By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.
SignUp Now!You obviously know your car much better than I do but don't forget that if the rear tires are getting planted too hard, stiffen the rebound on the rear shocks to control the hit. This should keep the tires from being planted so hard then unloading when the suspension starts to settle and the power starts coming on. A lot of people tend to de-tune the power to get it to hook instead of change the suspension settings to accomodate the power so don't get caught up doing this unless you feel it's the right move.I'm working the power down at the hit of the launch. I think the tires are not up to it. A much deeper wave pattern on the slicks is showing after this last time out. A sure sign of the launch being on the violent side for the tires. The tires will also be rotated.
Thanks, Kevin. I'm going to get some video of the launch this next time out before I do any adjusting of the rear shocks. I will keep your good advice in mind.You obviously know your car much better than I do but don't forget that if the rear tires are getting planted too hard, stiffen the rebound on the rear shocks to control the hit. This should keep the tires from being planted so hard then unloading when the suspension starts to settle and the power starts coming on. A lot of people tend to de-tune the power to get it to hook instead of change the suspension settings to accomodate the power so don't get caught up doing this unless you feel it's the right move.
Three clicks on the rebound can be really soft on rebound so don't be affraid to crank them stiffer as long as your only adjusting the rebound.
ks
Kevin, looking at the datalogs I recently posted, you can see the amount of tire spin relative to time at the launch. Does that give you any kind of clue as to what adjustment I might want to make to the rear shocks?You obviously know your car much better than I do but don't forget that if the rear tires are getting planted too hard, stiffen the rebound on the rear shocks to control the hit. This should keep the tires from being planted so hard then unloading when the suspension starts to settle and the power starts coming on. A lot of people tend to de-tune the power to get it to hook instead of change the suspension settings to accomodate the power so don't get caught up doing this unless you feel it's the right move.
Three clicks on the rebound can be really soft on rebound so don't be affraid to crank them stiffer as long as your only adjusting the rebound.
ks
Kevin, looking at the datalogs I recently posted, you can see the amount of tire spin relative to time at the launch. Does that give you any kind of clue as to what adjustment I might want to make to the rear shocks?
I personally don't see the tires unloading causing an increase in tire speed after the initial plant. I'm new to reading driveshaft speed so maybe I'm missing something. Please advise. Thanks.
I understand. I'll try tightening the rebound in the rear another 5 clicks. That will be a total of 8 clicks from full soft.Not without mapping the graph with a video of the run so we can see what the front and rear suspension is actually doing at those points along the graph.
The only reason I mention the rebound setting is b/c I looked at the vid in your sig and noticed the rear tires getting planted pretty good and IMO, that looks way too violent for a car with that much power. I know it's not the same run as your last outing but I was thinking that if the rear suspension acts similarly then I wanted to let you know that shocks may be a good thing to adjust to eliminate that much hit and could help keep the tires loaded. With that much power the tires don't need much/any "hit" if it can be controlled.
Usually what I tell people is to stiffen the rebound up as much as possible to eliminate any "hit" then add some "hit" if needed to get them to bite. Sometimes the frontend needs to be adjusted to keep the tires loaded better by keeping th enose up or more/less travel , etc.
Remember, if the rear of the car goes up, at some point it has to come down. If the rear of the car is coming down then this is trying to unload the tires. This is why it's "best" to try and minimize the rearend from being planted if possible.
ks
I understand. I'll try tightening the rebound in the rear another 5 clicks. That will be a total of 8 clicks from full soft.
Does anyone know what the total adjustment range is for AFCO double adjustable shocks? I have not been able to find any material that explains how many clicks of range I have with the compression and rebound with these shocks. I tried to call them, and no call back.
A lot of people tend to de-tune the power to get it to hook instead of change the suspension settings to accomodate the power so don't get caught up doing this unless you feel it's the right move.
ks
They do spray the entire track at certain events. Particularly when the Nostalgias show up. If there is a difference for my car, it's very slight. It's more of a problem with the basic track surface, from what I understand, listening to others who know more than me about track surfaces.You are 100% correct. All of my suggestions are based off of a well prepped tracked through the finish line.
A buddy of mine was running 8.6's with his 4200lb truck and our local track would prep the track to the 1000' mark which is exactly where he would spin the tires.
We eventually started talking to the crew of the track and told them our delima and asked if they could spray the entire 1/4. They were MORE THAN HAPPY to do this for us in our favorite lane and that solved our problems. They even made special trips with the sprayer just for us when we pulled to the line. The reason they did this was b/c we were by far the fastest vehicle on that track so they wanted good runs for us too. Doing this even made them more confortable about talking to us and asking if they could do anything else to help us out. Fast cars are great advertising for tacks that only have slower cars.
Ask the same thing from your track guys even if to suggest a few test runs to help you diagnose a traction problem.
KS
I was sure you had to understand the track factor. Now that you understand a little more about my track issue, maybe you can stop trying to compare my car to a 1.25 60 footer that clocks 5.20s.This is why I asked about the track condition you race on several months ago. At your power level you should not be experiencing the issues you are at the gear change unless you have serious suspension issues or the track has a bump or something at the same point. Considering the car was 60' low 1.3 or high 1.2, that's why I asked about the condition down track.
I use others performance at the track I race at as a gauge of what the track can handle. Low 5 second mustangs are a dime a dozen here so if I'm sorting out a chassis, I use those cars as a clue as to what the car should be capable of. If I put enough power in a car to run 5.50 and it spins yet there are other cars running 5.20.....the issue is with the suspension. There is no magic power management to make a car go down a greasy track...it's always the suspension IF there are other similar cars there that are faster.
Once you cross the 5.70 range the track condition is a major player. There are at least 3 tracks within an hr of me that I can't test on. It's just a waste of time. 5.50 cars are OK but there's no way to run 5.0's on them so I have to travel farther to get good data.
You also may look at the transition to see if it's better or worse in certain spots of the groove. One track we have to race on has a bad dip at the transition. It's much better towards the right side of the groove. After launch I have to drive the car to the right side of the groove to cross the dip where it's more manageable. I only found this after walking the track. I had never succesfully made it down the track with a 5.0 tune-up in the car until I saw what the issue was.