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Bike engine locost - handling
phil_far - 8/6/12 at 03:49 PM

Hi
Yesterday i drove my car in 2 events - 1/4mile sprint and pursuit. The 1/4 mile was great fund outpacing 2L westfields and just 0.02 off a dax rush mc with a blackbird holeshot upgrade. The car took off well with limited wheel spin and was extremly stable at the staright line. Best time was 13.82
However in the pursuit I was all over the place partly becuase of my lousy driving skills and partly because the car seemed a little unstable even though I had it corner weighted last year.

My car has 893Fireblade and 462kg. It has 275lbs front and 150lbs rear. The dampers were set on 3 clicks back and 2 clicks front. I was entering the corner too fast and braking too late!. The braking seemed to come in late finally locking the front wheels and causing the nose to understeer and drag out. It seemed that it was loosing grip at the front when cornering and braking. I ended up going so out that I eventually hit the barrier at the last corner and bending my bottom wishbone. I guess thatt is the price for exeprience!

Do you have any recomendations on what settings should I have and how should i change/improve.

If I am talking crap do not hesitate to tell me.......

Tyres are standard 195 road tyres - Bridgestone.....

Cheers


jossey - 8/6/12 at 05:48 PM

Upgrade your tyres firstly then see how much that solves it.

Have you had the camber checked?


kjouk - 8/6/12 at 10:32 PM

Sounds like you know that braking and cornering are not the best bed fellows so first easy option is to change driving style. Can take some doing but I try to brake in a straight line only on early runs and then once happy start to delay braking little by little until it's obvious there no more to be gained. Running hot into a corner teaches you nothing, start cold and warm up to learn how the car is handling.

Normal advise for a westie is to run front dampers slightly stronger than rear but if you do go too high on front it will understeer. Spring rates are difficult to advise on as wishbone length has a big impact on what springs you need. As a guess I would suggest 275lb is slightly to high unless you have a fairly wide front track. You can calc an approx. value for spring rates but often easier just to test out alternatives, I would go softer springs and increase front shock settings a little. I assume you don't have ARBs fitted.

[Edited on 8/6/12 by kjouk]


phil_far - 9/6/12 at 04:53 PM

Thanks for the advise.
Yes my cmaber, toe-in (front and rear) and castor have all been checked. Castor is on the poor side so i know i need to improve there as well.

Cheers