Finally I've got some control back

[z_chromozone]

Phew, after swopping the jelly like Goodyear F1's to the front and having the Bridgestones on the rear the car feels great again. In fact the softer side walled F1's appear to be just the ticket to reduce some of the excessive vibration / feedback from the front wheels. The stiffer rears have eliminated the flat tyre feeling and my turn in etc now feels much more under control. :) For me this set up feels ideal, but what happens after the Bridgestone tyres ware out is anyones guess. :(

I also managed to grease the prop with my grease gun after taking the exhaust off and get the underside painted again.

If I get time in the next few weeks I will have a go at fabricating the aluminium outrigger protectors I have been planning.

Z

[HarryW]

I know PeterH recommended doing it a little while ago but I haven't got around to it yet myself. Seeing you have though makes the decision easier, will do it this week.
How are you finding the front end now, does it make the nose feel like you've reduced the spring rate, perhaps more roll on the front end in corners as the side walls flex.

Harry

[z_chromozone]

HarryW said:

I know PeterH recommended doing it a little while ago but I haven't got around to it yet myself. Seeing you have though makes the decision easier, will do it this week. How are you finding the front end now, does it make the nose feel like you've reduced the spring rate, perhaps more roll on the front end in corners as the side walls flex. Harry

Hi Harry,

To be honest the front feels fine. In the end I pumped the F1’s up to 28 psi, so that may have helped a little. Although no changes in pressure fixed the back. The handling appears to be 100% improved compared to the other way around. The fact that I have changed both at the same time makes it tricky to apportion what aspects of the car are due to either set of tyres.

What I will say is that the Bridgestone tyres were particularly hard and every bump / camber change was felt through the steering. Along poorly finished Bedfordshire back roads it was terrible and a tight grip on the wheel was needed to stop the car jarring it out of my hands. With the floppy back end I had my teeth gritted just to drive at moderate speeds.

I only swapped them around on Sunday and I did 20 or so miles back from the ramp I was borrowing. I will that the smile returned to my face on the drive home The front end appears to have slightly more give turning into corners, but I would also say that the front end now appears to grip the road far better than before (probably as a result of reduced shaking). On the Milton Keynes roundabouts turn in appeared to give slightly more roll in the tyre walls, but not in the car (if you understand what I mean). This equates to a miniscule delay before the car changes aspect compared to the Bridgestone. Everyone who has driven the car always commented on the go cart feel, so I feel this is a small price to pay in the reduction of the choppy steering.

Obviously the backend is back to its good old self and my confidence has been restored.


If after a few more miles I find I have been talking utter crap and the placebo effect has worn off I promise to let you all know. Until then I will be mostly driving

Z

[TimW]

Well got around to swapping the F1's to the front and SO3's to the rear. Took it for a quick spin as it was getting dark, big improvement already . Maybe a little less responsive to the steering input front end wise, but OK.
Am off for a blat to Goodwood tomorrow so will see if its better over a variety of roads, hope I don't end up in a hedge backwards . Then will put a couple more clicks on the front dampers for the return journey to see the difference, I suspect this will re-tighten it up again.


Harry

[HarryW]

You may have noted that last post was mine not Tim's , bloody cookies again, logged in as me, posted as Tim .

Harry

[HarryW]

OK then had some good blatting at the weekend, even if it was a bit damp, I can confirm that stiff walled tyres on the front and soft walled ones on the rear is a disaster .
The F1's are fine on the front, if a lttle soft when pushing on. I would also assume that F1's all round are probably OK too.
Moral if you have SO3's on all round and you need to change a set, put the new softer ones on the front .

I wonder if this is one of the reasons why SO3's got a bad press when they first came out, with people putting them on the front and having softer ones still on the rear, giving the feeling of rear wheel steer/tramlining .

Harry

[spivvy]

do you think this would apply to So2's which i have on the front and F1's on the back ?

[HarryW]

Not sure about SO2's tbh, however they are softer side walled than the SO3's so you may not notice that much difference.
If you have the time and inclination I would at least try it though, no harm in it.

H