Ownership Log – ERA#2124

[Fullchat289]

This past Sat., my local driving club hosted an autocross at the James Wood High School in Winchester, VA. It was a great day for it with temps in the low 80’s and overcast skies. The lot is long and narrow and FTD was logged by an FFR somewhere in the 44.6s range. My best time for the day was a 47.45 and good for a top 12 raw out of 75 entries. Main learnings for the day included some observations from others that I was lifting a front tire in turns (captured in a photo below) and that my Power Steering project can’t get started quick enough…I know I have the potential to close the gap on the quick FFR guys. So the ERA rear in my car has the standard height adjustable Spax with the Eibach 400in/lb springs. I’m thinking of moving up about 50% on the rate and going a bit shorter than the 9” free length on the Eibachs as adjusting the springs to the setting I want to achieve my desired ride height takes the adjustment collars to the very bottom of the shock body on the Spax.

Here are a couple shots taken by others during my heat. I’ve also included a video taken with my friend’s new GoPro…The quality isn’t as good as other GoPro vids I’ve seen, but he’s attributing that to the overcast skies and his own post-processing.. Enjoy!







- Allen.

[ERA2076]

Originally Posted by Fullchat289

- Allen.

Allen - I realize it's been awhile, but I am hoping you can answer some questions. I am getting ready to reassemble my front suspension. Parts went to powder coat this morning. I tried to go back and read as much as I could but I may have missed something.

Things I am interested in

1) Did you ever rub?
2) How much bump travel did you have front and rear?
3) I assume you hit the body before the shock limited.
4) Did you have to bump stop it?
5) Were you able to run the lower front control arms flat?
6) What was your ride height front & rear?
7) Did you ever increase the Spring rate?
8) Do you think we need more rear bar? You stated you were at the adjustment limit.
9) Diameter of the tires?
10) Toe?
11) Caster?
12 Camber?
13) Is it possible we have too much front bar?

Appreciate any help

cliff

[Fullchat289]

Originally Posted by ERA2076

Allen - I realize it's been awhile, but I am hoping you can answer some questions. I am getting ready to reassemble my front suspension. Parts went to powder coat this morning. I tried to go back and read as much as I could but I may have missed something.

Things I am interested in

1) Did you ever rub? – Yes, with the 295 frt and 315 rr A6’s there was a bit of rub inside top portion of the lip on the rear fender, and a bit on the rear inside of the front at full lock. The minor rubbing in the Rear could be solved with ride height adjustment, which I didn’t do b/c of not wanting to disturb my “street stance”. With the Front, I found that my RH hard brakeline was a bit deformed at the frame rail connection point, but I suspect this happened with low-speed maneuvering and not during auto-x transitions

2) How much bump travel did you have front and rear? – Honestly, I’m not sure. I never got that measurement-specific

3) I assume you hit the body before the shock limited. – Never saw this in the front, but in the rear due to my rear ride height.

4) Did you have to bump stop it? – Just used what is stock with the Spax dampers.

5) Were you able to run the lower front control arms flat? - I would have to double check this, but I believe my current ride height results in the LCA’s being “flat”, yes.

6) What was your ride height front & rear? – No sure. As I never got that measurement specific. I basically ran what I thought was aesthetically pleasing with my street tire set-up. I go for a more tucked in, lower ride height in the rear while a bit raised in the front, making the car look like it’s launching forward and at speed from the side profile. I believe to get better traction to the front, which the car desperately needs, it should have a bit of forward rake to move bias towards the front.

7) Did you ever increase the Spring rate? – no…thought about it a bit for the rear to help in rotation, but never went that far.

8) Do you think we need more rear bar? You stated you were at the adjustment limit. – yes, that is true, but it could be any combination of things to balance the car to get more grip at the front.

9) Diameter of the tires? – Hoosier says the 295-35/17 and 315-35/17 are 25.3” and 25.6” respectively

10) Toe? – Never played with this. The owner who had the car before me had an alignment performed per the standard street settings ERA recommendations. I’ve not changed any of it.

11) Caster? – Street settings as recommended per ERA

12 Camber? – Street settings as recommended per ERA

13) Is it possible we have too much front bar? – I suppose it’s possible, but I never unhooked it to see what the result was. A6 tires cover up a multitude of chassis and driver sins, so to fully uncover these details, it would be good to iterate adjustments in a controlled environment on street tires. I just never took the time to do that and sadly haven’t autocrossed the car for over two years. The drag of schlepping big fat A6 tires combined with the fact that I was about 2 sec faster in my STi on street tires vs the Cobra sent my focus in other places. I wish I could be of more technical help to you, but all I can offer from my experience is that power steering and more focused chassis set-up are two areas that the car could definitely have benefited from. As for now, that’s on the back burner for me.

Good luck with your own ambitions, Cliff, and please feel free to bounce things off of me whenever you wish.

- Allen.
_________________________________________________

Appreciate any help

cliff

[ERA2076]

Thanks Allen

chr