Nitron R3 Honest review?

[perfectgradeF82cs]

Does anyone here have experience with nitron 3 ways. Just ordered a set and I am curious how they compare to other high end brands such as MCS, JRZ, MOTON. The spring rates we chose were 800/400 true rear coilover setup for my f82 M4cs.

[m4shifter]

Any updates on your end? How does it compare to stock CS suspension?

[M3SQRD]

That is an extremely soft rear coilover spring rate. Wheel rates are around F 752 lbf/in and R 262 lbf/in. F/R ratio is 2.87. An MCS or Moton or Ohlins TTX setup with a F 800 lbf/in would have a R 700-741 lbf/in coilover spring rate or wheel rates of F 752 lbf/in and R 459-493 lbf/in. F/R ratio is 1.52-1.63 vs. your 2.87 - bias is way too much understeer. Stock spring rates are F 185 lbf/in and R 575 lbf/in rear divorced which are wheel rates of F 174 lbf/in and R 221 lbf/in. F/R ratio is 0.787. However, BMW uses the bump stops to limit travel so max rates are higher when bump stops are engaged. On my f82, I’m currently running MCS 2WR with F/R 700/1100 lbf/in (divorced rear) and am converting to F/R 1000/900 lbf/in (rear coilover). I also have MCS 2WR on my e92 M3 and f22 m240ix.

Nitron is a high-end motorsport damper that competes directly with MCS, Ohlins, Moton, Intrax and JRZ. Advantage of MCS, Moton and JRZ is the remote reservoir pressure can be varied (MCS is 100-275 psi) which is an additional setup variable. Only negative I’ve read (no personal experience) is Nitron has a higher failure rate. I do not know if this is true.

[michael1284]

I don't have the R3's but I've been running the Nitron R1's for about a year now and I absolutely love them. They transformed the car completely and I think it rides 100x better than stock. I did not want to go too crazy w/ the spring rates as I was DDing the car the time. I attached my build sheet. What I told them was I wanted something that will have fun carving the canyons with some track duty a few times a year. They set me up where I turn the dial 2 times for track all around and then 2 times back for my "normal" setup.

Highly recommend Nitrons.

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by michael1284

I don't have the R3's but I've been running the Nitron R1's for about a year now and I absolutely love them. They transformed the car completely and I think it rides 100x better than stock. I did not want to go too crazy w/ the spring rates as I was DDing the car the time. I attached my build sheet. What I told them was I wanted something that will have fun carving the canyons with some track duty a few times a year. They set me up where I turn the dial 2 times for track all around and then 2 times back for my "normal" setup.

Highly recommend Nitrons.

Is the rear a divorced spring or coilover spring? F/R 100/120 N/mm (571/685 lbf/in), if this is a rear divorced spring, then that’s an atypical spring setup for the f8x. The front motion ratio (MR) is ~0.97 and rear MR is ~0.62. Wheel rate is: WR = spring rate * MR^2 so your WRs are F/R 537/262 lbf/in. Ratio is 2.05 - biased with too much front rate = understeer/slow to change direction with steering input. As an example, the f82 GTS has F/R 400/700 lbf/in with a WR F/R ratio of 1.40 on BMW-tuned KW 3-way Clubsport dampers. Ratios >> 1.40 results in severe understeer. Even for a primarily driven street car, the rear rate is low. I’d recommend playing around with rear spring rates because there’s a lot more to extract from the car with little impact on road ride quality. On my wife’s m240ix, I have a set of MCS 2WR with F/R 500/800 lbf/in (divorced rear) + remote reservoir pressure of 100 psi and it’s one of the best street setups with excellent ride quality yet improved performance at the same time with just a few changes to R and C damper settings.

[michael1284]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

Is the rear a divorced spring or coilover spring? F/R 100/120 N/mm (571/685 lbf/in), if this is a rear divorced spring, then that’s an atypical spring setup for the f8x. The front motion ratio (MR) is ~0.97 and rear MR is ~0.62. Wheel rate is: WR = spring rate * MR^2 so your WRs are F/R 537/262 lbf/in. Ratio is 2.05 - biased with too much front rate = understeer/slow to change direction with steering input. As an example, the f82 GTS has F/R 400/700 lbf/in with a WR F/R ratio of 1.40 on BMW-tuned KW 3-way Clubsport dampers. Ratios >> 1.40 results in severe understeer. Even for a primarily driven street car, the rear rate is low. I’d recommend playing around with rear spring rates because there’s a lot more to extract from the car with little impact on road ride quality. On my wife’s m240ix, I have a set of MCS 2WR with F/R 500/800 lbf/in (divorced rear) + remote reservoir pressure of 100 psi and it’s one of the best street setups with excellent ride quality yet improved performance at the same time with just a few changes to R and C damper settings.

Thanks for all the technical explanations. Looks like I have some research to do...may have to see how a stiffer rear will impact the ride.

