Talk Morgan Forums Thread Like Summary - Plus Fours suspension

May have been asked before, but has anyone got information on a suspension upgrade for the Plus Four? I note Lebrands do coilover shocks for the Plus Six. I find the suspension of my Plus Four bouncy (as it is light) and it crashes a bit over potholes & bumps. I suppose any upgrade would invalidate the warranty.

Does anyone else think this when they see the topic title or do I need therapy?

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.

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.”


…

“ 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!”

…



“ 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.”

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 !

I collected the PlusFour with the Nitron upgrade (and the Pinnacle Fuel filler cap) last week. First drive home was mainly over the motorway and some B roads.Yesterday I took her for a spin through the Limburg hills, and yes, I can say something about the effect. Leaving the dealer I instantly noticed a different steering feel. Hard to describe, feels as more direct, but that's literal not possible. So we call it more precise, has something to do with the different setup. On the Motorway the Morgan was more calm, better damped after humps. On the little roads, and I did experience that yesterday when I had even some hairpins on my way, the Morgan feels much better planted, more precise handling and a more balanced, better damped body. I didn't hit any sleeping policeman underway, which was always a challenge before. So, with this relatively short period of experience, I feel very pleased with this new set-up. is it worth the price? That's for anyone to decide. The Morgan certainly wasn't bad before, imagine I came from a 1990 4/4! (which I still have and I can tell the difference, 4/4 with Koni's all-around!). I feel very lucky with it. The bonus is the Pinnacle cap too, which is a piece of art and so easy to use! Should be standard!

Thanks Jon... that is helpful information 👍

I have a 2024 Plus Six and have had the SSL suspension upgrade fitted and it still transforms the car.

Ruut, looks fabulous! I am very curious how the suspension upgrade works out for you. The le mans style petrol fuel cap looks great.
Cheers,
Bert

I'm pleased for you Ruut that you are happy with the Nitron update. I'm still thinking about taking the same step. However, my dealer has turned me down for this update.
I'm really looking forward to the test drive with your PlusFour in June. If it's positive, I'll find a solution.

Thanks for the great photos👍😎

The stabilizer bar is left out in the regular Nitron upgrade, with nevertheless a huge improvement. Indeed, if you should do that the prize becomes enormous. The dampers, settings etc represent already enough money with min 10 hours labor alone for that!

I have 26000 km on my plus four . I find the suspension very confortable and enough for a normal driving style . I have to be carefull when passing over a speed bump. I have made a drifting course with an racing pilot as instructor . He doesnt complained about the suspension. I dont think that adding more options will increase the value of the car to be sold or not . The regular customer doesnt look at that.
I had avo rutherford and a sport exhaust on my 4/4 sport . She was sold the same price as without but the cost of the sport exhaust was 2500 euros .A plus four from 2020 could be sold 85000 , 90000 euros in Belgium , a new plus four is 120000 euros . For the price difference you could tune as you like a 2020 plus four and it will be less expensive than buying a new one.

I'm more worried that MMC think poor tolerances leading to slop can be fixed packing the gap with grease

I thought it was the actual splines mismatched in fitting tolerance ? Hence the bung the gap with grease temporary cure ?

If it's just the bolt holes oversized then they can be bored and sleeved quite easily by a proper engineering co

Anyone got a pic of the adaptor plate / drive thingy

Any competent engineer will tell you grease is not a substitute for poor tolerances. If, as you all seem to be saying this is a recurring issue may I suggest a strong letter to the factory signed by all affected. It is not reasonable to have purchased a product not fit for purpose.
I have a 1990 +4/4 with wire wheels and have never had issues, I also have a 2021 plus four, with alloys.

I read your posts with interest, John.

I have experienced this issue from very early on in the ownership of my 2022 P4. Although the issues related to clonking in my case relate to the splined output shafts and wheel hubs (or so I was told), I am suspicious now, having read your detailed post, that there is much more going on.

Having undertaken research into the right grease (high temperature molybdenum infused grease) for the splined shaft/hub, which certainly seems to have quietened down the immediate clonking, there is no doubt that accelerating and decelerating at modest urban driving speeds, the drive and transmission are best described as 'jerky'. It is far from smooth and requires gentle throttle application to avoid excessive jerkiness and an in cabin audible clonk.

My big question related to all this though is why this isn't being picked up when the cars are serviced? I have mentioned it every time my car has gone in and been informed it was down to the splines of the wire wheels / shafts. I suspect now that this isn't the real root cause, a contributory factor yes, but the whole story, no.

Finally, and back to the original question raised in this post. I have experienced a seriously bad squeaking noise from the suspension struts. This has manifested since having Nitron's fitted, which hugely improve handling and ride quality. My suspicion was that the bearing surfaces between the bolts and suspension bushes were running dry. This has now been confirmed and is being widely reported by cars with Nitron retrofit. It seems that the bolts and bushes require re-greasing when the car is serviced. Just something to bear in mind if considering Nitron's. Inconvenient yes, but still worth it.

Matt went over the splines carefully with his fingers, he could see no wear, or slant or edge to the splines indicating wear, The reason I took it to Mat is he deals with these things on a daily basis. He did note that with the taper on the spline, the wheels need to be pushed on quite tight or you would feel some movement.