Handling balance
Discussion
Does anyone know where in the north West I can take the car to have the suspension geometry checked and aligned?
On a track Its swapping ends in corners in an alarming fashion, and its got to be sorted asap.
It isnt the damper settings, tyre pressures etc.
It could of course be the toe in/camber, and who knows what else, but Id be grateful if you guys had any knowledge of who could set it up correctly.
Many thanks
On a track Its swapping ends in corners in an alarming fashion, and its got to be sorted asap.
It isnt the damper settings, tyre pressures etc.
It could of course be the toe in/camber, and who knows what else, but Id be grateful if you guys had any knowledge of who could set it up correctly.
Many thanks
Wilder said:
Does anyone know where in the north West I can take the car to have the suspension geometry checked and aligned?
On a track Its swapping ends in corners in an alarming fashion, and its got to be sorted asap.
It isnt the damper settings, tyre pressures etc.
It could of course be the toe in/camber, and who knows what else, but Id be grateful if you guys had any knowledge of who could set it up correctly.
Many thanks
Got any video??? On a track Its swapping ends in corners in an alarming fashion, and its got to be sorted asap.
It isnt the damper settings, tyre pressures etc.
It could of course be the toe in/camber, and who knows what else, but Id be grateful if you guys had any knowledge of who could set it up correctly.
Many thanks

Actually Jonathan, can you tell us a little more about:
a) Spec - tyre pressures, make, ride hight, brake balance etc.
and
b) What is happening
First track day I did, I was yo-yoing between under and over, but I just giving it too much without knowing how the car would react. I had the dampers on full soft and the ride height was fixed to euro touring mode!!
For tracking on Kumhos I now use 40 clicks front and rear, std 110/160 (from memory) ride height and start the day off with 16 / 21 tyres which I bleed a little during the day (but as the Factory reminded me must be reinflated before you leave the track!)
Might be telling me gran how to suck eggs, but just go slow and gradually speed up - everything then gets up to temp........including the driver!!
If I've learned one thing this year, it's that to drive the car fast round a bend, the car has always to have load on the front and rear outside tyres...not just cornering load, but brake loading to get the attitude down on that front and then a smooth transition to power up the rear. Then you can just pi55 around with the speed and smoothness of transition and start to showboat!!
Could be talking cr@p, but it sounds right to me.
Pete
a) Spec - tyre pressures, make, ride hight, brake balance etc.
and
b) What is happening
First track day I did, I was yo-yoing between under and over, but I just giving it too much without knowing how the car would react. I had the dampers on full soft and the ride height was fixed to euro touring mode!!
For tracking on Kumhos I now use 40 clicks front and rear, std 110/160 (from memory) ride height and start the day off with 16 / 21 tyres which I bleed a little during the day (but as the Factory reminded me must be reinflated before you leave the track!)
Might be telling me gran how to suck eggs, but just go slow and gradually speed up - everything then gets up to temp........including the driver!!
If I've learned one thing this year, it's that to drive the car fast round a bend, the car has always to have load on the front and rear outside tyres...not just cornering load, but brake loading to get the attitude down on that front and then a smooth transition to power up the rear. Then you can just pi55 around with the speed and smoothness of transition and start to showboat!!
Could be talking cr@p, but it sounds right to me.
Pete
Hi Peter, the pressures were 19/21. No video Im glad to say 
The car was so very nervous, it wasnt typical thats for sure, and when it started to go -it just went in a flash. DIfficult to explain but three people spun it in sucession withing 2 laps each so you can rule out driver error as there were two MSA drivers and one very experienced track day (Evo 8 driver). Also, all bar me knew the track well.
The tyres were mixed --GF1 eagles front and Sport pilot Michelins rear, which were ordered that way from the factory . From what I can gather, I was told that this combination was meant to be good for track days (
)
Bit of a head scratcher, but Im wondering on using either the factory or Center Gravity to balance the car before venturing near a bend!

