Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) Plus 6 SSL Suspension upgrade

Bit unclear if you have had the upgrade or not?

On the question of damper settings we just left ours on the setting Dan of SSL had specified - basically on the mid range and the ride is fine.

As to my driving style I guess I would agree that I'm more like James May than James Bond BUT the fear that the back of the car is not going to follow the front when cornering has been replaced by confidence.

As to the cost of GBP 1500 the coil over dampers are not some bit the will fit 20,000 odd cars but a bespoke product specially designed for round 400 Plus Six Morgans. And in the case of our NZ cars fitted with adjustable spring platforms so our ride height can always be maintained at the specified height.

The biggest resulting cost has been on my dentist - my smile, when driving the Plus Six, has become so wide that my wife insisted on my replacing two missing teeth!!

Hi Kerry, I thought the ride height was fixed?

No - sorry still on standard suspension.

Hi Mike
What we did was to get Peter and Dan at SSL to produce Coil over damper units with adjustable spring platforms. In that way we can easily adjust the ride height to the factory standard of 135mm under the front jack platform and 155mm under the rear. All we have to do is loosen a lock screw, put a "C" spanner on and up we go!

However you may need to check and see if such adjustment is legal in the UK and EU. We had to get approval in NZ. Certainly keeps the car at the legal road clearance, plus it keeps the toe-in at the right setting.

Agree with your other comments except the one re not having anything to compare it with. It overlooks the 20 year Aero history ? IMHO a very parallel experience.

The Aero was also a bonded tub with a modern suspension package. It also suffered a bit from war of the ends. I don't find the S2 a problem but then I don't track it or drive like my bottom is on fire! Having had a few serious cars in the past it I would agree it is not ideal and the front to rear balance lacks a bit.

Given they had the same fault with the Aero I was surprised the Plus models had a similar imbalance never mind the missing millimetres issue. Still every new model is a learning moment, having said that it should not be the customer that does the learning.

SSL did a package for the Aero as a few of the regulars on here can attest to, it worked well. So the issue is well known even on a bonded Ally car. I remain surprised that the issue was not picked up given the Aero learning.

http://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/763788/for-sale-aero-series-5#Post763788

Ditto the brakes, the setup in the Aero was excellent and I have never had anything but praise for the AP equipped models. The S1 could be pushed to fade, certainly on a track but the upgrades in following models were brilliant. If anything you had to give them a good blast pre MoT to clean them off if you had only been rumbling along on public roads for a while. (we will not mention the comical handbrake)

I admire you guys for going as a group with the SSL kit, make that decision and go.

I'm one of the people that had SSL upgrades coil over units for both front and rear units on the 2014 S4 Aero based Plus 8 car I own. Some of the background to this is interesting:I understand that when the Plus 8 was introduced SSL proposed settings for the suspension that was the same as their later developed "kit". A car was built with the SSL recommended springs and suspension units but Morgan engineers rejected it on two main grounds.

First, cost: no surprise as adjustable dual chamber dampers cost more than the ones used by MMC.
Second: the car no longer felt like a Morgan! It seems that MMC chassis engineers want the Aero cars to feel like an evolved Trad, and not like a modern car. So the front and the back are set up to be a bit "disconnected". I've no proof of this, but empirical evidence suggests it could be true. This approach continued on to the introduction of the Aero S5 and the CX cars.

After long discussion with Peter Ballard I asked if SSL could set the car up the way that they originally proposed. The spring rates are what they originally proposed but the damper units are adjustable but not in every way as originally proposed. I've driven about 12,000 miles on the new setup and it is good, the car behaves as a unit, not two ends that want to go their own way.


The brakes. Thg AP Racing 6 piston calipers and matching discs are the best car brakes I've ever experienced. Very little free pedal travel, progressive but ultimately powerful and with a lot of feel/feedback. The level of servo assistance is about perfect. I've tracked the car at Castle Combe. I'm no track day hero and essently "slow and steady", on corners brake in and power out. But amongst hard driven trads I was a lot quicker than I expected because I could apply the brake later and more aggressively without any risk of locking a wheel. The grunt from the 4.8L BMW motor helped a bit getting out of corners, but it isn't a snappy response, especially below 4000 rpm!

So in my view the decision to switch to AP Racing (Brembo) brakes for the 2023 CX series takes them to where they should have been when the cars were introduced. I drove the Plus 6 and Plus 4 when introduced and was highly critical of the brakes, both pedal travel and initial bite.

The Aero Handbrake works on a seperate mechanical caliper on each disc, it is virtually useless and will produce an MOT fail if not prepared for the test. Preparation is to drive the last 10 miles to the MOT place with the handbrake brushing the disc, getting it all good and hot. I've had advisories, but no failure.

Yes I'm sure that the experience with the Aero was part of the development of the CX chassis and in particular the Plus Six.

With regard to the adjustable spring platforms that SSL put on our Coil over Damper units for the Plus Six I see on the Classic Morgan thread on the SSL up-grading the 3.7 Roadster suspension that adjustable spring platforms were used so nothing new.

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Kerry