315 replies to this topic

[markrally]

Another eventful day.

Swapped my front brake disks from grooved ones to normal plain vented ones today, as the grooved ones were more warped than me

While I was doing this I noticed quite a bit of play in my front left wheel bearing. After further investigation it turns out that the outer race is moving about in the upright. So, I need a new left hand upright. Deep joy.

Still, I threw it all back together and went to do some 0-60 times (recorded by the Veypor unit I'm running).

Launching this thing isn't easy at all. I either get mega wheelspin, and seem to go nowhere at all, or I bog down or stall and go nowhere at all. Going for the first option is more fun as it leaves big black lines on the road and if the road has any amount of camber on it you tend to end up going forwards in a sideways manner with an armful of steering lock on

I only did a few runs to be kind to the car (and anyone living within a 5 mile radius!) and my best was a 5.43 with a far from ideal get-away.

Plain metro turbo discs?? Cheap as chips..................
Glad to hear your having loads of fun with it at last!!!
Im sure you will master the art of a getaway soon???
How tight have you torqued the wheelbearings up to??
As i dont think they need to be 140lb/ft as the manual says as they aint doing no driving now and have little load applied to them???
Is it a bit twitchy on the handling front them??

Cheers

[maph2]

first dibs on riding shotgun please

[R1minimagic]

DD

I would check the wheel bearing by removing the nut and tapered split ring, replace with a large washer or plate, retighten, and then re-check for play. The split ring can jam onto the cv joint and stop everything pulling in when you tighten up. Worth a try before you go shelling out on new parts.


I dont like grooved discs, i have had them on several different cars and they always start to grind when braking very hard, doesn't sound very nice!

[Dick Dastardly]

Maph2 - bring some earplugs! - make sure it's dry outside (i.e not today!!) and give me a bell first.

I torqued the left hand wheel bearing up to more than 150 pounds feet. I don't know the exact figure as my wrench doesn't go above 150, but I nearly shot a vein out of my head!

Top tip Dale, I'll give it a go.

The handling:

Slow spead stuff is spot on (roundabouts etc) and really entertaining. I end up going round and round them just for fun. I need to sort the bumpsteer out though to give me more confidence at speed. Turn-in is very quick at speed too- you almost have to coax the car into fast sweepers, rather than consciously steer the car in at the mo'. Otherwise you get a strange yawing sensation, and the car darts for the corner, which upstes the balance a tad!

Please bear in mind though that the geometry is only roughly set up at present, and probably far from ideal. Also, as with any new car there is a certain amount of driver education involved to get used to the way a car responds.This isn't a car you can just jump in and drive the wheel-nut's off, it's a challenge, which is nice.

Someone does need to publish the correct geometry settings for fast road/ track use though.

I'm reading a book at the moment which may help me understand what's happening: "Advanced Race Car Suspension Development" by Steve Smith. It's a bit heavy going, but very enlightening.

[markrally]

Im going to set mine to paralell track on the front with 1.5 degres camber and about 4-5 degrees of castor.
The rear will be about 1/2 degree total toe in or 2mm and about 1/2 degree camber and we will see how it goes from there???

Doesnt sound enlightening so far but things can only get better for you DD!!

Cheers

[pete]

I think Ade has the settings that z-cars use. I'll see if he can post them up.

[markrally]

Would be great if he can do that??
Good to compare settings...........
Thanks

[Ade]

Yeah your about right Mark. From what i remember Caster was definatley 5 deg

I think it was 1.5 deg neg camber all round?? Just a whiff of toe in on the front and about 1.5 deg toe in on the rear??

I'm pretty sure that what mine was set up to and it handles very well indeed!! Very balanced and controlable.

[markrally]

Yeah your about right Mark. From what i remember Caster was definatley 5 deg

I think it was 1.5 deg neg camber all round?? Just a whiff of toe in on the front and about 1.5 deg toe in on the rear??

I'm pretty sure that what mine was set up to and it handles very well indeed!! Very balanced and controlable.

Wasnt bad guess for a starting point !!!!

Have you reset it on a 4-wheel laser alignment gauges since you have fitted the new front subby?

Cheers

[Dick Dastardly]

Yeah your about right Mark. From what i remember Caster was definatley 5 deg

I think it was 1.5 deg neg camber all round?? Just a whiff of toe in on the front and about 1.5 deg toe in on the rear??

I'm pretty sure that what mine was set up to and it handles very well indeed!! Very balanced and controlable.

Mmmmm. Does anyone know where I can get my driveshaft shortened?- as there's no way I can achieve as little as 1.5 degrees toe-in on the rear.

[koss]

Yeah your about right Mark. From what i remember Caster was definatley 5 deg

I think it was 1.5 deg neg camber all round?? Just a whiff of toe in on the front and about 1.5 deg toe in on the rear??

I'm pretty sure that what mine was set up to and it handles very well indeed!! Very balanced and controlable.

Mmmmm. Does anyone know where I can get my driveshaft shortened?- as there's no way I can achieve as little as 1.5 degrees toe-in on the rear.

i had that problem so i altered the spacers on the rosejoints on the front of the wishbones to bring them
more outwards

[Dick Dastardly]

Yeah your about right Mark. From what i remember Caster was definatley 5 deg

I think it was 1.5 deg neg camber all round?? Just a whiff of toe in on the front and about 1.5 deg toe in on the rear??

I'm pretty sure that what mine was set up to and it handles very well indeed!! Very balanced and controlable.

Mmmmm. Does anyone know where I can get my driveshaft shortened?- as there's no way I can achieve as little as 1.5 degrees toe-in on the rear.

i had that problem so i altered the spacers on the rosejoints on the front of the wishbones to bring them
more outwards

Nope, fully spacered out I'm afraid. It p*sses me off a bit to be honest, that after buying this kit, and spending hour after hour getting all the little details right, the rear geometry can't be set up correctly without some pretty serious surgery, loads of hassle, and more expense. Believe me I've investigated every possible scenario, and the drive shaft's gotta get shorter.

[Dick Dastardly]

Some bloke in the pub gave me this video clip of a car which looks identical to mine, but I'd never drive mine this fast.....

Car like mine from bloke in pub

[maph2]

damn hooligans....

about your driveshaft issue, there's a guy over in bishops tachbrook who does machine work. he's just making up some longer alloy fuel rail connectors for my spaced out gsxr TB's. might be worth an enquiry?

take it that you had no problems with getting an MOT - did you go to southam mmc?

also, forgot to mention that our mini club meets at the fox in loxley every wednesday. we've got a couple of members who work for jaguar/landrover at gaydon.

Edited by maph2, 23 August 2006 - 10:01 AM.

[R1mini]

Nope, fully spacered out I'm afraid. It p*sses me off a bit to be honest, that after buying this kit, and spending hour after hour getting all the little details right, the rear geometry can't be set up correctly without some pretty serious surgery, loads of hassle, and more expense. Believe me I've investigated every possible scenario, and the drive shaft's gotta get shorter.

Speak to Chris should be sorted with no expense to you

Cheers
David