The car was so very nervous, it wasnt typical thats for sure, and when it started to go -it just went in a flash. DIfficult to explain but three people spun it in sucession withing 2 laps each so you can rule out driver error as there were two MSA drivers and one very experienced track day (Evo 8 driver). Also, all bar me knew the track well.
The tyres were mixed --GF1 eagles front and Sport pilot Michelins rear, which were ordered that way from the factory . From what I can gather, I was told that this combination was meant to be good for track days (
) Bit of a head scratcher, but Im wondering on using either the factory or Center Gravity to balance the car before venturing near a bend!
Wilder said:
Hi Peter, the pressures were 19/21. No video Im glad to say 
The car was so very nervous, it wasnt typical thats for sure, and when it started to go -it just went in a flash. DIfficult to explain but three people spun it in sucession withing 2 laps each so you can rule out driver error as there were two MSA drivers and one very experienced track day (Evo 8 driver). Also, all bar me knew the track well.
The tyres were mixed --GF1 eagles front and Sport pilot Michelins rear, which were ordered that way from the factory . From what I can gather, I was told that this combination was meant to be good for track days (
)
Bit of a head scratcher, but Im wondering on using either the factory or Center Gravity to balance the car before venturing near a bend!
Gotta be Factory, hasn't it? They did mine and the brake balance. Whilst your at it they could look over the car if they do that service.
The car was so very nervous, it wasnt typical thats for sure, and when it started to go -it just went in a flash. DIfficult to explain but three people spun it in sucession withing 2 laps each so you can rule out driver error as there were two MSA drivers and one very experienced track day (Evo 8 driver). Also, all bar me knew the track well.
The tyres were mixed --GF1 eagles front and Sport pilot Michelins rear, which were ordered that way from the factory . From what I can gather, I was told that this combination was meant to be good for track days (
) Bit of a head scratcher, but Im wondering on using either the factory or Center Gravity to balance the car before venturing near a bend!
Heres one for you Pete, the car on the last spin exited Knickerbrook, powered on AFTER the chicane, and promptly binned it under power into the gravel! 
Just spoke to Andy who suggested going off the manual to reset all the damper / bias etc to default so thats the first port of call next week.

Just spoke to Andy who suggested going off the manual to reset all the damper / bias etc to default so thats the first port of call next week.
Wilder said:
Heres one for you Pete, the car on the last spin exited Knickerbrook, powered on AFTER the chicane, and promptly binned it under power into the gravel! 
Just spoke to Andy who suggested going off the manual to reset all the damper / bias etc to default so thats the first port of call next week.
Reset how exactly? Do you mean turm the ring to 0 clicks? I do that every time I adjust them so I cound from zero to 5 for road and 0 to 40 for track.
Just spoke to Andy who suggested going off the manual to reset all the damper / bias etc to default so thats the first port of call next week.
Phoenix Motorsport at Church near Accrington set all my suspension up - made a huge difference.
I raced the car last year and took it to the first event with it unmodified from how I had it on the road over the last couple of years. As I had no stats or real comparisons they set it up based on the factory recommendations but with a few little tweaks.
The difference in the 2nd race was huge - the car felt extremely stable and predictable on the limit.
They look after quite a number of race cars and all at a reasonable cost.
Where in the NW are you based - I'm in Bolton.
If you want to have a chat offline drop me an email
I raced the car last year and took it to the first event with it unmodified from how I had it on the road over the last couple of years. As I had no stats or real comparisons they set it up based on the factory recommendations but with a few little tweaks.
The difference in the 2nd race was huge - the car felt extremely stable and predictable on the limit.
They look after quite a number of race cars and all at a reasonable cost.
Where in the NW are you based - I'm in Bolton.
If you want to have a chat offline drop me an email
Interesting point there and something I will mention when its being setup (it has the G50-20 6 speed gearbox with ...LSD - one thing also worth mentioning, the front tyres after the track day were as you would expect blistered -but the rears didnt look like they had scrubbed or got warm at all --dont know if that helps narrow it down a bit.
Big thanks to Chewy for all his help, Took it to Phoenix Motorsport where Oli did a sterling job . Set the car up and we went back to Oulton Park to try it. Great progress till a Jap tinbox spun in front & caused the Ultima to punt backwards into the barriers!
Back to the drawing board.
Back to the drawing board.
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