Re: Suspension questions (Thanks)

[trnsfrma@ix.netcom.com (Shawn C. Meze)]

At 10:21 AM 4/23/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Thanks very much for the public, and private, replys to my questions.  I only
>have a limited amount of time and money to try things out on my car so I
>really need to rely on the greater expertise of you guys to help me get
>maximum performance.  


Thats why were here. Were in the same boat, so to speak...



>My alignment setting are at stock, and were done last year.  Perhaps I
>should dial in more negative camber as suggested? (Thanks Jim)
>What would this do for tire wear on fairly sporty rubber?  Is this something
>I could do myself?  (I realize the last question has probably been answered
>before...)


If you've got a stock allighment, you will really want to change it to something 
like -1 to -1.5 camber and 1/16" to 1/8" toe OUT. This will give you much more 
rubber down in the outside wheel in any turn. More rubber, more contact patch 
lalala more traction, ect. 
I've another question for you. (I'll ask this question, in a form of a 
-->question.) 
What is the tread wear of your tires?

This allignment setup will tend to wear the inside of the tire more since its 
whats maintly on the road while your doing straight line driving. I have -2 
camber ans about 1/16" toe out and have some slight inside wear. I also have 
some hard as a rock street tires too, 400 treadwear! They were chosen mainly due 
to their relatively cheap cost and later, I discovered they dont wear as fast as 
anything else ive had. Since I dont really get into buying a set of $160 a tire 
every year, this was most economical for me. So, the softer the tire, the 
quicker it will wear. 

Also, this setup will feel really different as far as road feel. The car will 
tend to wander a little. AKA "Nibbling". On uneven or on crowned roads, the car 
will tend to dart to the left and right. Its nothing bad in my book, its a 
definate sign of the road conditions. Bottom line, its an additional feel to the 
steering wheel. Its not like your gonna be fighting the wheel or anything, you 
jut feel little tugs on the wheel from time to time. I didnt like it at first, 
it annoyed me. Then when I realized what the wheel was telling me, it was 
another one of those bonuses to having a fun car! 

Dan Drove my car, maybe he has some insight to this feeling comming from a guy 
with a completely stock 16V. (With new CV boots and front struts!) 


>Andre mentioned that I could adjust the tire pressures to reduce potential
>oversteer.  Currently I'm running about 42lbs all around, max pressure 45lbs
>on my tires.  Any suggestions here?


You might want to try using white shoe polish and mark the upper outer edge of 
the tire. Drive the car and see where the markings get removed. If the sidewall 
marks are gone, you will want to add more pressure. The whole idea of using alot 
of pressure is to keep the sidewalls as rigid as possible so your driving on the 
tread of the tire. 
The rear pressures will probably be lower, depending on what the rear is doing. 

Tire pressures from the front to rear are 2 differernt worlds. The front sweet 
spot in pressure might be something like 42lbs. That may (Im being theoretical 
here) prime for your car. If you go up a pound in pressure, you might make it 
push out badly, too high of a pressure. If you drop one pound less, the tire 
will roll over, losing the grip it needs. You might find that there is a 3-4 lb 
zone that your car will work the best in. 

Now the rear pressures are kinda the same, but you use these pressures to make 
the rear end loose or tighter. Again, from your ideal pressure, lets say 42, you 
can make the car tighter and looser with adding or subtracting pressure. Adding 
rear pressure will usually make the car loose, subtracting it will make it 
tight. 


>As far as my driving style goes, well I could be better, but who couldn't? :-)
>Mannix and Shawn had some great suggestions here and I'll try and put them
>to good use as soon as possible.  Those were some very helpful pointers. 
>I'll keep you up to date if things start to work better.  
>What's this about stock upside down bars again?


Mannix and I are not great drivers (Well, maybe I should speak for myself, ive 
seen him drive....) We are, however much better drivers since we've gotten into 
the autox scene. I've been to a couple schools and feel very confident in my 
car. Just to give you an examply, my first year of racing I finished on average, 
12 full seconds behing the current DSP Champions GTi. (Randy Walters) Now, im 
within a second of his time. Some of that time gained has been the addition of 
gofast parts ect. But like Mannix says, its driver, driver, driver!   


>Because the Eurosport bar is so inexpensive, and no-one mentioned that it'll
>HURT, I'll add that to my setup as soon as I can.  Again, I'll let you know
>if things start to work better.


No, like I said, itsa cheap add-on and it will stiffen up the rear a little. Its 
not something terribly noticable. But it is an improvement.


>Ah, Shawn, how'd you know that I was coveting the Velocity diff kit...<drool>
>When I get it, I'll talk to you more, I'll need a little hand holding to do
>it myself.  Hey, I've done clutches, so I know which end of a wrench to use. 
:-)

Installing the kit is pretty easy. Remember what i said, once you put it in, you 
will have to relearn to drive the car. It takes a while to figure out how to use 
the kit to its fullest. Its a tool. I've had mine in for about 3 months and am 
just now getting to hang of it in the corners. I've been doing alot of road 
testing with it, trying different approaches and have pretty much gotten it 
down. Using it on the autox course will be completely different tho! 



>So, the bottom line is that I feel pretty good about my suspension set up, I
>guess that I failed to mention that I have the car lowered with Hor springs and
>Boge ProGas shocks.  After adding the Eurosport rear upper tie-bar, what's 
next?


For the ulitmate cornering setup, you'll want a much stiffer spring and some 
kind of adjustable shock. (I just saw a set of Koni adjustables for sale on the 
NG) I was amazed when I went from my Neuspeed Sport Lowering springs with stock 
KYB's to my Neuspeed Race Springs and Koni Adjustable. Again, it was night and 
day!
 

>MORE POWER! <Grunt>
>
>That costs real money, so I'll probably go after the diff kit first. What'd ya
>all think?

Well, I wouldnt be in any kind of hurry. Get it in time, get your driving skills 
honed a bit more first, that will show the greatest improvement. Be smooth, be 
fast. That kind of thing. 

>Again, thanks for all your help and suggestions.
>
>Laytron!


Glad to help. Its all part of that driving pleasure I know I get everytime I get 
behind the wheel of my car. Something else I'd like to add, I "practice" driving 
every time I drive. Apexes, rolling in and out of turns ect. Its something you 
can do everyday and never get a ticket for. You need not drive fast to hone your 
driving skills. Just thought I might get that out so nobody thinks in racing all 
over San Diego streets "testing".....
HTH!


Shawn
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