Track pack & auto X

[willhogan]

Searched the forum and no clear answers...

Elise with track pack running A048's. Rear's are new but fronts are basically shot.

Thinking about going with a set of R888.

Anyhow, mostly street & mountain road driving with occasional track and auto X runs.

Don't want the BWR bar, not looking for Hoosiers or V710's. I want R's for the street and track on one set of rims with my existing track pack set up.

I'm having an issue with the car pushing, front bar is in the mid setting and shocks are set to Lotus track set up.

Will 205's make a difference over 195's with this car?

Some people suggest the front track pack bar at max stiffness... Others suggest stiff rear shocks and soft front...

I've removed all shims up front and could use some proven suggestions given my existing set up with the exception of new tires which I will purchase.

Should I crank my front bar and try things out with new rubber or leave it?

Lets hear some thoughts.

Cheers,

[willhogan]

Nobody?

[apk919]

Get as much negative camber in the front as possible (with the stock suspension). In my experience, it has the largest effect on front grip.

If you're running in a stock class, that mean no shims except for the ABS brackets. Otherwise, machine your steering arms/uprights or get a set of modified steering arms.

Heavy use of trailbraking will help get the car to turn in, but doesn't do much for you mid corner or on exit...

Lower the front ride height to 120mm

Also, I believe you <b>soften</b> the front sway bar for less understeer....

[fpitas]

Originally Posted by apk919

Get as much negative camber in the front as possible (with the stock suspension). In my experience, it has the largest effect on front grip.

If you're running in a stock class, that mean no shims except for the ABS brackets. Otherwise, machine your steering arms/uprights or get a set of modified steering arms.

Heavy use of trailbraking will help get the car to turn in, but doesn't do much for you mid corner or on exit...

Lower the front ride height to 120mm

Also, I believe you <b>soften</b> the front sway bar for less understeer....

Usually true, but if a car leans a fair amount, the reduction in front positive camber can make a big enough difference that the bigger front bar can cause less understeer. It happened to a small extent when I put the 7/8" bar on the Elise, and I've had it happen rather dramatically on other cars. Of course, if you crank in enough static negative camber in front the effect goes away.

[apk919]

Originally Posted by fpitas

Usually true, but if a car leans a fair amount, the reduction in front positive camber can make a big enough difference that the bigger front bar can cause less understeer. It happened to a small extent when I put the 7/8" bar on the Elise, and I've had it happen rather dramatically on other cars. Of course, if you crank in enough static negative camber in front the effect goes away.

That makes sense...

[aschen]

My non-professional opinion is that the fronts being way more worn/heat cycled than the rears is your problem. The Bwr sway bar really helped my car (on streets) because it tamed the rear end and helped keep the inside rear planted to power out more agressively. I dont think stiffening the front sway is a good recipe to reduce understeer in these cars....

[willhogan]

Im confused... I thought the BWR bar is stiffer than the stiffest setting on the track pack bar.

Therefore stiff is exactly what you've got.

[aschen]

Originally Posted by willhogan

Im confused... I thought the BWR bar is stiffer than the stiffest setting on the track pack bar.

Therefore stiff is exactly what you've got.

Exactly, but I most deffinately was not trying to cure understeer. I was trying to cure a twitchy rear end which the bwr bar accomplised well.

[Surferjer]

The Elise faces the painful issue of a push and rear wheel spin, even with a limited slip. The push can be dealt with other ways, but you must keep rear wheels on the ground to put down the power, especially coming out of a turn. Pick your poison, there is no magic elixir. With adjustable shocks there are other things you can do to help, but the core problem never truly goes away.

[Green Ghost]

First get new tires. If your fronts are shot you will never stop this car from pushing.

I have TP on my car but I also have a limited slip dif. My car now is a little bit loose in the rear. I have removed front shims, I think I removed 2 shims (from both sides) rear, and my swaybar is in the middle.

Before I removed the front shims I had the swaybar adjusted to P4, a longer lever arm, trying to get the front to stick better. After removing the front shims my car was vary lose in the rear and would swap ends vary EZ. Had to remove rear shims and reposition the swaybar back to P3 to get it to balance out. Now I like it and the rear is just a little loose. I may try the swaybar in P2 just to try it out.

Well that’s what I have done so far.
Also double-check your ride height.

Just to be sure I’m remembering my terms right….

Push/understeer >> you go straight and crash with the nose of the car. Go softer on the front swaybar to get less push. (if this car had a rear swaybar you could go stiffer in the rear too)

Loose/oversteer >> you spin and crash ass first. (if this car had a rear swaybar you could soffen the rear too)

The side that losses grip has to much stiffness relative to the side that sticks.

If I got this backwards someone set me straight.

[sandsmuseum]

In my experience, both the Exige and the Elise suffer from corner entry understeer. It is made worse by too fast corner entry and the car responds well to slow in - fast out.

The problem is even worse with a limited slip differential and the LSD slows the outside rear tire more than the inside due to engine compression.

I found a slight change in my driving style helped tremendously, as a less aggressive corner entry, earlier braking, helped reduce the understeer.

Michael