You're right. Setting a toe-in other than zero does nothing for performance. I'm only doing it because I don't like the daily driving dynamics. I do a fair amount of highway driving 80+ and I don't like the slight wandering that happens with zero toe-in. I'm not really setting up for the max performance in autocross or track. I'm just trying to get a good compromise between performance and daily driving with the DD requirements rated slightly above the performance requirements.
SouthWest Divisional Results Results: The SOWDIV Divisional was held in San Antonio, hosted by SASCA (my main club). STX had only 3 entries: Me, Terry Fair from Vorshlag in the company 2011 Red Mustang GT and Craig Robson in a blue, stock RX-8 with mediocre tires. Both guys out drove me but I came in second. Craig's RX-8 is nice and he drove it well but the config/set up was not up to STX yet. His main issue was the tires. Terry's GT was in premo condition. A bit of a monster and he drove it well. The final scores for the 8 runs over two days was: Mustang GT: 80.005 secs GreyLenz: 82.907 secs RX-8: 85.376 secs I lost most of the ground on the first day. On the second day I did much better: Mustang GT: 37.881 GreyLenz: 38.217 RX-8: 40.376 I was pleased with my first divisional. Both Terry and Craig were great competitors and very helpful. Terry Fair of Vorshlag is a great guy and I'm a big fan of their product. I highly recommend their new variable camber plates. BTW: The '86 Class Hopping CIVIC that has been dominating STX in the local events chickened out and moved to ST for this Divisional so he could be assured of a 1st place trophy, which he won. The competition there was definitely much lighter. I'm sure he moved mainly because of Terry's 2011 Mustang sponsored by Vorshlag. It is a nicely prepped machine as you might imagine. But, I beat the CIVIC's time on the second day!! SUSPENSION ISSUES...Ride Height and Alignment: When we installed the AST 5100's, 70N/mm Swift Springs and Vorshlag camber plates we set a pretty low ride height...mainly because we ran out of time and I had to get going. My intent was always to stay close to stock ride height but what the heck, right? We ended up at about 1 1/4" lower than stock. Well, over the last couple of months the overall set up resulted in significant improvements in handling but it was still behaving badly in some ways. K-huevo thought it might just be too low of ride height. So, this last weekend I moved it back up to right around 3/8" below stock. Current Ride Height measured from the ground to wheel well apex with no driver: (I'm running 215-45-17, RS-3's) LF: 25 1/2" RF: 25 1/2" LR: 26 1/4' RR: 26 1/4" Measured from the jack points: LF: 5 3/4" RF: 5 5/8" LR: 6 3/4" RR: 6 3/4" With my weight in the driver's seat is stays the same except the LF drops about 1/16 " measured at the wheel well apex. Doing the calculations and setting the final levels was very straight forward with no iterations needed. Very linear changes. The AST's are easy to work with. Way cool. One day I'll do a corner weighted set up and see what happens. NEW ALIGNMENT: The change in ride height resulted in a significant and remarkably predictable change in alignment. I had that checked and recorded and have the data if anyone is interested. But, I went with a more aggressive alignment after the ride height change. The new set up is: Front Camber: -2.5 Deg Rear Camber: -1.7 Deg Toe-In front and rear: 0.15 deg I already like the highway ride with the new toe-in settings. We'll see this weekend how the new set up fairs. I'm pretty sure I'll stay with the new ride height no matter what. Having that additional travel and setting the AST's to around 10 clicks Open from Closed gives a pretty decent ride for DD given the stiff 450 lb springs. I went more aggressive on the camber front and rear to try to make up for the toe-in and ride height compromise. LOCAL EVENT: I had a local event right after the Divisional in which I still had the lower ride height and old alignment. I still lost to the CIVIC by 0.6 secs on a 42 sec run. We'll see how I fair tomorrow. I'll be doing my first event tomorrow with the new ride height and alignment.
Random question: Do you know a guy named Jim with a black convertable mustang(probably doesn't run this at autox'es anymore) and a miata that autocrosses in your area regularly? Very cool that you're getting the car dialed in. I can understand the toeout thing on the road. You are getting serious enough that you might want to consider getting a trailer and tow vehicle and just go all out on your MINI.
In yesterday's event there was a Jim Cubberly in a Mazdaspeed Miata running in SSM but I don't think I know him. I still haven't put many names and faces together. Yeah, I've done quite a bit to the car but I'm holding the line on using the Lenz as a daily driver in part because we downsized to a two car garage/garden home and don't want to hassle with another vehicle. At least not right now. That's why I think I'll stay with STX for quite awhile.
10 July SASCA Event I had my first local event with the new ride height and alignment. Sweet. Unfortunately, the evil CRX didn't show up. I think he went to another event in preparation for the SOWDIV Divisional scheduled for next weekend, which I'm not going to be able to enter. I won first place but only against one other fellow mini enthusiast who is just getting started in autox. So, my measuring stick wasn't there but the car handled really well. I placed 9th out of 62 in our PAX scores (a handy cap system with SCCA). This was very good for me. But, more important, I think there is considerable room to improve as I learn to drive this set up more aggressively. We'll see if that is true when I run against the CRX next month. For AST users...I ran the 5100's two clicks open from fully closed for three runs and then 10 clicks open from fully closed for the second three runs just to compare. The more fully closed was definitely better performance on the surface we ran on. But, the pace of the runs was such that I didn't get much time to think about it so I need to get time real test and tune time soon. Overall, the set up has really improved handling.
Bam, there is your measuring stick right there. Top ten PAX isn't anything to shake a stick at... Good work!
Wrong Jim. This guy runs a Miata in CS. He was at D/FW area event on Sunday. Nice enough guy. He's also into Mustangs so he's mentioned running with Terry as well, hence the odd question. Say "hi" if you see him at another event down the road. Small "internet" world. lol.
Just curious where you guys view the results on-line for the Alamo region ? I had a good friend run with you guys today, and was curious where they could be found. He had nothing but good things to say about your MINI too. Very impressed by it and you, and he competes with some good national talent up in AR SCCA frequently !
K-huevo...thanks for posting the results. This was the first club win I've had against the "class hopping" civic I've been battling all year. As you can see I barely beat him but I DID FINALLY beat him nonetheless. Most important I'm consistently running about 1.2+ secs faster compared to him as a measure and I'm still learning to drive the new set up and have some more tuning to do. I'm still thinking of going to the lighter swift springs (60n/mm instead of the 70n/mm) for daily driver quality at some point but the car sure handles now. As far as the Year Trophy for STX for the club, it looks like the civic now has it locked so I can't catch him. But, I plan on making the rest of his year as intense as possible!!:devil: Tell your friend thanks for the compliment. I'm starting to get the hang of autocross and my learning curve has increased with adding the new suspension. That may sound strange but it has really improved my awareness of what is really happening on the course second by second and some coaching from some of the guys in the club has really helped. I'm definitely planning on hitting all the divisionals and the nationals next year. The GreyLenz should be in great shape by then!! :drool:drool:drool