a little help with setup....please.....
Discussion
Looking for some advise here chaps.......time for setting up my trackcar......
Its a 97 corsa. Fully stripped out, 8 point weld in cage....rear strut brace.
Now, its got Decent adjustible shocks all round, and is using 15inch compomotive wheels, wrapped in avon's.
Problem is, the front end is WAY to heavy. its a c20xe"redtop" with a f16 box.
Im in the middle or re-locating the battery to the boot. main problem is huge lift off oversteer and the rears locking under moderate braking. Ive played about with tyre pressures to no avial, and dont have corner scales to hand.
To go further into it, There's no anti-roll bars fitted. due to there being a ruddy great big sump in the way. rear beam is standard and am using drums at the rear. and 256MM alcon disks and mintex pads up front, cav GSI calipers, but std master cyl.
So, what can i do ???? i had thought about lead in the boot. but that defeats the idea of having stripped it out !
lower the rear end a little ???
im open to ideas.......its a very quick car, but its handling lets it down !
Its a 97 corsa. Fully stripped out, 8 point weld in cage....rear strut brace.
Now, its got Decent adjustible shocks all round, and is using 15inch compomotive wheels, wrapped in avon's.
Problem is, the front end is WAY to heavy. its a c20xe"redtop" with a f16 box.
Im in the middle or re-locating the battery to the boot. main problem is huge lift off oversteer and the rears locking under moderate braking. Ive played about with tyre pressures to no avial, and dont have corner scales to hand.
To go further into it, There's no anti-roll bars fitted. due to there being a ruddy great big sump in the way. rear beam is standard and am using drums at the rear. and 256MM alcon disks and mintex pads up front, cav GSI calipers, but std master cyl.
So, what can i do ???? i had thought about lead in the boot. but that defeats the idea of having stripped it out !
lower the rear end a little ???
im open to ideas.......its a very quick car, but its handling lets it down !
Hi, I'm no expert but I have some experience of setting up cars.
It sounds to me that by removing the trim etc from the car you have removed a lot of the mass that was keeping the standard car relatively balanced.
Thoughts from my side would be;
Adjustable brake balance to allow you to move some of the braking to the front wheels. If the rears are locking under moderate braking you need to fix this as you'll end up in the gravel trap when you start to push it. Brake balances are easy to fit.
Try and remove as much of the weight from the front end as possible. If this is a track car, remove the trim from the wheel arches, remove all ancillary bits and pieces, horn, washer bottle etc. You could get a fibreglass bonnet, front wings etc.
Move weight to the rear - battery is good.
You'll probably never dial out all the lift of oversteer because it's a front engined car but by getting it a bit better balanced you may make it more predictable. Stiffer front springs may help if the car is diving underbraking but then again if there's a lot of travel on the rear you may find dialing that out through lower ride height and a stiffer rear could help reduce the effects of weight transfer - which is a good thing with front engined cars as well since you can use it to help your turn in!
Anyway just some thoughts, hope they help!
It sounds to me that by removing the trim etc from the car you have removed a lot of the mass that was keeping the standard car relatively balanced.
Thoughts from my side would be;
Adjustable brake balance to allow you to move some of the braking to the front wheels. If the rears are locking under moderate braking you need to fix this as you'll end up in the gravel trap when you start to push it. Brake balances are easy to fit.
Try and remove as much of the weight from the front end as possible. If this is a track car, remove the trim from the wheel arches, remove all ancillary bits and pieces, horn, washer bottle etc. You could get a fibreglass bonnet, front wings etc.
Move weight to the rear - battery is good.
You'll probably never dial out all the lift of oversteer because it's a front engined car but by getting it a bit better balanced you may make it more predictable. Stiffer front springs may help if the car is diving underbraking but then again if there's a lot of travel on the rear you may find dialing that out through lower ride height and a stiffer rear could help reduce the effects of weight transfer - which is a good thing with front engined cars as well since you can use it to help your turn in!
Anyway just some thoughts, hope they help!
Intersting problem. It sounds like you have taken the majority of the weight from the rear of the car, thereby increasing the effective rear roll stiffness, whilst at the same time removing the front anti roll bar thereby decreasing front roll stiffness. Both changes promote oversteer, which could be why you have the problem.
I would suggest stiffer front springs also, increase your front tyre pressures and reduce the rears, but also you mention adjustable dampers.
You could try to regain some of the balance by increasing the front bump damping and backing off on the rear, although like tyre pressures, this can only do so much and can get hairy in wet conditions.
Lowering the back end will also help, getting more weight on the rear, but be careful you maintain enough clearance to your rear bump stops. If you go too low, it will ride contact the bump stops in roll, dramatically stiffening things up and you will swap ends faster than you can say insurance premium!
I would suggest stiffer front springs also, increase your front tyre pressures and reduce the rears, but also you mention adjustable dampers.
You could try to regain some of the balance by increasing the front bump damping and backing off on the rear, although like tyre pressures, this can only do so much and can get hairy in wet conditions.
Lowering the back end will also help, getting more weight on the rear, but be careful you maintain enough clearance to your rear bump stops. If you go too low, it will ride contact the bump stops in roll, dramatically stiffening things up and you will swap ends faster than you can say insurance premium!
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