving your cores in acceptable condition.
- and there are two ways to get them:
In either case, your returned shocks must be in physically good condition, free of dents or visable damage, and in good working condition. Minor surface rust is fine. Shocks needing rebuild or worn valving is fine as well.
Sold in sets of four shocks + matching springs, and shipped directly from us in California.
