goofygrin

iTrader: (5)

Got a pic from this weekend.

My setup:
Evo X (dur)
no lightening other than spare tire
14/14kg coilovers set to about 1/2 soft all around (slightly stiffer in the rear if I remember right). I had them set this way for the road course the week before and just didn't feel like touching it.
hoosier a6 285/30/18 (used, about 1/2 done)
-3* camber 0* toe front
-2* camber 0* toe rear
stock sway bars

The car felt ok once the tires got some pressure/heat in them. I was able to induce oversteer with a tap of the brakes or by lifting in a corner. I would describe the handling as more "neutral" than tail or nose happy, but I would also describe it as "soft" (most likely because of my coilover settings since I didn't touch them).

This was my first event on r-comps and was the first event of the season so I actually didn't touch the setup at all during all 6 runs. I just cooled the tires and engine and didn't change any other variables.

From these pictures do you think a sway bar (rear, front, both?) would help with the soft feeling & body lean?

boomn29

iTrader: (47)

Maybe. I know it's a X and they're easier to create oversteer and all, but it doesn't sound like you're really in bad shape. Those are some high springrates; that's probably the reason you're not rolling too much or lifting a tire right now. That's a lot of rear camber; I ran nearly that much last year and am going with something more like -1.5 rear this year.

You could slap on a big rear bar, but you'd probably be trading grip for oversteer. If you do, I'd think about softening up your suspension settings a bit.

After reading my response; not sure if I really helped at all...

GTLocke13

iTrader: (1)

I'm thinking it looks pretty good. Remember, "soft" doesn't equal "slow". A lot of times a softer setup will yield more grip and better compliance. If you're happy with how it behaves, leave it.

In general, here's my approach to tuning a suspension:

If the car drives perfect, you're not driving it hard enough.
Once you find the limit, what is the car doing wrong?

Front end skating on turn in: too much front rebound
Loose on turn in/bunny-hopping in mid corner: too much rear rebound
Poor transition/sloppy turn-in: not enough front rebound
Terminal understeer/can't break the back end loose: not enough rear rebound

There are similar things for bump settings, but they're much harder to explain. If the bump isn't right, the car will do strange things under acceleration/braking. You kind of have to play with your bump settings to figure it out.

With 14k springs, I would stay away from swaybars for now. You should be able to get the car to do exactly what you want and body roll really shouldn't be an issue.

goofygrin

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for the help. Maybe I just am looking to justify the purchase (but I am happy to save that money for tires and brakes).

I think I am on the right path by not messing too much with stuff (unless the car is grossly misbehaving) and focusing on me controlling it better.

Thanks

GTWORX.com

iTrader: (35)

Agreed. The car looks pretty good.

- drew