I bought my car with Koni yellows on them so i don't know how stiff they are right now, but i found out last autocross that i definately need to soften them up. I am not a very experienced driver (read: smooth) and the back end comes around very easily. I was thinking maybe changing it to soft as can be on the back and 1/4 soft in front, how would this be? Any suggestions? thanks

 

the best bet is to go out and try a bunch of different settings. Everybody like there car set-up a different way. I suggest burning a Day at the track just testing different settings, Don't go by the seat of you pants method until it's where you like it then do a several laps and mark down the time. do small adjustments and keep doing laps and keep track of time until it's where you like it and you have the fastest times. Also don't change anything else on the car while setting your struts. E.G. changing tire pressure may help also but changing both may have negative effects on each other. Good luck and expect a long day

 

What kind of car? What spring rates? What sway bars?

But, it's generally advisable to start full soft and move up. Try full soft on the shocks all around and tire pressures like:

Hoosiers - 46F 40R
Kumhos - 38F 32R
Azenis - 40F 32R
Various street tires 44F 34R

That should give you a very stable platform. If you still feel the car is loose then consider this:

If you are not a very experienced autoxer then its probably not the car that is causing your spins but you. Next time you spin, try to remember if you lifted off the gas right before the spin. This is called lift-throttle oversteer and its a classic mistake.

Regards,
Alan

 

keep in mind im stock, but with azenis i need about 38psi rear to get any sort of rotation.

 

I have an 88 CRX DX with Eibach sportines, no sway bars and kumho victoracers. I tried 30F/28R last time and although the tires rolled over, the suspension was too hard and i ended up putting the pressures down to 26F/24R. No roll over but atleast i wasnt getting oversteer. 30F/28R is around where i was told they should be at, so i will put them up to that when adjusting shocks. My konis are not adjustable from the top of the car, so its more time consuming to change them.(i dont have the know-how or the equipment right now). with this in mind, where is a good starting point?

 

those tire pressure are about 8-10 lbs too low.

 

for autocross or road race? my dad only starts with 28F/30R in his RA1s on the type R. This is that others have been using too.

 

for autocross

 

I run 36-38 front and 30-32 rear on the victoracers.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">those tire pressure are about 8-10 lbs too low.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I disagree... Though it will vary from car to car and setup to setup. The only tire I've run that wasn't noticably less then then those numbers were the victoracers.

EDIT : To stay on topic... the shock settings you mention sound pretty good for a starting point.

EDIT2 : Sorry RJ just figured out the tire pressures you were refering to...


Modified by Watkinsm3 at 11:05 PM 6/30/2003

 

that shouldnt be bad for autox, i run 26 rear, 32 front right now and it works good

 

I will keep the suspension settings the way they are and experiment with the pressures. i will start with around 38F/36R then move to see the difference thanks guys

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by markw &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I run 36-38 front and 30-32 rear on the victoracers.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I ran 36-38 front and 38-40 rear, depending on weather and course.

 

I'm running 20 psi all the way around right now. Kumho Ecsta V700, 225/45-15 on 15x7 Axis Mag Lite rims. Chassis is an 89 Civic STD (1,950 lbs). The car is pretty stiff, and has reasonable camber (2.5 in the front, 2 in the rear). I don't even get over to the little arrows on the sidewalls. The car drives well, and handles very predictably. I'm getting good results (after a 7 year break) in a car that gives up about 80-90 hp to the leaders in the class (Miatas prepped fully to the rules).

I am even leaving some rubber on the insides of the tires pretty much untouched. I think I need a little more camber (maybe 3 degrees), but then I'd have to lower the pressures further, and I'd be afraid that the tire might dismount. However, for that to happen, the tire would have to roll over pretty far, and that's just not happening. Anyone have any thoughts? I'm also doing well keeping that "groove of doom" at bay. It's starting to happen, but I have 8 events on the tires, on a very abrasive concrete surface (airport runway). There is still about 80% tread left, and I'm using Formula V Traction Treatment to keep the tires from heat cycling into rocks.

