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longsh07

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Posts posted by longsh07

  1. Suspension is a bit of a dark art. I've been asking about it for my Impreza over on the Type-RA forums. Slightly geared towards Impreza's but lots of useful info.

    http://www.type-ra.com/subaru-forum/threads/suspension-recommendations-99-wrx.28099/

     

    Assuming your suspension is currently standard, you could make the rear squat more by fitting a softer rear spring. Problem is I doubt you will find one without going down the route of fitting coilovers and specing bespoke spring rates. Changing this will likely mess up the handling totally, ruin the feel of the car and could induce unwanted or even dangerous handling characteristics.

     

    If you are set on changing the suspension then coilovers with damping adjustment and similar to stock spring rates is probably your best bet. You can use that to alter the front/rear balance a bit. Running more damping at the front will give you more rear end grip but induce more understeer.

    Some really useful info here: http://www.rapid-racer.com/suspension-tuning.php

     

    At the end of the day, changing your suspension will not make that much difference as its not the suspension that are in contact with the road. Your car can squat its back end all it likes but if the tyres cant grab the road then what good will it do?

     

    I know its not what you wanted to hear but Alex is right. Tyres first, then if you are still not happy, consider suspension next.

  2. Brembo HP Sport and Hawk PC (Performance Ceramic) pads are worth a look too. Really liked both of these, prefer the HP Sports.

    Of course, more track day focused stuff like DS2500's always get decent reviews.

    • Like 1
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    • Like 1
  4. 1 hour ago, Rshep1 said:

    Hoping to clarify on here instead of posting a new thread. 

     

    Is the tolerance referring to the difference in rolling diameter from standard wheel and tyre specs? 

     

    I have a set of 18" rpf1s to go on my z and am looking for track tyres e.g. Westlake. The fronts are 9.5j and the rears are 10.5j

     

    Any suggestions on tyre size and brand choices would be great 

    As @Ekona says, front/rear. Stock difference is 2.73% front to rear.

     

    I've run 19x8.5 and 19x9.5 (255/35 and 275/35) which is 2.12% different, and currently on 18x8.5 and 18x9.5 (245/40 and 265/40) which is 2.45%. neither had any TC problems.

     

    Personally I really like Yokahama AD08R's (current choice), not a 'true' track day tyre but very good!

  5. Must admit that seems a little on the cheap side though they would have to be R90 (so within 15% better or worse than original fit) so perfectly safe.

     

    Speak to the traders as coldel has said. If you want a bit more bite, maybe upgrade the pads. Discs aren't really worth upgrading unless you plan to track your car.

  6. 25 minutes ago, Jetpilot said:

    The driving test teaches you nothing but to pass you're test, if you have the ability to repeat a task (three point turn etc) you will pass, nothing in it suggests you have the ability to control a car or be safe (on the most part), let alone there is nothing regarding driving at the national speed limit or on mways.

     

    When i did my bike license the instructor simply stood outside the test centre and instructed you to drive round the block and surprised you somewhere with an emergency stop, i kid you not.

     

    I was in the boat industry and there is absolutely nothing needed to drive any boat in this country, its recommended but nothing to stop you buying a 70mph + jet ski, speed boat or come to that a million pound superyacht, its utter madness and positively scary when you see some people at the helm. 

    Pass plus covers motorway but is voluntary and a bit of a waste of time. Why they can't just add it to normal lessons/test I don't know. I thought I'd done dual carriage way in my normal lessons but that was a good few years ago.

     

    Sounds like we need better lessons for all methods of transport then!

  7. I'm echoing what others have said, maturity, experience, and ability.

     

    If someone is a 'bad' driver, lacking any sense of adaptability or self control then it doesn't matter if its a Corsa, a 350Z, or a Ferrari. They will bin it eventually at any age and it will only be shear luck that stops them from killing or injuring themselves or anyone around them.  I don't think anyone can claim to be a perfect driver but adapting to the situation and knowing where the line is is key. 

     

    When I did my ARDS they taught us that smoothness would develop speed and to drive at 95% of your ability because that 5% might just save you if something goes seriously wrong. If that's how they teach people to drive on track to then there is no way people should be getting anywhere near 95% ability on the road, let alone above that IMHO.

     

    Having written this I stated to wonder if actually the problem lies with driving lessons/test rather than the power of the car. Remember the first time you experienced understeer or oversteer? Unless it was in a controlled environment (even then...) I expect it was a brown trouser moment. Did your driving instructor teach you what to do? Did they even mention it beyond steer into a skid? I'm all in favor of car control being a mandatory part of the driving test. Let them find the limit in safety rather than putting others at risk! That or make advanced driving qualifications more accessible and obvious to general public rather than those who choose to go looking for them.

     

    I think @Ekona has a point. A limit for the first few years of driving (rather than age, though age implies maturity so I'm torn) might be good. But as I said above, you can still do life changing damage in a 1L Corsa.

     

    Back to the point, I bought my 350Z shortly after I turned 22 at which point I was ready for it. My previous car was a 1997 Toyota MR2 with no traction or stability control that I drove around on summer tyres all year round! To say it was a handful at times would be an understatement but I leaned a hell of a lot from that car. Had I not experienced that I think the 350 would have been too much of a handful and I'd have binned it by now!

  8. Just a quick post about the new DBA T3 4000 and Brmebo HP Sport brake setup. So far, very impressed!

    Initial drive was a disappointing I'll be honest. The brakes felt totally squishy and like they weren't doing a whole lot. Having just put some new YellowStuff pads on my Civic I think I was expecting a little too much as EBC's beding in coating does make brakes very sharp initially.

