"Paul M." wrote:
>
> My 1971 Tourer has 14x5.5 wheels with 195/60-14 tires,
> but the rest of the suspension is bone stock. It has
> TONS of grip, but not a lot of roll stiffness. That
> said, I don't want a ton of understeer, because
> although I use the car 99% of the time on the road
> (driven quite hard), I do take it to the track several
> times a year.
>
I put the 7/8 "bar and nolathane bushings on the front with the specific
aim of minimising the lifting of a rear wheel in heavy, tight cornering.
It achieved this aim while initially frightening me with the sudden
introduction of understeer when I was used to the "built in" oversteer.
I found I was able to manage this with technique and just the knowledge
that this was going to occur (before it did). It was less pronounced
with the stickier tyres (I run on 195/60 soft compound Bridgestone
Potenzas) and is now mostly a non-issue with added negative camber (only
1.5 degrees - which is significant because the car came standard with
about .5 degrees positive camber!).
Anything left of the "lifting rear wheel" issue has now been mostly
negated by the inclusion of the LSD and I have even considered trying
the lighter weight front bar again but haven't done so yet.
She handles nice and flat through even some extreme corners at speed but
the "plough" is still there, especially with cold tyres. I use standard
lever-arm shocks with up-rated damper valves.
"G.G. Causey" wrote:
>
> It also requires reinforcing the mounting points front and
> rear, since they tend to rip out of the stock sheet metal.
Oh yeah, please note this wise advice. I tore the front bar mounting
points out and it wasn't much fun at all.
I have done all of the above based on trial and error and some advice
from those who have been in the game nany years more than I have. The
pity is that I have trialled many of my "guesses" first, and only sought
advice after they failed or achieved nasty results. I guess it is like
trying to get a bloke to stop and ask directions... we usually only do
so after we have to finally concede we are lost.
OH here are some links to some pictures from the other weekend:
My car sitting flat on a pretty hard righthand corner (pardon the dodgy
"tape" number, I just got my new two-digit number and didn't have the
proper numbers made up yet :-)
http://www.maximumattack.biz/photogallery/2004_11_27-MSCA%20Twilight/pages/DSC_4088.html
And some body roll to consider...
http://www.maximumattack.biz/photogallery/2004_11_27-MSCA%20Twilight/pages/DSC_4162.html
http://www.maximumattack.biz/photogallery/2004_11_27-MSCA%20Twilight/pages/DSC_4069.html
--
Eric
'68MGB MkII
Adelaide, South Australia
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