 

Hello Jaker,
At BB in my Integra at 2400lbs, I ran 37F 38R with 2.75 degrees of camber in the front and 1.75 in the rear on V700's. 20 psi is way low even in a lighter car like yours.

 

Marc,

What would I gain from going with a higher pressure? Everyone I talk to says the pressure is too low, but the car is sticking, and the tire is not rolling over. I am pretty low on power right now (maybe 80-85 whp), but I don't see that as a factor. I'm consistantly about 2 seconds off Chris Chu on a 60 second course and 1 second off on a 30 second course. I put that down to the long layoff, and the need for more seat time, as well as the massive power deficit.

Please give me some pointers. I want to make up the time, and will be addressing the power issue, but it would be sweet to get closer to Chris' times with 1/2 the horsepower.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TDRacing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have an 88 CRX DX with Eibach sportines, no sway bars and kumho victoracers. I tried 30F/28R last time and although the tires rolled over, the suspension was too hard and i ended up putting the pressures down to 26F/24R. No roll over but atleast i wasnt getting oversteer. 30F/28R is around where i was told they should be at, so i will put them up to that when adjusting shocks. My konis are not adjustable from the top of the car, so its more time consuming to change them.(i dont have the know-how or the equipment right now). with this in mind, where is a good starting point?</TD></TR></TABLE>

what makes you say the supsension was "too hard"? with your suspension and lack of swaybars, i'd say your suspension is way to soft. if it seems harsh, it's probably because you are hitting the bumpstops.

for your level of experience, using tyre rollover to set your pressures is a bad way to do it. your level of aggressiveness and consistant ability to properly load the tyres and suspension aren't good enough to use tyre rollover as any type of measure. what you'll find is that as you get more aggressive and drive the car harder, you will get more tyre rollover. copy other people's tyre pressures and keep working on the driving aspect.

nate

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jaker &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm running 20 psi all the way around right now. Kumho Ecsta V700, 225/45-15 on 15x7 Axis Mag Lite rims. Chassis is an 89 Civic STD (1,950 lbs). </TD></TR></TABLE>

Are you using a good pressure gauge? Seriously, if you are not getting any rollover, either your pressures are much higher than 20 or you are not pushing hard enough or you have way too much negative camber (but you say that the insides are not worn so that does not make sense). Has any top driver in your region given you an opinion? Someone who can look at the car while you are driving it and maybe drive it themselves? It sounds way way way too low for autocross pressures on Kumhos. Have you checked your gauge against someone else's?

Whatever your circumstance I caution giving the 20psi value as advice to anyone else.

 

I have verified the accuracy of my gauge against 3 others. It IS accurate (1/2 pound either way). This situation has many people here dumbfounded. I can only think that the tire is too big for my setup (too wide). Maybe its just not possible for the car to work it hard enough. I've yet to do any tire temps, but that will be the next course of action. I don't know what I'll do if I ever run on asphalt (normally lower pressures).

None of the top drivers have driven my car, but some have ridden with me, and many have watched, and all have said that other than the unusually low pressures, the car is behaving quite well and sticking as it should. And none of them doubt that I'm pushing the car hard enough.

 

Do what you wish. However you're ignoring good advice.

 

Hey Jaker, I asked you at the autocross what pressures you used and everyone said to ignore what you were using. I am getting good advice, all I need now is to test out my theories and get more seat time, too bad the next non competitive autocross is over a month away. thanks guys

 

VCMC is having an Open Club Practice Event (non-members welcome) on Saturday July 12. You SHOULD probably ignore my settings. For some crazy reason they're working for me. I can't explain why, but they are. I was 6th overall at the last Provincial Champ event.

 

Just to add to a previous post, I run 45 in the fronts and 35 in the rears on my victoracers... It all depends on what the track is like, and where I need to be fast.