Hey guys,
Hope all is well. Can I pick your brains?
So I own a '05 Elise. Tons of fun. Have been a Porsche 911/911 turbo owner for 25 years doing DE's that entire time never with an incident.
I have done a few things to the Elise over this past winter. No engine mods, just a few suspension mods. Black Watch adjustable front sway (set on the third out of five holes-so stiffened up slightly over OEM) bar, BOE Adjustable TOE-NAS links, T3 steering arms, Sector 111 steering rack (my OEM inner tie rods started clunking). I currently run Dunlop Direzza ZII Star Spec rubber, no "R" comps yet. Stock shock/spring and ride height (obviously).
I took the full on race alignment specs that some folks sent me and had my guys dial in what I thought would be a nice compromise between OEM and full on race specs.
Front
Camber - (-2.00)
Caster - 3.25
Toe - 0.02in
Rear
Camber - (-2.50)
Toe - 0.10in
So several of my recent DE events have been in the rain (boo!!), but I have done that plenty of times in the Porsche. Two separate tracks and both times I have spun!!! No damage, no issues other than a badly bruised ego and questions about why this is happening. Snap oversteer, to much negative camber, to stiff on sway up front or not stiff enough, no "R" comps (which I would not want to run in the rain here in New England), new Sector 111 rack is actually to snappy OR is this all driver error (which I am afraid of!!)- lifting throttle in turns (I know not to do that!!), good throttle modulation, etc. But gee how ginger do I have to drive the car? No fun, not happy and worst of all I am losing confidence in the Elise where I have always been a very competent driver on and off the track.
One spin was on a back straight at Palmer here in MA (fast) and the spin literally occurred in a split second, yesterday at Thompson Raceway in CT the spin was on an "S" series of curves and I came in a little to tight on the apex rather than maintaining the rain line and she let loose. Slow speed, maybe 45mph.
So I am racking my brain trying to understand the handling characteristics of the Lotus vs. the 911 and why such subtle inputs are producing unwanted results.
Can some folks provide some input please? Let me know
Many thanks,
Henry Fisher
'05 Elise
'76 930
Hope all is well. Can I pick your brains?
So I own a '05 Elise. Tons of fun. Have been a Porsche 911/911 turbo owner for 25 years doing DE's that entire time never with an incident.
I have done a few things to the Elise over this past winter. No engine mods, just a few suspension mods. Black Watch adjustable front sway (set on the third out of five holes-so stiffened up slightly over OEM) bar, BOE Adjustable TOE-NAS links, T3 steering arms, Sector 111 steering rack (my OEM inner tie rods started clunking). I currently run Dunlop Direzza ZII Star Spec rubber, no "R" comps yet. Stock shock/spring and ride height (obviously).
I took the full on race alignment specs that some folks sent me and had my guys dial in what I thought would be a nice compromise between OEM and full on race specs.
Front
Camber - (-2.00)
Caster - 3.25
Toe - 0.02in
Rear
Camber - (-2.50)
Toe - 0.10in
So several of my recent DE events have been in the rain (boo!!), but I have done that plenty of times in the Porsche. Two separate tracks and both times I have spun!!! No damage, no issues other than a badly bruised ego and questions about why this is happening. Snap oversteer, to much negative camber, to stiff on sway up front or not stiff enough, no "R" comps (which I would not want to run in the rain here in New England), new Sector 111 rack is actually to snappy OR is this all driver error (which I am afraid of!!)- lifting throttle in turns (I know not to do that!!), good throttle modulation, etc. But gee how ginger do I have to drive the car? No fun, not happy and worst of all I am losing confidence in the Elise where I have always been a very competent driver on and off the track.
One spin was on a back straight at Palmer here in MA (fast) and the spin literally occurred in a split second, yesterday at Thompson Raceway in CT the spin was on an "S" series of curves and I came in a little to tight on the apex rather than maintaining the rain line and she let loose. Slow speed, maybe 45mph.
So I am racking my brain trying to understand the handling characteristics of the Lotus vs. the 911 and why such subtle inputs are producing unwanted results.
Can some folks provide some input please? Let me know
Many thanks,
Henry Fisher
'05 Elise
'76 930