     

    The instructions with the pad didn't seem to mention anything about beding in so a quick google turned up 20x 60-20mph stops, 30 seconds in between, then 5 minutes easy driving to cool off. This is then followed by 8-10 80-10mph stops. Again 30 seconds to cool between and then 10 minutes cool off.

     

    60-20 stops are easy enough, been able to do this on my commute to work as there are a fair few roundabouts on 70mph roads. Also took a late night trip out on some much quieter roads to finish the last of the 20 60-20mph stops.

    Doing just this has made a world of difference! They bit really well and stop very quick now.

    80-10mph stops are a lot more difficult to do safely so I'll reserve these for private roads. Thankfully there is one genuine private road I can use that is just long enough to do the 80-10mph stops though its pretty narrow so turning around between runs is going to be fun :lol:

     

    So initial disappointment turned out to just be that fact there was no transfer of compound to the disc. As this is slowly building up the brakes are getting better and better. Chuffed with my purchase so far :thumbs:

  9. Afternoon.

    Going to take the plunge and order some new wheels. Hoping they will arrive before Japfest :thumbs:

    I may regret the colour choice but I've decided to go with some white (apparently I am glutton for punishment) Work Emotion T7R's.

     

    Size wise I'm going for 18x8.5 and 18x9.5 ET30 all round on Yokohama AD08R 245/40/18 front and 265/40/18 rear tyres.

    This setup has been meticulously considered. I've even got a spreadsheet that works out everything from poke/inset/ride height change to % difference (front vs rear - to keep TC happy), and speedo error.

     

    There are a number of reasons for this specific size:

    • 18" tyres are cheaper than 19". If I'm going to do track days I don't want to fork out crazy money on tyres regularly.
    • 8.5" and 9.5" are the same widths that I had when I ran LMGT4's. I thought the car felt so much better on these than on stock 18x8/18x8.5.
    • Offset of 30 was chosen for a couple of reasons. First no clearance issues to worry about so in future I can lower the car without and worry of wheels scrubbing and could also fit spacers if I decide I need a wider track. Second, the fronts work out as being 6mm further out than stock and 5mm further in than the LMGT4's. This gives a slightly wider track but should keep similar to stock handling characteristics. As for the rear, they are exactly the same offset and width as the LMGT4's so should make the car feel nice and planted where I find stock doesn't so much.
    • Last but not least, traction control. The car will be driven on the road where I will leave TC on so it needs to behave itself. These tyre sizes (245/40 and 265/40) work out at a 2.45% difference front vs rear. Stock is 2.73% and my LMGT4's (255/35 and 275/35) are 2.12%. These sit nicely in between. I had no issues with 255/35 - 275/35 and obviously no issue with stock 225/45 - 245/45 so I foresee no issue here.

    So all that mad ammount of research, consideration, time and effort, and then I go and decide on white wheels! :lol:

  10. I previously had a heater ECU with a damaged ribbon cable. It would randomly spin up at full blast or just stop entirely with all the lights out on the controls. I replaced it with a second hand unit from ZMANALEX.

    In mine I just have to lift the gear gaiter trim out to get to the ribbon cable and heater ECU. From there its possible to remove it without dissembling the rest of the console.

    • Like 1
  11. Morning all,

    Davey - Cheers chap :) its nice to have somewhere to work on the car at my own pace.

     

    Spent some more time this weekend working on the car. Rear brakes are now on too.

    176513780_33519230832_3d54b30235_o(1).jpg.40b61dd77cbdd33047ce7936ee1d5c0c.jpg

     

    Also got time to do the front and rear drop links. For anyone thinking of DIYing this job, yes its perfectly doable but its a pain. If you don't have a lot of space or a large selection of tools I'd consider paying someone to do it.

     

    The bolts are in pretty fiddly positions and will likely have seized. Even with copious amounts of penetrating oil they still put up a fight. The rear isn't too bad, finding a position for the breaker bar is the trickiest thing. The fronts are much easier to get at but the little steel retaining thing that is supposed to wedge against the ARB to stop the drop link spinning is a lot of s**t. On both sides as it came into contact with the ARB is just bent! If this happens, get the hammer out and bash it back into shape as best you can. Find a dremel or angel grinder and cut a slot in the nut and thread. Dont need to go all the way through, this allowed the nut to come off with much less force and without bending the metal clip again.

     

    End result was worth it though. There is something to be said about the pride you feel when you finally finish a job like this :thumbs:

     

    Front:

    33635157196_b4d340a653_o.jpg.4b43fe67d8a65568184c532e71403acf.jpg

     

    Rear:

    33291849720_e3b25a05eb_o.jpg.a7a44d549003b94fc43540fc0d92612b.jpg

     

    Interestingly, on the rear passenger side there is a little bracket attached to the ARB. This in tern has a little arm connecting it to a sensor of some description.

    33291849850_4ba683ef2a_o.jpg.bc1cf740297dec6d6df0900a087d4d66.jpg

     

    33675898085_4a8f631403_o.jpg.f6fa6df1b77b4cc33e3a4812ccc331ab.jpg

     

    33635157156_8fc7ab052a_o.jpg.9a7d639f9f3c3df6d54659d65fe95628.jpg

     

    Anyone know what this is? The service manual doesn't mention it in the rear suspension diagram. I assume its something to do with stability/traction control or maybe the yaw control?

  12. In the process of fitting some whiteline ARB drop links, rear is all done but struggling with the front. I can't get the top of the link (the site that connects to the ARB) to go in as it seems like the thread is too long causing the drop link to hit the suspension strut. Not trying forcing it but I don't seem to want to go on easy. Anyone done this before and experienced the same thing?

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