How fast have you been in your S?
Discussion
Paceracing said:
CarZee said: Jas, how did you lower it 1.5 inches??? what on earth did you do with the exhausts?
CarZee,
Much stiffer springs (700Lbs front, 500Lbs rear replacing TVR's standard squidgy 220Lbs springs on all corners), very tightly controlled by good dampers was the answer. This means that although the car is significantly lower, it doesn't smack the exhausts on the floor too much, and ride quality is kept reasonably comfortable with the dampers. Handling is phenomonal! You do have to watch for sleeping policemen and country lanes where the centre of the road can be higher. (I have also occaisionally clipped catseyes when I pull out to overtake and give the car a foot full of throttle, but this doesn't happen too often). I actually really enjoy driving the car with this set up, and it actually feels similar to a racecar in some ways!
Jas.
So are we saying the bottoming out of S's is more a feature of their inherent soft spring/damper settings rather than ride height? (genuine question btw).
It'll be interesting to compare those settings with Peter H's (if it hasn't already been posted) as I'm sure between the two of you you've probably covered the full range of S suspension possibilities and could proffer an improved road setting rate for Joe average, maybe?
Increasing the spring rate that significantly over standard must put some extra loading somewhere in the chassis/suspension mounts though, have you experienced any cracks or failures?
Harry
I booted a feckin great hole in my prebaffle section just by going to 55 profile tyres and tackling a country lane..
I think I need the uprated springs and dampers without dropping the ride height so much..
Edited to say: And christ knows how fast we were going as I followed Johno back from Wales on Sunday
What a noise.. on the track, they could hear me putting the power down from the opposite end..
>> Edited by CarZee on Tuesday 29th October 22:46
I think I need the uprated springs and dampers without dropping the ride height so much..
Edited to say: And christ knows how fast we were going as I followed Johno back from Wales on Sunday
What a noise.. on the track, they could hear me putting the power down from the opposite end..
>> Edited by CarZee on Tuesday 29th October 22:46
Peter H - 500 front and 400 rears
Paceracing - 700 front and 500 rears
Johno - 400 front and 300 rears
This was the last I talked to the individuals concerned...
I have been out in both Pace's and Peter's car on track and would suggest that they are very equal in terms of handling.
Both run very good dampers, although they have different makes. I also believe they have them set up differently in terms of damping.
Each has his car set up according to his driving style, an important point to remember.
As for S's grounding out due to soft springs....remember most springs on S's are now getting a little old and saggy. Probably not near their original 220lbs.
It is worth upgrading the suspension, but then what happens is you lower it
to get more grip. It does work and the turn in becomes sharper and then you move into poly bushes, ARB mounts etc etc etc ..... been there done that and got a car that handled superbly .....
Paceracing - 700 front and 500 rears
Johno - 400 front and 300 rears
This was the last I talked to the individuals concerned...
I have been out in both Pace's and Peter's car on track and would suggest that they are very equal in terms of handling.
Both run very good dampers, although they have different makes. I also believe they have them set up differently in terms of damping.
Each has his car set up according to his driving style, an important point to remember.
As for S's grounding out due to soft springs....remember most springs on S's are now getting a little old and saggy. Probably not near their original 220lbs.
It is worth upgrading the suspension, but then what happens is you lower it
to get more grip. It does work and the turn in becomes sharper and then you move into poly bushes, ARB mounts etc etc etc ..... been there done that and got a car that handled superbly .....
GreenV8S said:
johno said: Peter H - 500 front and 400 rears
600/400 these days Mark.
Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
I thought you wer experiencing too much understeer with the 600's and had gone back to 500's...managed to dial it out another way or found a different issue ??
I got my old 2cv up to 80-5 (estimated, obviously, by the deflection around the speedo past zero again) down a very steep hill with a mate on board with a very strong tail wind and a bit of drafting past a lorry on the top of the hill. How we cheered as we plunged down the hill in a very unsteady fashion laughing at all the cars we passed until it spat one of its spark plugs out of the head with a hell of a bang and then attempted to maintain the speed on 1 of 2 cylinders - lumpy, I should say so... clutch in, indicate
Mark
Quite regularly managed to get my 2CV up to those kinds of speeds - lots of big hills in Wales - and the Dyane was slightly faster. A friend with a 2CV took great delight in 'racing' past the coppers at just over 80.
Thought they wouldnt dare to pull him over. They did - obviously didn't book him for speeding, but did find a bald tire and did him for that.
Moral - don't tease the boys in blue.
Fully loaded up on the way to Le Mans, I was pulling 134 easily on original suspension components, i reckon 140 would of easily been possible.
My passanger says his best memory of the Le Mans trip was waking up as he felt his body being pushed up the seat and just seeing the needle creep past 130.
I now have new trailing arms, adj shocks & 20% springs and have yet to tease the top end, however at 120 its very solid and confidence inspiring.
I find it interesting that all the cars are different, i know there are speedo variations, but ive checked mine & its pretty accurate.
Anyone thought of running an S meeting at a rolling road station......get some comparisons etc ?
Giles
My passanger says his best memory of the Le Mans trip was waking up as he felt his body being pushed up the seat and just seeing the needle creep past 130.
I now have new trailing arms, adj shocks & 20% springs and have yet to tease the top end, however at 120 its very solid and confidence inspiring.
I find it interesting that all the cars are different, i know there are speedo variations, but ive checked mine & its pretty accurate.
Anyone thought of running an S meeting at a rolling road station......get some comparisons etc ?
Giles
johno said:
I thought you wer experiencing too much understeer with the 600's and had gone back to 500's...managed to dial it out another way or found a different issue ??
That's true, I was getting terrible understeer with the 600s but I dialled this out with damper and geometry changes - its nicely balanced now.
Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
GreenV8S said:
Increasing the spring rate that significantly over standard must put some extra loading somewhere in the chassis/suspension mounts though, have you experienced any cracks or failures?
Harry
Yes!
No!
Well actually, the answer is yes and no. Yes, there is extra loading on the chassis, and no, I haven't had any cracks or bending anywhere on the chassis or suspension arms.
I think, (and it is a personal opinion) that the reason that things bend and crack is because the dampers are set too hard. This prevents the spring from doing it's job properly and transmits the shock of the bump straight into the chassis via the damper rather than absorbing the bump into the spring and controlling the spring with a good damper.
Jas.
P.S. I changed my suspension around 2 years ago and have done about 15,000 road miles as well as quite a few sprints and trackdays since then, all without any suspension / chassis problems.
shnozz said: thanks for all your answers so far - keep em coming
I have to say I am quite surprised by the top ends. I assume my gearing would be the factory standard, but the revs at 105 - 110 seem fairly high and I was thinking I would run out of puff by about 125 - clearly not.
Shnozz
My diff ratio is about 10% taller than standard and the speedo is now within 1% - so it must have been over-reading by 10% originally!
Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)
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