[michael1284]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

Is the rear a divorced spring or coilover spring? F/R 100/120 N/mm (571/685 lbf/in), if this is a rear divorced spring, then that’s an atypical spring setup for the f8x. The front motion ratio (MR) is ~0.97 and rear MR is ~0.62. Wheel rate is: WR = spring rate * MR^2 so your WRs are F/R 537/262 lbf/in. Ratio is 2.05 - biased with too much front rate = understeer/slow to change direction with steering input. As an example, the f82 GTS has F/R 400/700 lbf/in with a WR F/R ratio of 1.40 on BMW-tuned KW 3-way Clubsport dampers. Ratios >> 1.40 results in severe understeer. Even for a primarily driven street car, the rear rate is low. I’d recommend playing around with rear spring rates because there’s a lot more to extract from the car with little impact on road ride quality. On my wife’s m240ix, I have a set of MCS 2WR with F/R 500/800 lbf/in (divorced rear) + remote reservoir pressure of 100 psi and it’s one of the best street setups with excellent ride quality yet improved performance at the same time with just a few changes to R and C damper settings.

I think I'm going to try to move the 120 to my front and purchase a set of 160 for the rear.

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by michael1284

I think I'm going to try to move the 120 to my front and purchase a set of 160 for the rear.

The 120 N/mm (685 lbf/in) spring may be too long for the front strut. A 685 lbf/in spring is typically 6-7” long and likely will require a helper spring to keep the main spring seated at full droop. However, Nitron tends to use shorter front main springs and a large bump stop to control suspension travel. Rear springs in the 700-900 lbf/in (divorced rear spring) are typically 8-9” long and don’t usually require a helper spring. Once you know the length of your current front spring then you can figure out what appropriate spring length you’d need for a stiffer front spring. If the front uses a helper, or even a tender, spring you should be able to measure the length of the main spring at full droop travel (i.e., there’s no preload on the main spring).

A F/R 685/913 lbf/in will definitely improve the ability to rotate the car. I’ve tried 600/800, 600/900, 700/900, 700/1000 and 700/1100 on my MCS 2WR dampers. 600/900 and 700/1000 improved turn-in and balance midcorner compared to 700/900. A 600/900 lbf/in (or 110/160 N/mm = 628/913 lbf/in) will have improved balance over a 685/913 but if your car is primarily driven on the street the 685/913, or even 628/800 (better street ride quality), would work well on the street and still perform well on track.

[perfectgradeF82cs]

The car previously had a set of KW V3 coil-overs; the difference is night and day. Additionally, I have converted all the suspension arms over to SPL parts. Between the revised suspension geometry and Nitron system, the car has been completely transformed. I can now feel each wheel independently maintain traction over uneven road surfaces. The way the car settles after hitting a bump is completely different than the KW system I previously had. Rather than bouncing multiple times causing the vehicle to be unstable, the nitrons simply absorb the bump settling the car instantaneously. It was a bizarre feeling as I went from clenching my teeth while going over potholes to being pleasantly surprised by the compliant nature of the vehicle. The car has almost no body roll and handles like a full-on-track car that's surprisingly pleasant to drive on the street. In terms of spring rates, I have not noticed any significant understeer. This could be the result of implementing the full suite of SPL arms coupled with the aggressive track alignment.

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by perfectgradeF82cs

The car previously had a set of KW V3 coil-overs; the difference is night and day. Additionally, I have converted all the suspension arms over to SPL parts. Between the revised suspension geometry and Nitron system, the car has been completely transformed. I can now feel each wheel independently maintain traction over uneven road surfaces. The way the car settles after hitting a bump is completely different than the KW system I previously had. Rather than bouncing multiple times causing the vehicle to be unstable, the nitrons simply absorb the bump settling the car instantaneously. It was a bizarre feeling as I went from clenching my teeth while going over potholes to being pleasantly surprised by the compliant nature of the vehicle. The car has almost no body roll and handles like a full-on-track car that's surprisingly pleasant to drive on the street. In terms of spring rates, I have not noticed any significant understeer. This could be the result of implementing the full suite of SPL arms coupled with the aggressive track alignment.

Steady-state handling (i.e., zero damper piston velocity) has nothing to do with the dampers. Look in the track forum for rates used by people that frequent the track regularly or have turned their cars into dedicated track cars and you’ll not find one setup, regardless of damper manufacturer, even remotely close to your setup. You’ll definitely feel the understeer if you’re driving at the limit on a track. The KW V3 is at best a mid-performing street-only twin-tube damper that is popular with the stance crowd. What you’re feeling, actually not feeling, with the Nitron’s is their high-speed blow-off valve with absorbs compressive impacts. The R and C damping ranges probably have a much wider operating range plus you have independent control of LSC, HSC, and rebound. Ride quality will be superior to a V3 by just having control of LSC + superior HS-blow-off valve. It also sounds like you have your dampers setup with damping rates closer to critically damped. I haven’t seen any V3 damping curves but with the lower spring rates it should be able to get close to being critically damped. Furthermore, the V3 has a higher rebound bias (at the same piston velocity, R damping force >> C damping force) which makes it more difficult to find a good R and C settings without making the car overly bouncy even at high damping settings. Until you experience a high-end damper, you don’t realize how far superior they are to common performance street dampers. When I first used a set of Motons back in 2004 on my e46 M3, I was sold on high-end motorsport dampers with remote reservoirs!