Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Upgrading to Empire Racing Front Suspension

The Empire kit is the single greatest upgrade you can make on the 3 wheeler. Why the factory hasn't figured this out yet----
With all the money we've sunk (?) into our 3Ws this fix is cheap and also (to me) the single most important thing I can think of to make the car safer. As Paul says the kit corrects the stuff that should have been corrected long ago at the factory. BTW I think the billet looks cool just as it is in bright alloy.

Having gone to the swiss grindelwald meet there were several standard cars, a couple with the official factory upgrade and 3-4 with the empire kit. Everyone there who had empire and everyone with it who I have met since think it is excellent and swear by it making me feel a bit tempted.

On the repeated mountain passes I could see the very slight camber on the empire cars in front which looked cool but I cant evaluate as im no expert. They seemed less work to drive on the demanding parts.

I also wonder if it would pay for itself in tyres?

I have the official factory upgrade which I like. I have no bump steer etc. I have heard the empire works with the official upgrade but does it substantially improve upon it Paul?
In my ignorance if this field I wonder about over-compensation.

The Empire upper wishbone corrects the faulty geometry that the factory, in their wisdom, decided to use. All cars these days, except Morgan, use unequal length upper and lower wishbones, Morgan decided that they know better, rather as they do with the sliding pillars on the 4 wheelers, and used equal length wishbones. The problem is that when the suspension goes up and down, the wheel does not stay in the same plane both from the front and the side - castor and camber. Bump steer was caused by the height of the track rods being wrong, although, I suspect they were correct in the pre-production cars, for some reason things changed when the started making the car. Hence the reason that something as simple as correcting the drooping tie rods can more or less, stop the wheels changing their toe setting every time the suspension changes.

The castor and camber change are much more subtle, but they do change, [one has only to jump up and down on the front chassis member to see this happening at first hand], and that is where the Empire upper wishbones will work, either with the current Morgan setup or the so called 'comfort' kit which they supply.

To sum up Charles, I would say that the Empire upper wishbones are not such a dramatic improvement right away, but work in a far more subtle way, and as Heinz says, it could be the most significant single upgrade that an owner could do, especially once the compensator and BB box are sorted. They also allow the front end geometry to be infinitely adjustable for castor and camber, should anyone like to play around. Although I only had just under 3000 miles on my car when I sold it, there was no discernible wear on the tyres, and nor should there be as they were running at their most efficient.

I am amazed but not surprised that no one from the factory has ever bothered to contact Bill at Empire and at least have a chat to him about it, although I rather suspect they will have driven an Empire equipped car by now. But then again, Morgan know everything and no-one else can tell them.

Paul in fairness to Morgan , my car which now has the latest chassis and uprights , is transformed , and I can't really fault the steering . As you know I was one of the most vocal critics of the original bumpsteer set up ! I really did feel it was dangerous at times . The so called comfort kit did make a huge difference but the 2014 chassis / uprights has made it as it should have been from day one . :santarudy:

Have they redesigned the offset in the new chassis? You know, when you take a line down the upright and it should bisect the centre of the tyre? On my 2013 it was well inside the tyre, which meant the steering was still a little 'fidgety', even with the kit.

Just back from zipping around on a few errands , had a look at the uprights and I don't think there's much difference in the angle , a line down them would still be inside the tyre . The steering is much lighter and I wouldn't call it fidgety at all , so somethings been done !

Sorry, just to clarify to a newcomer, it seems that the Empire Kit is most relevant to 2012-2013 M3W's.

To what extent is it relevant to 2014 and beyond?

Thanks.

Hi JamesB. The Empire kit transforms the ride of the car.

If in doubt have a word with Stuart at Krazy horse. It's the icing on the cake.
When I was there last month Stuart took me for a drive.
Down a country lane at full tilt and over cats eyes, there was no deviation at all. Oh, he took his hands of the wheel as well!!!

+1 !

But does it make a significant difference to the 2014's and beyond with their updated suspensions from the factory?

According to Peter Deron's "Morgan Three Wheeler" -- the 2014 has a version of the comfort update that's refined beyond the original update to the 2012-2013's. He wasn't specific about what those newer refinements were.

And maybe even further, do you need to be driving at 8/10ths to 9/10ths or more to get that advantage in the newer cars?

Some theoretical advantages may not have benefits large enough to make a practical difference.

Just asking. (May not be answerable.)

Thanks for the indulgence.