did I get the wrong suspension?

[tuj]

Originally Posted by tracer bullet

I'd give the new suspension a couple rounds before you decide what you want to fix. The car will be pretty different now.

Thanks. I will definitely do this event without any changes. Maybe just some pressure tweaks as based on my pyrometer readings and feedback.

I have a 27mm front bar coming, and I've got the RSFB and M3 front control arms all here so I'm going to call those Phase 2 but that will wait at least for a few events. We run an event every month here, and with our tropical weather, we run year-round.

I'm hoping the sticky tires and new suspension setup will get me into the 1:3X.XX time-frame from a 1:41 previous-best on RFT's. The fast guys in my class are running in the 1:29's.

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by tuj

We run an event every month here, and with our tropical weather, we run year-round.

I'm really jealous of you man. I have two tracks nearby as well, but the closest one is 2+ hours away in no traffic. First world problems lol.

[RyanDavies]

A clutch-type differential (mine is from Dan at Diffsonline) is *very* important to finding speed in the car.

The eDiff is an abortion and is basically useless in a performance environment, and will also cook brakes.

That and subframe bushings (I went with AKG, easier install than OEM M3 and no added harshness at all) are things I would do, even to a daily driver 128.

Save for my light battery and seats, basically everything I've done in my STX build is an improvement over stock, not just for performance, but for daily driving and comfort as well.

[tuj]

Hey Ryan: every car I've had except this one has had a Torsen LSD. Sounds like you think the clutch-type is better? Reasons? Preloading? Adjustability?

What do you make of the OS Giken clutch-types?

[tuj]

So the initial clearance of the strut was about 1mm with the 261 ET52 wheels and 245 tires and 12mm spacers:


But you can see the fit looked pretty nice:


It is dropped a little bit, but its actually as high as we could get it.


Fender to tire clearance:


And on the other side:


We found a deformed washer on top of one of the shocks:


This can't have been good...


Eww.


Grinding the sway-bar mounting ring down 2mm:


More details to come.

[RyanDavies]

Get adjustable endlinks and move the damned tab down.

[tuj]

Originally Posted by RyanDavies

Get adjustable endlinks and move the damned tab down.

A great suggestion, not something I knew going in...

[RyanDavies]

Any time you adjust the ride height of w car you should adjust Endlink height to remove preload from the sway bar anyways

[mkPOTO]

great progress.. I am glad it is working out.

[tuj]

Alignment was done on a Hunter, car ballasted to my (embarrassingly high) weight.

Specs:
front camber = -1.75 (max we could get with clearing the wheel and tire)
rear camber = -2.00
rear toe = 0.1" toe-in each side.

The idea here is to make the car a little less "tight". I asked about more camber in front and he said that the specific tarmac at our track in Ponce does not need a lot of camber to grip well. We'll see, I've got a pyrometer and will be checking to see how the BFG's are heating up.

We kept the shocks relatively soft with the idea that I could always bump up the rears if I was still tight on the track to artificially make the rear a little looser. But we both agreed that we favored softer shocks with these springs.

Out the door (with our ridiculous 11% sales tax) it was $840. That was for essentially 3.5 days of work. The owner came by when I was there and said it was one of the more complicated jobs they had done, given the amount of fiddling that the tech did to get the car's balance, height, camber, clearance, and general setup right. Keep in mind I was asking him to setup the car for two different sets of wheels and tires as well (street and track).

We talked and he still felt like there was a danger of the strut moving within the knuckle downwards if I was to hit a big bump. Do you guys think this is possible? Anyway, we now see eye to eye and we each respect each-other a little more. He understands that I come from a competitive autocross background and I understand he has been setting up cars for 8-years on a competitive basis for the local tracks here.

[tuj]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

I'm really jealous of you man. I have two tracks nearby as well, but the closest one is 2+ hours away in no traffic. First world problems lol.

Our tracks are about 2-2.5 hours from the major metro of San Juan. But there is no traffic on Sundays. We (my crew-chief/wife and I) usually go down the night before and have a fun evening before racing the next day. The really cool thing down here is the cost and the runs. When I lived in Ohio and did NASA, Mid-Ohio was at least $250 for the day and that gave you 3 or 4 20-min lapping sessions. Our costs are $100 for practice, $120 for a transponder and we run three sessions during which each class get's 5-laps under HPDE-type rules. BUT, we usually get to run 3 times in a session, so that means as many as 9 runs or 45 laps (not counting cool-downs)! Really an amazing value.

Probably the hardest part is that my Espanol is terrible, although my wife's is a lot better. The drivers' meeting is of course all in Spanish so I do my best, but hey, once you are out on the track, we all pretty much know what to do.

And while I'm not about to say Puerto Rico is 1st world (we're not), we are Americans, and while we are denied the right to VOTE because of some colonial BS called the Insular Cases (seriously, they called the PR people a 'lesser race'), there are more people on this island which is the size of Connecticut than there are in 21 different states in the USA.

Think about that next time someone says 'f*ck Puerto Rico'...

[RyanDavies]

Stay soft on the shocks. I've learned that lesson. Packing either end of the car down is bad news bears.