A Day At The Track With The Roadster - Pix
07-28-2004, 10:42 PM
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Re: A Day At The Track With The Roadster - Pix
By the way I’ll appreciate any recommendations to take care of the understeering issue, tire sizes, sway bar model, etc…
1. Underinflating from tires a couple of lbs -- allows more contact patch, is free, but is only a stop-gap measure at best.
2. Brake more -- you are probably taking corners too fast if you are really plowing. Think about your technique -- are you really entering the turn at the proper pace. Remember -- the engineers of these cars dial in understeer so that when people enter a corner too fast for the car, the tails does not come out.
3. Bigger front tires -- it will help a lot.
4. Sways -- will help a lot, but I believe that you should first address 1) technique and then 2) shocks and springs before sways. Sways are the icing on the cake -- not the cake itself.
5. Suspension upgrade or C/O's -- easily the best way of alleviating understeer. I would suggest it first and foremost.
Othere things you can do.
a. tap the brakes with the left foot when you are plowing -- Schumacher style -- get's weight to the front but takes bad *** skillz (unless you have an SMG like my old M, then it's easy -- but you are really cheating. I left foot braked in every braking zone -- did I mention that I miss that car).
b. lift slightly, then add throttle (we are talking small adjustments to get the weight to the front, and keep traction in the rear) -- careful, this is a great way to swap ends.
BTW, here is a pic of my super slick aftermarket brake pedal setup that I had in the M -- it allowed me to use right or left foot to brake. At the track I would literally be on brake and throttle at the same time as I transitioned from one to the other -- really helped smoothly transfer the weight of the car:
How did your brakes hold up?? -- I would think with the added weight of the roadster, they would fade to oblivion in a few laps.
Last edited by Skrill; 07-28-2004 at 10:53 PM.
07-29-2004, 03:47 PM
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Re: Re: A Day At The Track With The Roadster - Pix
Originally posted by Skrill
The following will help alleviate understeer. From least helpful to most:
1. Underinflating from tires a couple of lbs -- allows more contact patch, is free, but is only a stop-gap measure at best.
2. Brake more -- you are probably taking corners too fast if you are really plowing. Think about your technique -- are you really entering the turn at the proper pace. Remember -- the engineers of these cars dial in understeer so that when people enter a corner too fast for the car, the tails does not come out.
3. Bigger front tires -- it will help a lot.
4. Sways -- will help a lot, but I believe that you should first address 1) technique and then 2) shocks and springs before sways. Sways are the icing on the cake -- not the cake itself.
5. Suspension upgrade or C/O's -- easily the best way of alleviating understeer. I would suggest it first and foremost.
Othere things you can do.
a. tap the brakes with the left foot when you are plowing -- Schumacher style -- get's weight to the front but takes bad *** skillz (unless you have an SMG like my old M, then it's easy -- but you are really cheating. I left foot braked in every braking zone -- did I mention that I miss that car).
b. lift slightly, then add throttle (we are talking small adjustments to get the weight to the front, and keep traction in the rear) -- careful, this is a great way to swap ends.
BTW, here is a pic of my super slick aftermarket brake pedal setup that I had in the M -- it allowed me to use right or left foot to brake. At the track I would literally be on brake and throttle at the same time as I transitioned from one to the other -- really helped smoothly transfer the weight of the car:
How did your brakes hold up?? -- I would think with the added weight of the roadster, they would fade to oblivion in a few laps.
The following will help alleviate understeer. From least helpful to most:
1. Underinflating from tires a couple of lbs -- allows more contact patch, is free, but is only a stop-gap measure at best.
2. Brake more -- you are probably taking corners too fast if you are really plowing. Think about your technique -- are you really entering the turn at the proper pace. Remember -- the engineers of these cars dial in understeer so that when people enter a corner too fast for the car, the tails does not come out.
3. Bigger front tires -- it will help a lot.
4. Sways -- will help a lot, but I believe that you should first address 1) technique and then 2) shocks and springs before sways. Sways are the icing on the cake -- not the cake itself.
5. Suspension upgrade or C/O's -- easily the best way of alleviating understeer. I would suggest it first and foremost.
Othere things you can do.
a. tap the brakes with the left foot when you are plowing -- Schumacher style -- get's weight to the front but takes bad *** skillz (unless you have an SMG like my old M, then it's easy -- but you are really cheating. I left foot braked in every braking zone -- did I mention that I miss that car).
b. lift slightly, then add throttle (we are talking small adjustments to get the weight to the front, and keep traction in the rear) -- careful, this is a great way to swap ends.
BTW, here is a pic of my super slick aftermarket brake pedal setup that I had in the M -- it allowed me to use right or left foot to brake. At the track I would literally be on brake and throttle at the same time as I transitioned from one to the other -- really helped smoothly transfer the weight of the car:
How did your brakes hold up?? -- I would think with the added weight of the roadster, they would fade to oblivion in a few laps.
Concerning the breaking technique, I never really like left foot breaking, although it was really useful while driving turbocharged cars (to keep the turbo loaded) or on a Karting (you don't really have choices).
The Streets of Willow Springs track is not too hard on the brakes (two main breaking spots) and I was definitely not pushing on the break to reduce fading (the roadster is a heavy car!) I’m not sure if I want to upgrade the brakes now, I might just get some better pads…
07-29-2004, 03:52 PM
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Originally posted by mwest300zx
Here on the East Coast Pocono and Watkinds Glen will allow our roadsters on their tracks with the factory roll over system. Lime Rock will not and I don't know about the the Virginia tracks. By the way you can get a fairly thick plastic wrap that has a light adhesive on one side. It comes in a roll about 2ft. wide and allows you to wrap the front end pretty easily to avoid any stone chips or broken headlights. PDA.com sells it. I just used it on my recent track day at Pocon and it worked great. Very quick and easy to put on.
Here on the East Coast Pocono and Watkinds Glen will allow our roadsters on their tracks with the factory roll over system. Lime Rock will not and I don't know about the the Virginia tracks. By the way you can get a fairly thick plastic wrap that has a light adhesive on one side. It comes in a roll about 2ft. wide and allows you to wrap the front end pretty easily to avoid any stone chips or broken headlights. PDA.com sells it. I just used it on my recent track day at Pocon and it worked great. Very quick and easy to put on.
What is the web site where you can find this adhesive ? (www.pda.com is not working...)
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