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Penske DA with the street/track springs (500/700)
Sector111 Steering arm
RE-71R tires in 205 front 245 rear
I have found that 120mm is the lowest I can run the car in this area without hitting everyting. I am still destroying my splitter at that height on the track. So this sets a baseline for where my front height should be. From this my rear height should be ~123 I am told is this OK?
Then from there what camber and toe settings would be best? I drive this car semi daily and I drive it 5 miles to the track semi daily. I also use it for AX but that is less important.
My thoughts on the alignment are to go
toe: 1/4 out front 1/16 in rear
Camber 3° Front 2° Rear
My track is really bumpy especially in the braking zones, here is a lap I did:
do you have some other suspension mods if you're planning to get -3* out of the front? If your stock the most you're going to get is a -1*, if you shave the arms or buy aftermarket you may be able to get -2.5*. I think you'll be shaving the hub or running different length a-arms to get more than that?
What is your current alignment and what do you want to change?
My current alignment is -2.1 front and -2 rear with the same toe and the sway bar all the way soft. I am sure that the sway bar needs to be harder for my tight bumpy track. The camber I am just wanting more as it seems taht more is always better on this sort of tire. I am getting some weird action at the limits of my turning at low/medium speed that I think is the tire running out of camber and losing grip.
You'd better go have a look at your front suspension- do you have any shims left? Lotus did make different shim sizes but in general i think its .25* per shim assuming there's any in there. You may not be able to get more camber with your current setup.
Typically street tires don't like a ton of camber. Ever run with A048 or R888? I wonder if you're just over driving the tires you've got... RE71R I'm sure are great but wouldn't be surprised if they are like their RE-11 cousins, great cold, ok for a few laps, easily gets greasy.
You've described your track as bumpy, I would think harder sway bar may make problems worse.
Lotus tends to understeer in low speed corners, its a delicate balance as far as I can tell. You want to try and push weight up front initiating the turn, but
- too much and you exceed tire grip and slide
- too little and there isn't enough weight on the front end to make it bite
Just for reference sake (and I don't care about tire wear):
F: -1.9*, 0 toe, 125mm
R: -2.6*, 3mm total toe in, 130mm
OEM front swaybar on the middle setting (believe BWR sway bar is stiffer, not sure how lowest setting equates to stock bar)
Suggest posting that video in the track video thread, maybe others can comment. How much previous track experience do you have, and in what?
Your spring rates are high and you have a lot of camber up front, yet the tires you are running aren't that sticky. The spring rate and front camber you are running is probably more appropriate for slicks. I would back off the front camber by half a degree. Maybe add a bit of rear camber.
Use a pyrometer to get your camber and tire pressures good. Then you can play with the shock settings. Way too many variables to give you an exact setup.
If there are 2 more shims, the most you're going to get is like -2.5*. Maybe a little more if its 2 shims + the abs bracket. I've got the same arms and I'm sitting @ -2* with just the abs bracket. .
Here's sector's recommendation, its a good place to start by my recollection:
Its probably not going to be overly friendly to tires.
I realize you're just trying to get the car setup nice, but at this stage, there is far more time for you to find with an instructor or riding with people faster than you (bonus points if its a lotus or maybe a 911). I think youd be better served worrying the most about adjusting your driving style to drive the car fast rather than trying to adjust the car to your current driving style.
Also remember splitters are a sacrificial part. You will rub and you will wear it out on a track car. Just part of the price to play.
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