How do you tune you car??

[Martini Focus]

I was wondering how you guys tune the suspension on your car.

I spent so much time focusing on getting a clean run at every event last year I never really considered "tuning" from run to run. My runs weren't really consistent enough anyway to know if a change made much difference.

While I spent time learning the basics of marking tires which seemed to help drop my initial run times I want to go further.

I'm hoping that after I finish my driving schools this winter/spring I can get to a point at which it will be consistent enough that I can start to feel from run to run how the car is working.

[Marsh]

It depends on what available to you. If your car us stock then there's not much you can do except change tire pressures. Mind you significant changes can be made with pressure. If you have shocks then you can change shock damping too. Some poeple with camber plates will mess with camber between runs, but rarely. I treat alignment as a "between events" or even "between seasons" issue.

[Logan]

Let's talk about corner weighting.

Prepare the car the same way that it will be used on race day (everything OUT, driver IN) find some scales, and drive up on 'em.

Now you can adjust your coilovers to distribute the weight a little bit f/r or l/r.

This is how I assume it works, having never actually done it.

Who has corner weight scales?

[Martini Focus]

My current setup is as follows.

Front: 26 way double adjustable Leda Coilovers with 325lb 10" x 2.5" hypercoil springs.
Lowered 1.5" from stock.
Stock 18mm sway bar.
I have no ability to adjust camber, caster or toe.

Rear. 26 way double adjustable Leda Shock.
Ground control adjustable sleeve with 375lb x 8" x 2.5" hypercoil springs.
Lowered 1" from stock
Focus Central adjustable toe bar.
I have no ability to adjust camber, caster
Stock 20mm sway bar.

I also have extra sets of 450lb and 500lb springs for both the front and rear.


Do you test your setting changes on the track or at an event? Or is there some top secret spring test day where you can try different settings over and over and over again under the same conditions.

[Shaman]

I like the feel of a monkey wrench in my hand, personally.

[haniforama]

Front toe is adjustable for sure - just crank the tie-rods in or out.

Front camber is adjustable by the use of crash bolts on the Focus.

I tend to choose a shock setting based on previous event history and only make changes if the car feels very different. Certain more bumpy lots (WOSCA) i tend to run less shock in the rear. PITL events with their near glass smooth surfaces i run full stiff.
Corvette i tend to run a touch softer since they have higher speed corners mixed in there.

Tire pressures i tend to start 1-2 psi higher than i normally would (i'm also protecting the tires too) since i tend to overdrive the first run and then bleed off from there (starting with the front).

I run my car extremely loose compared to most people so with 10K front and 14K rear springs, i run the shocks nearly full soft up front and nearly full stiff out rear. With 225-50-15" Kumho Victoracers on 15 X 7" rims, i run 40-44psi hot front, 36-40psi hot rear. With 205-50-15" Toyo RA-1's on 15 X 7@ rims, i run 44-48 hot front, 40-46 hot rear.

I have slightly different settings (but following the same trends) for my Integra.

I cannot stress the importance of an alignment enough. An alignment car make the car feel alive or completely dead. I've had a couple of decent alignments in the past, but had a run of some crappy ones in the middle. I had a sweet one at the beginning of this year at Wheel and Tire Zone which finally corrected my left-right cornering bias i had (i had a caster imbalance). I run pretty agressive settings including 1/8" toe-out in the rear (in keeping with my loose setup). I'm therefore quite picky about who drives my car since it's 99% likely they'll loop it if they aren't fully awake :)

Hanif

[haniforama]

10K = approx 550lbs/in
14K = approx 770lbs/in

[J.C.]

Hanif's setup seems pretty good but these things tend to be car & driver specific. So what works for him may or may not work fo you Simon. That rear toe will make the car quite twitchy so if you setup something like that make sure to drive it somewhere safe to get used to it. It is especially noticeable at highway speeds. A temperature gauge is also handy to find out if your contact patches are even. The more even the more grip and better tire wear. Your best bet is to find a forum wich consists mainly of people that race/autocross Focii. Just remeber driving style will also affect wich setup works best for you.

[ice/solo racer]

I ummm,had this little top secret testing location but then I went and held a regional event there(duh!).
If my club up here can afford to get affiliated and therefore become insured properly then test and tune days my well be possible.The track as most will remember is a little rough so it isn't a bad test location.
With regards to tuning,doing the testing/set-up exclusively at the event is a little tough unless the car is close to begin with because of the time frame between runs and that your testing on an unfamiliar course so comparing times isn't to indicative of chassis improvements/mistakes.
With my car being rwd my set-up has some differences to the front drives but off the trailer I'll run softer shock settings all the way around and slightly higher tire pressures.Once the course is cleaned and the tires/pavement start to get some heat in them-usually by the 3rd run I'll firm up the shocks 1 click front 2 in the rear(depends on heat,pavement grip etc.) and drop pressures(I also run khumo's but nearly 10lbs lower than Hannif's hot pressures).
I also never touch alignment during the event,it should be set bfore you arrive IMO,as changing camber also changes toe which a bad thing(most likely anyway depending on steering arm placement)setting rear toe out at the event may not be too bad as long as you have the adjusters marked for street and track somehow.
You'll just need to continue to do exactly what your doing(and what continue to do as well)in asking questions and trying different things to arrive at settings that work for your car and driving style.Some guys like Hannif and myself amoung others like a tail happy car but others simply don't.I bet the guy that drove the silver subie into that equipment in Brampton has toned down his rear bar,springs and or toe out settings a little!:o

[TFGR]

Originally posted by Martini Focus
I was wondering how you guys tune the suspension on your car.

I spent so much time focusing on getting a clean run at every event last year I never really considered "tuning" from run to run. My runs weren't really consistent enough anyway to know if a change made much difference.

While I spent time learning the basics of marking tires which seemed to help drop my initial run times I want to go further.

I'm hoping that after I finish my driving schools this winter/spring I can get to a point at which it will be consistent enough that I can start to feel from run to run how the car is working.

Go see Pete Mills @ The Wheel & Tire Zone! He can help you out!