Last minute question (going track day tomorrow)

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23 July 2003
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Seattle, WA.
Hi all, I went to the same track with my stock suspension last year in the same track. I had recorded the tire pressure and I know what's optimum for myself. (Kumho MX)

This year I had Tein RA and a bucket seat installed, and my buddy told me that I shouldn't risk my life keep using the MX(The track is oreiented to left turns, so my right side of the tires are pretty worn, especially the rear, the scrub mark is all the way the side wall lettering.) So tomorrow I will put my "next" mod in prematurely. Toyo RA1. I just put it on and went out getting feel on the new tires. Adhesion is phenomeno...

My question is what should I do tomorrow? I tuned my suspension for my liking on street driving.. (almost all the way to the softest setting Tein allowed). I know I should do things one at a time:

so Should I tune the suspesion first and leave the tire pressure as what I liked on the Kumho MX? (34/37 hot temp)

or should I leave the suspension setting at my street setting (since afterall I had driven that said setting for 3 months) and play around with the tire pressure???

Please Help. :confused:
 
wow.. you have done more than one mod at a time and are under some really interesting waters...

1st - I think that if your tires are bad and scrubbed down that bad..... they're unsafe... that should not be an option (ie. driving on the track KNOWING your tires are borderline).

2nd - I can't vouche for the RA-1's since I'm still considering a set.. :tongue: (btw - what rim/tire combo did you put them on)

3rd - I interpret your 'street' settings as soft on all 4. I think that alone should keep you busy. Since you're going on R compound tires you may want to just focus on driving... just basic driving.. forget tuning since it'll be a moving target since things will change with the tires and shock combo.

SO.. to answer your question.. I'd focus on tire pressures.. keep 'something' static as much as you can (ie. shocks soft on all 4).

good luck and be safe!!!

x
 
Thanks VB, I'm at the same line of thought... I'm running 15/16 OEM size.. and yes, I will leave the Kumho at home. Well, the Tein RA is still much stiffer than the oem settings even at full soft, so I should see that the car will be faster anyway.
 
For what is worth,

With my NSX with Tein RA's and 10kg/10kg setup I had to dial down my rear sway bar (Dali street/race) to one from softest to get the car to handle without too much oversteer.

Front sway bar at full stiff, the shock settings were 4 from stiffest up front and 8 clicks from softest in the rear. (That was the setting that I used to use on my NSX when the Tein's were still in good condition)

If you are going with the stock spring rates on the Tein's 10kg/12kg it's very likely that you will feel that the car wants to oversteer a bit more when compared to stock. (But this all depends on the sway bars that you are using on the car as well)

As far as tire pressures on the RA1's, when I run them I use them at about 32/34 cold and about 36/38 hot.

BTW: It's very hard to give specific advice without more details with respect to your car.

Ken
 
NSXDreamer2 said:
Thanks VB, I'm at the same line of thought... I'm running 15/16 OEM size.. and yes, I will leave the Kumho at home. Well, the Tein RA is still much stiffer than the oem settings even at full soft, so I should see that the car will be faster anyway.

You are more than likely be faster not because of the suspension but because of the RA1's. An improperly tuned suspension can actually make you slower.
 
For your hpde the ra1 likes to be at 38 deg hot.
 
NSXDreamer2 said:
This year I had Tein RA and a bucket seat installed, and my buddy told me that I shouldn't risk my life keep using the MX(The track is oreiented to left turns, so my right side of the tires are pretty worn, especially the rear, the scrub mark is all the way the side wall lettering.)

BTW: The scrub marks going all the way to the sidewall lettering usually means that the tire was probably underinflated.

I usually run my SO-3's 40/42 hot.

Ken
 
2slow2speed said:
BTW: The scrub marks going all the way to the sidewall lettering usually means that the tire was probably underinflated.

I usually run my SO-3's 40/42 hot.

Ken

hmmm, let me try to answer all question at once.
The Kumho tires was on when my car was all stock. Without pyrometer, I really don't know if it's just the suspension with my close to zero camber. I think it's a tag underinflated, but it only scrub one side (again 9 turn corse with 3 minor G right turns) The middle actually wears a little bit, only slightly low. That pressure is likely a little lower than most of you suggested, next time when I'm on the track I'll try your recommendation.

For Now. My car only had the 10/12 Tein RA as suspension mod, stock sway bar.
I haven't had a chance to run yesterday's Open lap day since they are over-booked. I agreed that the RA1 stick to the road even before it warmed up in street driving.

I don't know if my Tein is tuned inproperly, but I felt like my currently setting give me a lot more confident and I actually could go a lot faster in long sweeper, as long as the road is smooth. The suspension also had a lot better control when the road have dips. ( I suspected the old OEM suspension I had accustomed to could be worn. Cuz it rides rougher than my cousin car in any situation. :rolleyes: )

thanks for all input, now i have to find when is the next track day!!
 
I've tuned tein HA coilover on my other car (lexus is300) at the track by going full firm on all 4. They had a 12/12 spring rate. Then I dialed out oversteer by softening the damper in the rear. Worked out pretty good.
 
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