I'm currently running 42 psi front/48 psi rear on 205/50/15 Azenis on my grocery getting Passat for auto-x, and I'm getting a good decent amount of rotation and minimal sidewall rollover, without it being entirely tailhappy and oversteering coming out of corners. And I can achieve snap oversteer quite easily in case I need to drift through some slaloms. So I'm pretty satisfied there. This Monday, I'm heading up to NHIS for an HPDE, and was wondering, what's a decent starting point for tire pressures on a road course, given a good balanced auto-x setup above?

Pyrometers won't due me any good, because there's about zero aftermarket options for a Passat (naturally). Basically, nothing on my suspension is adjustable (no camber adjustments, no shock rebound adjustments, ONLY toe adjustments, which isn't something that I can adjust between runs anyways), so even if I knew that my tires were gettin' cooked on the inside edge, I couldn't do anything about it.

So, any suggestions would be cool. Thanks.

 

Just remember that the tires will build more heat during the HPDE then autoX SO the pressure might rise beyond what is safe for the tires, I would try a lower setting and then work it up to where you feel comfortable.

Be sure to check the air psi immediately after running the first session and see where the wear is.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stealthx32 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Pyrometers won't due me any good, because there's about zero aftermarket options for a Passat (naturally). Basically, nothing on my suspension is adjustable (no camber adjustments, no shock rebound adjustments, ONLY toe adjustments, which isn't something that I can adjust between runs anyways),
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KONI make adjustable shocks and coil-over height adjustable spring and shocks kit as well.

 

I'd love to have the adjustability of the KONIs for the Passat, but to actually be able to adjust the rebound requires disassembling the entire front suspension assembly.

 

i always started out at about 38 on the fronts and 39lbs on the rear, with the idea that they'd heat up to about 41 or 42 lbs.

but that's on a rwd car with nearly 50 50 distribution and is probably a few hundred pounds lighter.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stealthx32 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'd love to have the adjustability of the KONIs for the Passat, but to actually be able to adjust the rebound requires disassembling the entire front suspension assembly. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Externally adjustable Koni "yellows" aren't available for the Passat?

 

Well. I took a random stab, and I did pretty well (rollover down to that little arrow that's on the Azenis). 39 front/45 rear @ NHIS became 48/53 on my extremely nose heavy, FWD monster w/ Carbotech Panther XPs. Worked out very nicely and gave me a nice, neutral slide whenever I cooked the braking zones and turned in late.

And nope, no externally adjustables for the Passat.

 

There are all kinds of aftermarket options for the Passat suspensions. New Dimensions sells CPP's control arm and endlinks to replace the OEM units so you can get more adjustable camber and toe. I wish my Mk4 had bits like that commonly available

They may change your classing, but have you looked at any of the KW or Bilstein coilover options for your car? H&R may offer the new RSS ClubSport kit for you, too. I'm going with PSS9s soon, FWIW.

-Adam