Running staggered R tires on stock suspension
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Originally Posted by EnthuZ
Stiffer sways are not the best solution, but they work!
I just went for my 1st drive in the rain on the RA1's to the bookstore to find the GRM May issue. D*mn, the June issue is out.
Could you please scan the shock article for me and send to: EnthuZ@BCRLtd I need help getting my DA Truechoice coilovers dialed in.
The RA1's seemed pretty good on the brief drive.
I just went for my 1st drive in the rain on the RA1's to the bookstore to find the GRM May issue. D*mn, the June issue is out.
Could you please scan the shock article for me and send to: EnthuZ@BCRLtd I need help getting my DA Truechoice coilovers dialed in.The RA1's seemed pretty good on the brief drive.

I'll make it availlable on my server so anybody can get it.
Originally Posted by Nano
But shouldn't one upgrade tires and wheels first, and then sort out suspension?
When talking to unitech, I was at first a little suprised to hear that their drivers prefer a loose car rather than an understeering car. I alway thought an understeering car was safer in road racing because I never had a good shock to make the car so amazingly controllable in a slight oversteer situation. Now that I have nice shocks, I totally understand why some pros prefer a loose car and I now actually find it frustrating to drive a car that pushes.
Last edited by daveh; May 12, 2006 at 08:13 AM.
Originally Posted by Kolia
Cold tire pressure was:
FL: 40 FR:38
RL:38 RR:38
Which is much higher than what you’re running!
Below that pressure I would roll badly on the front left and the tires would overheat and get greasy. I left a couple of big tire marks powering out of turns to keep the car turning…
FL: 40 FR:38
RL:38 RR:38
Which is much higher than what you’re running!
Below that pressure I would roll badly on the front left and the tires would overheat and get greasy. I left a couple of big tire marks powering out of turns to keep the car turning…
I too run stock camber and springs on a daily driver G35, with 3 days on full tread RA-1's so far this year. I started with 30 cold all around (per advice on this board) and was pleasantly surprised that the tires held up well and wore pretty evenly. Temp spread was decent and I didn't feel short on camber at all. They got a little greasy later in the day, so i dropped from 43 to 41 (hot-rear) and 41 to 40 (front) and it straightened out nicely. The outside tread blocks are down a bit, and the 2nd row in has worn at a bit of an angle, but overall not bad for full tread squirming around down there.
I run Hotchkiss sway bars and Tockico SA dampers. The combination is very reasonably priced and have really tightened up the body roll and handling. If you're on a budget you may want to consider this combination, it's great bang for the buck at well under a grand.
Tim
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Originally Posted by Nano
Tokico SA? do you mean the D-spec?
hat springs are you running on the Tokico?
hat springs are you running on the Tokico?
Tim said on the first sentense he's running stock springs...
Thanks Tim. I'll try running 30psi cold next time.
Here is a link to the GRM article I just scanned:
Dampers_GRM_May_06.pdf
Thanks Kolia! A fellow track junkie shared his copy with me at Elkhart Lake last night. But now I have a copy!
RA1's were OK at 115 MPH on the straights of a wet track, just couldn't put down ANY power on corner exit, but, no one else could either. OK day, rain sucks.
I've been thinking about your issues, and take a look at the sway bar rates 350EVO sells/used to run on their Grand Am car.....with VERY stiff springs. Still say, get some stiffer bars to keep your tread on the track, not rolling around.
RA1's were OK at 115 MPH on the straights of a wet track, just couldn't put down ANY power on corner exit, but, no one else could either. OK day, rain sucks.
I've been thinking about your issues, and take a look at the sway bar rates 350EVO sells/used to run on their Grand Am car.....with VERY stiff springs. Still say, get some stiffer bars to keep your tread on the track, not rolling around.
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Okay, back from MidOhio.
I "fixed" pretty much all the issues I had with this tire setup. It seems so obvious in retrospect. The answer was proper tire pressure.
Sunny day at the track, ambient temps up to 95F.
Like you guys suggested, I started with 30psi cold. Ran a 30 minutes session and took my pressure just after pitting. It was 42 front and 40 rear. So I then added 2 psi in the rear, just to get a bit less understeer.
