Dropped Joints

These dropped joints are a great way to both lower the front of your Lotus by 1 inch and improve the handling. 

Simply using a lowering shock to lower the car will increase the distance between the center of mass and the roll center despite the center of mass being lowered in the process of lowering the car. As the distance between the Center of Mass and the Roll Center increase, the resistance to chassis roll is reduced. This can be somewhat counteracted with stiffer springs or bar, but at the expense of a harsher ride and potentially less grip! Consequently, an increase in corner speed may  not be realized!

In an S2 Lotus,  it doesn't take much if any chassis lowering for the resulting roll center to be below the pavement. In road racing, we never want the roll center to be lower than the pavement.

A lowering front upright can help reduce the distance between the center of mass and the roll center. A cheaper and similarly effective alternative is to use a dropped lower ball joint like we have here. This is a race quality part and completely serviceable with replaceable boots and grease zerk. 

This is for a pair of dropped joints and currently only available for the front.

Below is a cartoon to help illustrate what happens to a Lotus 111 chassis when it is lowered with shocks only. The roll center quickly drops below the road surface.