Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) Plus Fours suspension

Greetings all, I’ve seen a few posts and had some questions from forum members about the upgrade. I shared over on the car club forum and will paste here as well should you be interested in my reflections. My car is a late 22 Plus Four.

I’ll copy and paste some of my reflections from various instagram posts on the new suspension since I got mine.

“First impressions of the new @nitron_suspension on the Plus Four is that it is an essential upgrade for existing Plus Fours and required option if speccing new.

I never minded the old set up and often really liked it, but there was a certain wallow and lack of predictability to it, particularly over the ruts and bumps which make up a large portion British roads.

I’ve not had a real chance to push or play with the new set up as it was bucketing rain the whole 180 miles back from the factory, but over familiar roads around the house, the ones that always make me cringe a bit as I shudder over them, the car felt so planted, composed, and put together. The CX platform is vastly impressive and I suspect it was somewhat underserved by the old set up. No longer.

There is some lovely calibrated body roll in the corners that feels predictable, and measured. Very excited to lean into it a bit more soon.

There is also a tautness without a tightness. They really deliver a more sporting and purposeful feel without any of the harshness one might worry about with a more driver focused set up.

There is also room to calibrate them further, but I think I’ll hold off on that till I’ve got a better sense of how they run up here along the b roads.

Like I mentioned at the top, the difference is significant. I don’t know what the standard set up on the Six I’ve had is, but going from that into the newly set up Four, the Four felt more driver focused. Six is still wildly powerful and planted, but there seems to be an intentionality to the new set up on the Four that just makes it feel more like decisions are being made about how the car will feel as opposed to inherited by the components on hand.

Obviously more to come though as I spend more time with it on some of my familiar and favourite drives up here.”


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“ Plus Six vs. Plus Four reflection:

Their are, I’m sure, applications where the Six would be the more desirable car, but I think at the present moment (apply all caveats and in my humble opinions here) the Four is the better drivers car.

The Six impresses with sound and fury. It has a striking and assertive presence. It is a muscle car in fancy British dress.

But the Four has more to offer, more to play with, more to engage you in its drive. The smaller engine means more engine engagement more of the time. The smaller wheels and bigger sidewall mean more play on the road The smaller footprint means there’s more road with which to play. The Four, I think, accomplishes more of what it means to be a Morgan. More of what it means to be a sports car.

Driving the Four today with a little more push I found myself literally saying, “Wow” a number of times. No, it’s not the rocket that the Six is, but then if you want a rocket there are any number of EV’s out there that will launch you at literal rocket speeds. In my view cars are for driving, and right now the Four is the drivers’ car.

Again, that’s not to say there are not applications for the Six, but I’m just not convinced it’s the drivers car that the Four is.

Of course a notable caveat here is that my Four now has the factory installed @nitron_suspension upgrade. Which shouldn’t really be an option for anyone now getting a Morgan. The more time I’ve spent with the new set up the more convinced I am that it should simply be standard. It really needs to be considered an essential upgrade. Excluding the new suspension set up it’s a toss up between the Four and Six I think. But going forward there really shouldn’t be any Fours being specced without this ‘option’.

All that said, mine is not the final word and @morganmotor is always working on the next iteration and development. I suppose at a basic level, whatever Morgan you have or are considering, it should be a comfort and encouragement to all of us that the company is moving convincingly in the right direction. This new suspension upgrade on the Four is a testament to that drive and I for one cannot wait to see what they come out with next!”

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“ Further suspension reflections.

Was driving home in the dark from a meeting earlier this week and the roads were empty. It was a lovely drive but I wasn’t pushing it by any stretch.

When you know a car and know a road you have a feel for how the two interact and are usually pretty familiar with what a given speed feels like. I was watching the road and not my speed but was fairly confident based on experience and feel in the car that I was right around or even a bit below the 60mph limit. Well, my eyes happened to slip down at my speedometer and, I’ll be honest, I had to really hit the brakes.

The way the new @nitron_suspension affects the car is staggering. The confidence, body solidity, wheel rebound, and as a result road holding and overall driving feel are so improved I’m going to have to relearn what the cars normal now is.

I kid you not here, as I finished the drive my first thought was something was wrong. I convinced myself that the speedometer must be off as there was no way the new suspension set up could make this much of a difference. I watched my speed the whole way home and genuinely wondered if the car would have to go back to Morgan to have the speedo recalibrated. In the dark without the exterior context cues you’ve got a much clearer sense of the sound and feel of the car for speed.

I drove at the limit or below the rest of the way home and I just couldn’t shake how relaxed and effortless the drive was compared to the shudder and wallow before. With the new dampeners and setup, it’s so seismically improved it really does deliver speed like a different car. A much better car. The car I suspect @morganmotor wants to be making and is making for those specifying this option (which really should not be an option).

I’ve seen a few responses in forums and in comments from people who don’t think the upgrade is necessary. Completely their right to think so, but I suspect they don’t know what they are missing. A car is attached to the ground at four points. Those wheels are attached to the car through the suspension. The suspension that is coming standard was, I am convinced, not designed for or by Morgan. The new one is.”

Thank you 👍

I have mine booked-in for the Nitron suspension upgrade. The additional power from the tune really highlights the handling as a limitation so I’m hoping this will sort it. Brakes next :-)

Dave I would love to get feedback on how it goes. I planned to upgrade after the ecu upgrade as I felt the wrp4 showed the need.

Making a Malvern mini-break of it from 3-5 Nov with the Memsahib and the hound. Doing a Factory Tour courtesy of Krazy Horse while we are there as well. Will certainly report back.

Thanks for the info Spencer.
Now we know what to do again.

Stefan

Just got back from a nice couple of days in Malvern. We did a factory tour, ate far too much in the cafe and spent far too much in the shop LOL!!



We drove up from Exeter entirely on A and B-roads, so the occasional bone-shaker experience on some surfaces was fresh in my mind when I picked the car up with the Nitron suspension newly fitted the next day. The difference was immediately obvious even on the 5 minute pootle from Pickersleigh Road back to our hotel in the town to collect our luggage. The drive home was a revelation … finally the car behaves as it really should with the modern bonded aluminium chassis. Highly recommended. It is exactly as @DalesPlusFour described in detail above.

I find it a bit perturbing that the high price of new CX Mogs still need 'upgrading' with better handling packs

Granted it was a bit of a must do with Trads, but CX's, really !

Unfortunately, I was refused an offer for the Nitron upgrade by my German dealer

Clemens, try SSL https://www.suspensionsupplies.co.uk/morgan