pternstrom

Hello everyone,

This is my first post. I have read many threads on this forum before deciding to get the Ohlins R/T coilovers for my Evo IX.

My evo is intended as a track day weapon. On the track though, I found the Ohlins R/T way too soft. They should be relabeled "Ohlins Road, Road, Road, Road and maybe some Track". I also had severe understeer problems. The tires I used were Toyo R888 which overheated after 3 laps. Before they overheated I could keep up with GT3 Porsches without any effort. Michelin Cup tires ordered.

Anyway - even though im a patriot and decided to go for the Ohlins which are made "next door" from where I live, they are way too soft for violent track usage.

How should I proceed now? Getting harder springs for the Ohlins is a major pain since the coilovers apparently need reshimsing. Larger rear sway bar? Or just get another set of coilovers? Which ones should I get? Any ideas?

crctslt

The first handling improvements most track day people make are a larger adjustable rear sway bar, replacement of the rear a-arm bushings with polyurethane and a performance alignment. That should go a long way towards not destroying your tires.

thisxguy

iTrader: (17)

Motons are great also

Warrtalon

iTrader: (6)

Perhaps they were not revalved nor mated with the proper springs? My Ohlins R/T with custom valving and tuning by Paul Gerrard are far from what you describe. You do not have understeer problems and overheating tires because of the Ohlins. YOu have those due to an improper setup and/or improper driving.

Crctslt, that is not what people do first by people who know what they're doing. There is no need to touch the rear sway bar, ESPECIALLY not as a first mod.

thisxguy

iTrader: (17)

also, performance alignment DOES destroy your tires. lol

that set up is for people who do not immediately plan on buying coilovers. yes, its probably the best beang for buck handling upgrade

dsycks

iTrader: (10)

I keep trying to figure how folks are getting so much push from these cars as mine will go tail out the harder its pushed! It has an MR suspension on an 05 RS with no other mods.

My honest reaction is that it must be a setup issue. Setup is key on ANY suspension no matter how quality it is.

xmaciek82x

iTrader: (14)

The push it maybe comming from the front damping being setup to be too "hard"...

I know my car does that if I set my damping on my coils to be too stiff in the front, but as soon as I go alot softer the the rear tends to break loose...

To the OP, what are the spring rates on your coilovers?

pternstrom

Czesc Maciek,

My spring rates are the default Ohlins R/T - 40Nm/48Nm (front/rear). I ordered a set of tein mono flex which are 90Nm/70Nm, and will add a rear sway bar for enhanced oversteer.

Peter

Noob4life

It sounds like you could be overdriving the car and cooking the tires and/or brakes. It's certainly not the coiovers, if the car is able to handle so well for 3 laps, as I'm sure Ohlins did not skimp on their oil, and unless you are changing the damping mid-race, there should not be anything changing with the coilovers themselves to affect your performance after 3 laps. Typically it's the tires and brakes that fade (if not the driver).

vboy425

iTrader: (19)

DMS 50mm

LDOGGYDIZZLE

iTrader: (1)

You will see a HUGE difference with a good set of track tires like the cup tires you have on order.

Check alighnment. Make sure you have 0 toe all the way around. Front camber should be around the -2.5 degree range and rear -1.0 - -1.5 depending how loose you want it.

But mainly it sounds like you're just getting the car to turn the first couple laps and the over heating the tires because of the evos geometry problems.

Try this. Fairly inexpensive. Try this before changing your entire set-up. Ohlins are great shocks, but it does indeed depend on how they're valved.

Anyway, try adding the Whiteline rear bumpsteer correction kit, front roll center kit, and AMS rear trailing arm bushings. The whitelines are nice too, but the AMS are made of delrin.

This roll center kit will improve the roll stiffness upfront and giving you more front grip. The bumpsteer kit will get rid of that mid-corner, tire over heating push.

All these parts will cost you around $300!!!

Heres a link to AMS with all of these products on hand.

http://www.amsperformance.com/store/...Path=22_55_291

Oh, and make sure to check your tire psi after your run and make sure they dont over inflate!!

Happy motoring!!!!!!

pternstrom

Thanks for your advice.

The rear bumbsteer correction kit and the rear trailing arm kit are basically bushings, right? Which means I can get them locally (from powerflex?) without the hassle of overseas shipment. Or are they different products?

The whiteline front roll center kit looks like a must have on my car.

Peter

LDOGGYDIZZLE

iTrader: (1)

The roll center kit is not a bushing kit. It consists of different/replacment ball joints which help better the roll center and adding front roll stiffness.

The other 2 kits are basicly bushing kits BUT the trailing arm kit (bumpsteer correction kit) is an offset bushing not just a harder replacment.

Im sure theres a Whiteline distributor in your area.

You'll be amazed with the results. Make sure you set the alighnment as specified above. Try that first, then post results.

Have fun & Happy motoring!

pternstrom

Thanks for all input. I have now done a series of adjustments to the car and visited three tracks (Ahvenisto, Alastaro and Gotland Ring) to test and further improve my settings. After the third try I think I hit a sweet spot since the car now behaves very neutral. In my case the solution was to:

1. Fit harder springs all around. I opt for the Tein Mono Flex which comes with a 9/7 configuration for the euro market. (I think in the states they are rated 14/10). The ohlins I had before are rated 4/4.8. Maye the Ohlins/KYB Sportline you have over there (12/10) is better, but 4/4.8 is way too soft for aggressive driving. Damper settings for the coils: 12 clicks from hardest.

2. Increase tire pressure all around. I went from 1.8 bar cold to 2.0 bar cold, which dramatically reduced the wear of the side of the front tires and kept a larger tire patch in contact with the tarmac during hard cornering.

3. I fitted a larger rear anti sway bar from Perrin and set it on the middle setting.

4. The wheel alignment i ended up with is a little bit under 3 degrees camber front, 1.2 degrees carmber rear, zero toe all round.

With these settings the car handles very very close to neutral on the track, maybe with some slight hints of understeer at corner entry. Difference is now that this can be moderated with trail braking, this was not the case before. For my application I prefer a car that still has some "push" in it for safety reasons. I am not a very skilled driver.

Next steps will be fitting the bushings kit, bumpsteer correction kit and more aggressive tires. Toyo R888 overheats too easily, and I will be fitting michelin cup tires for the next event (which is in Poland / Poznan).

Take care
Peter

evohumper

iTrader: (1)

JIC Flat 2