i recently put pictures of my FD RE Touring on the members\' rides and it was commented that perhaps the back-end was riding a bit high. I know I nee new tyres but the car is very skittish at the back-end and obviously of the geometry is off, that won\'t help.
Can anyone tell me the correct ride height (presumably from the top of the arch to the ground but I\'ll take what i can get)
Pete
I think the handling is affected more by the geometry settings than anything else. I\'d say make it as low as humanly possible then use the settings on the thread below to get it laser aligned! :D
http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1573 (http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1573)
Quote from: TwistedHumourI think the handling is affected more by the geometry settings than anything else. I\'d say make it as low as humanly possible then use the settings on the thread below to get it laser aligned! :D
http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1573 (http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1573)
thanks - i will change the boots then tweak the set-up - see what the old boy can do
Don\'t go too low as you need suspension travel for the car to handle. If you have it so low that it rolls onto the bumpstops under cornering then the car will rapidly loose traction on that wheel due to the massive increase in the spring rate. Can cause very nasty understeer, oversteer or general instability.
You can also begin to get into the realms of very nasty bump steer, where the car may point into a corner well but then will refuse to take a stable line, requiring constant corrections at the wheel - this is becuase the steering angle is chnaging as the car goes into roll.
I drove a few RX\'s with aftermarket setups and they all suffered from problems like this. Mostly becuase they were too low or hadn\'t been setup properly. They were awful to drive.
You do need to ensure front/rear ride heights are compatible. A change in ride height at one end will affect the overal balance of the car. Go to high or low and the car will feel horrible. If the back of the car is sticking up in the air like a \'70s dragster then you need to firstly get the ride height sorted, then begin on geometry. I\'ve not done the suspension on my car yet but there is a noticable rise at the rear which no doubt was put there on purpose so it could work in it\'s previous life as a D1 Drift car. A raised rear will promote greater rear end instability, as you are moving the rear roll centre in relation to the front roll centre. I found whole seconds per lap by playing with this with my previous race car.
when you do it will you be doing a write up on how you set the suspention on your car tony? i would be interested in where you would start and how diferant changes in height/spring rate ect affect the car.
matt
Yeah I agree, I have just put coilovers on my car (couldnt get the instructions) and would appreciate advice in setting them up.
Gareth
I\'d just print off the geometry settings I want and get it laser aligned at a competent garage.
I\'ve no problems in letting people know what I set the car up like. If in doubt with your road kit, set the dampers to the medium setting and the ride height about half way and then use the settings posted above and have the car professioanly set to them. That\'ll be the base line. Then tweek after that but carfully and in a considered way.
Just be wary of wacking the dampers to fully hard, or over winding the ride height to the lowest. Both will proabbly result in the car handling poorly, even if the geo is reset.
Quote from: TwistedHumourI\'d just print off the geometry settings I want and get it laser aligned at a competent garage.
what has geometry got to do with ride height and damping rate?
matt