Europe’s leading GT-R tuner, Litchfield, has launched a stunning new suspension enhancement kit that it has developed exclusively with Bilstein and Eibach. In an industry first, the British tuner has worked extensively with the technical teams of both suspension giants to create a truly world-class upgrade.
The new kit has been designed to be fully compatible with all versions of Nissan’s latest ‘Godzilla’ and is a true ‘plug and play’ fitment, integrating with all factory electronics. As you would expect from this talented trio, handling ability has been taken up several notches, but without sacrificing ride comfort. In fact, thanks to the vastly superior internals of the damper unit, ride quality is significantly improved, particularly on cars still wearing ‘Run Flat’ tyres.
Offering enhanced body control, allied to an impressively aggressive stance and rake change, the Litchfield kit, once correctly fitted and aligned, will massively reduce the car’s natural propensity to understeer, whilst simultaneously transforming steering feel and accuracy. The lower stance and superior surface damping not only appeal visually and dynamically, but also offer increased high-speed stability on both road and track.
The kit is a true technical tour de force, thanks to Litchfield unparalleled access to both Eibach and Bilstein’s OEM development teams. The damper units are produced to OEM standard, but feature a unique custom shim stack and revised piston design, developed in conjunction with Litchfield’s engineers. This offers the driver significant improvements over the factory dampers, with low speed ride comfort being utterly transformed with much more compliance. As one would expect from Nissan’s original supplier, the dampers retain all Comfort, Normal and Race modes.
The springs have been through the same extensive development process, with the R&D being undertaken by the same design team that is responsible for Eibach’s F1 and WRC programmes. The front springs have been developed from a specification derived from the German firm’s multiple title-winning NASCAR range, whereas the rears have been wound in Eibach’s Special Projects division as a bespoke item.
The damper bodies have been finished at Bilstein’s Ennepetal factory in a hard wearing silver powder coat finish and the Eibach springs have been pre-stressed, shot peened and then electrostatically powder-coated in the motorsport ‘Himmelblau’ hue.
Rear Anti Roll Bar
Although the new spring and damper kit can be fitted in isolation, owners looking for the ultimate GT-R package will also opt for Litchfield’s custom rear anti-roll bar set up. Once again, this has been produced exclusively for Litchfield, by Eibach, and benefits from extensive testing in all manner of road and track conditions. The bar features innovative new geometry developed by Litchfield’s engineers and is fully adjustable with 5 individual settings to allow owners to set the car up to suit prevailing weather or track conditions – or indeed, personal preference.
The thicker rear bar reduces body roll through increased design stiffness over the OEM part. Developed on Eibach’s motorsport production line, they are manufactured from cold-formed, high-strength aircraft-grade steel for precision performance, and finished with the long lasting ‘Himmelblau’ powder coat finish to match the springs. The anti-roll bar comes complete with all new bushes to further improve response and precision.
The Litchfield Kit has taken over 12 months of development, including comprehensive back to back testing of every model year of GTR as well as comparisons against the leading aftermarket solutions. This ensures all the GTR’s suspension control systems work perfectly and the long term reliability is as good as the original dampers. The kit benefits from a comprehensive 2 year warranty on all components.
The Litchfield GT-R kit offers a more ‘analogue’ link between the steering and the driver, increasing driver confidence, increasing turn-in, reducing understeer and creating a more stable high-speed chassis, particularly over undulating surfaces. Add in the ability to tailor the car to suit driver tastes and makes a compelling package at a very reasonable £2,995 + VAT.
No GTR is complete without it. Please contact www.litchfieldimports.co.uk or call 01684 850999 for more details.