It worked well. As the day was getting warmer, I lowered my tire pressure by 4psi. Now running at 38psi "pit hot".
It worked great. The tires held togheter for the 30 minutes sessions. ABS is no longer an issue (it still comes on on bumps and crests, but that's ok) and the car is much more stable.
A big lesson learned in R-compound management!
I "fixed" pretty much all the issues I had with this tire setup. It seems so obvious in retrospect. The answer was proper tire pressure.
Sunny day at the track, ambient temps up to 95F.
Like you guys suggested, I started with 30psi cold. Ran a 30 minutes session and took my pressure just after pitting. It was 42 front and 40 rear. So I then added 2 psi in the rear, just to get a bit less understeer.
It worked well. As the day was getting warmer, I lowered my tire pressure by 4psi. Now running at 38psi "pit hot".
It worked great. The tires held togheter for the 30 minutes sessions. ABS is no longer an issue (it still comes on on bumps and crests, but that's ok) and the car is much more stable.
A big lesson learned in R-compound management!
Glad to hear you're getting closer. You should try to take some tire temps too. Going by feel will get you close, but tire temps give a clearer picture of your contact patch.
I also forgot to mention that full tread RA-1's always feel a little funny on the first day or so until you wear down some of the rubber. I always seem to forget this and curse at my car the first day out until I realize that the tread squirm is making things squirley. Luckily my old toyos have no tread left right now.
I also forgot to mention that full tread RA-1's always feel a little funny on the first day or so until you wear down some of the rubber. I always seem to forget this and curse at my car the first day out until I realize that the tread squirm is making things squirley. Luckily my old toyos have no tread left right now.
Kolia, glad to see you're getting it dialed in!
As Dave said, beg, borrow or steal a pyrometer!
BTW.....you up for 3 days at THE Glen? End of July. 4 of the BCR Chicago Crew are planning on going. We have sent $. Dave, of course you are invited too!
As Dave said, beg, borrow or steal a pyrometer!
BTW.....you up for 3 days at THE Glen? End of July. 4 of the BCR Chicago Crew are planning on going. We have sent $. Dave, of course you are invited too!
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I took the pressures this morning again.
27psi Front
29psi Rear
I'll use that as a base for the first run of future track events.
Who is hosting the Glen event? I already have plans for the July 22 week-end.
27psi Front
29psi Rear
I'll use that as a base for the first run of future track events.
Who is hosting the Glen event? I already have plans for the July 22 week-end.
Originally Posted by Kolia
I took the pressures this morning again.
27psi Front
29psi Rear
I'll use that as a base for the first run of future track events.
27psi Front
29psi Rear
I'll use that as a base for the first run of future track events.
Originally Posted by Kolia
Who is hosting the Glen event? I already have plans for the July 22 week-end.
3 days!!!
7/28-304 of us have sent our checks in, all of us have trick suspensions, etc., and all of us should be running R compounds. The other 3 are VERY fast.....
I can't wait!
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Originally Posted by undercat
That sounds like a good idea. I have a general starting pressure for Auto-Xing but my pressure only goes up around 3-4 psi. I guess that's the difference between a couple of 50 sec runs and 30 min. around a track. Do you have a warm-up lap to let your tires get up to temp?
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Originally Posted by EnthuZ
www.rtr-pca.org
3 days!!!
7/28-30
4 of us have sent our checks in, all of us have trick suspensions, etc., and all of us should be running R compounds. The other 3 are VERY fast.....
I can't wait!
3 days!!!
7/28-304 of us have sent our checks in, all of us have trick suspensions, etc., and all of us should be running R compounds. The other 3 are VERY fast.....
I can't wait!
I just need a Porsche right?
Nah, don't need no stinking Porsche. Check out the pics on their site.
But if you run comp. harnesses, they are picky about how they are mounted. We all run BCR harness bars with BCR Impact harnesses and we all have run with Chicago & or Milwaukee PCA regions.
Hope you can join us. It's an awesome track.
But if you run comp. harnesses, they are picky about how they are mounted. We all run BCR harness bars with BCR Impact harnesses and we all have run with Chicago & or Milwaukee PCA regions.
Hope you can join us. It's an awesome track.
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