Chassie set ups on Japans track starlets vs uk

[abbott]

Rights people after doing various sprints/track days etc and doing various research including skimming Hyper Revs starlet book.

Ive noticed that the cars out there dont run a rear antiroll bar or antilift kits none of the big jap makes list these even as a product now or in the past. Are these really required on these cars??

Set a side these they do modfications to the ball joints making them adjustable on rose joints etc

I run anti lift kit and rear fixed antiroll bar on my car and now pushing harder and harder and testing the boundrys of the car ive started to notice the the car is very switchy.

How does everyone else find there set ups etc on got any more input/info on the cars in japan.

Just interesting On what people do and try to improve these cars.

[Amjad]

I think a lot of the cars out there run very high spring rates compared to us (something like 12kg/10kg f/r)

This one in particular looks incredibly stiff

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5akxnkrChE

[Amjad]

Also, Troy on here might be of some help. He runs his GT out at Tsukuba!

[5e colin]

antilift kit is always beneficial more castor is always better expecially on fwd

[jayc-glanza17]

It is true, that japan run a lot stiffer springs..

Abbot what tyre pressures you run?

I run same set up as you and found it wasnt too bad but tyre pressures made a noticeable difference.

[EP82 Touge]

I'm going to try and get some info out of the guys that run NA Starlets over here. They have been doing it for years and have pretty much perfected the set-ups I would think. (They run 1:08-1:10 at Tsukuba NA, which is pretty quick)

They don't seem to run much in the way of light weight panel either so weights should be pretty similar.

[TimD]

Underneath mine is as I bought it from your brother, I had a basic alignment done, with -2.5 degrees of camber and that's it. I've faffed about with the dampers, but it's mostly middle of the road type stuff, softening them off if it's wet outside.

I usually aim for around 30psi when hot in the tyres, I tried 28 at donington and the car felt a bit better than it did at Cadwell. Currently R888's which I think when comparing to other R rated tyres are pretty terrible things.

The nose on mine likes to push a little if I go in too hot, but it can be driven around. I am in no rush to change anything underneath the car at the minute.

Mine has a full weld in roll cage which I'm sure makes a difference to the cars handling characteristics.

Have you had any instruction, it could be something you're doing to unsettle the car.

[abbott]

I think a lot of the cars out there run very high spring rates compared to us (something like 12kg/10kg f/r)

This one in particular looks incredibly stiff

Also, Troy on here might be of some help. He runs his GT out at Tsukuba!

Yes gathered they run hard rates can make that out in the hyprrevs mag.

antilift kit is always beneficial more castor is always better expecially on fwd

Yes the castor always helps like you say ive even seen a company have re-potioned the topmounts on the coilovers to get even more castor which was interesting.

It is true, that japan run a lot stiffer springs..

Abbot what tyre pressures you run?

I run same set up as you and found it wasnt too bad but tyre pressures made a noticeable difference.

When tyres hot mate i am to run the fronts at 28-30psi and rears about 28pi which in cold is about 20 front and 22 rear. I run these dunlop dz03gs and are brillant alot better over the r888s but cost is a bit more.

I'm going to try and get some info out of the guys that run NA Starlets over here. They have been doing it for years and have pretty much perfected the set-ups I would think. (They run 1:08-1:10 at Tsukuba NA, which is pretty quick)

They don't seem to run much in the way of light weight panel either so weights should be pretty similar.

Yes would be good to know just a interesting discussion to have really.

Underneath mine is as I bought it from your brother, I had a basic alignment done, with -2.5 degrees of camber and that's it. I've faffed about with the dampers, but it's mostly middle of the road type stuff, softening them off if it's wet outside.

I usually aim for around 30psi when hot in the tyres, I tried 28 at donington and the car felt a bit better than it did at Cadwell. Currently R888's which I think when comparing to other R rated tyres are pretty terrible things.

The nose on mine likes to push a little if I go in too hot, but it can be driven around. I am in no rush to change anything underneath the car at the minute.

Mine has a full weld in roll cage which I'm sure makes a difference to the cars handling characteristics.

Have you had any instruction, it could be something you're doing to unsettle the car.

Yes that 82 handled well when my brother had it must be even tighter now with the weld in cage. By the sounds of it we run similar pressures. Tim if you can get a set of these dunlops you never go back. I find that going in a little keen tends to push but controllable like you say.

No but i have had a mate of mine whos very good and fast on track give me some pointers etc. I dont tend to remove anything from the car but on the next opem pit day will be playing about a bit more with dampers amd may remove rear antiroll bar just to see more of a consistsnt change.

My car was set up back in july by Mark fish motorsport so will be discussing some stuff with him.

Would like to arrnage for a track day with yourself and few of the other track guys on here would be good to see and go out in others cars to compare set ups.

Thanks for all the replys be interested to see what else people come up with

Edited November 3, 2015 by abbott

[AdamB]

Running more caster is beneficial as it aids in dynamics camber, meaning that you don't have to run as much static and can gain back that tyre footprint you lose, and get back the acceleration and braking efficiency. You might find those hardcore Japs will use some form of caster increasing top mounts rather than some bushes.

The spring rates I found that across pretty much all manufacturer's in Japan run higher rates, I don't know if this is because they run their cars with lower ride heights and hence need the stiffer spring rate to stop the car bottoming out, or if they just use it purely for vehicle balance. It might be worth looking to find out if they change their damper stroke as this will also affect the spring rates they need to run, depending on the circuit they could get away with a lot shorter damper stroke if their track only cars.

Again roll bars are only for balance, roll bars actually reduce the grip levels, but the reason why we use them is to help maintain chassis geometry on cornering.

[Socks]

Seen all sorts of stuff the japs do we dont..

Filling the sills with some kind of expanding/rock hard foam.

Seam Welding the shell up.

Interesting topic hey.

[Amjad]

Have any of you guys had corner weighting done? I'd like to get my GT done when I can afford to

[abbott]

Running more caster is beneficial as it aids in dynamics camber, meaning that you don't have to run as much static and can gain back that tyre footprint you lose, and get back the acceleration and braking efficiency. You might find those hardcore Japs will use some form of caster increasing top mounts rather than some bushes.

The spring rates I found that across pretty much all manufacturer's in Japan run higher rates, I don't know if this is because they run their cars with lower ride heights and hence need the stiffer spring rate to stop the car bottoming out, or if they just use it purely for vehicle balance. It might be worth looking to find out if they change their damper stroke as this will also affect the spring rates they need to run, depending on the circuit they could get away with a lot shorter damper stroke if their track only cars.

Again roll bars are only for balance, roll bars actually reduce the grip levels, but the reason why we use them is to help maintain chassis geometry on cornering.

Thanks for info Adam good bit of imput there and details.

Seen all sorts of stuff the japs do we dont..Filling the sills with some kind of expanding/rock hard foam.Seam Welding the shell up.Interesting topic hey.

Yes some very strange things you hear and also some real good information.

Have any of you guys had corner weighting done? I'd like to get my GT done when I can afford to

Yes i had mine done by Mark fish motorsport and he said the standard corner weighting is very good which he was shocked about here is a copy of what he done for me and set up too

[5e colin]

^^^ how the fuck can they adjust toe on the rear its impossible on a solid rear beam ?????

[abbott]

^^^ how the fuck can they adjust toe on the rear its impossible on a solid rear beam ?????

They cant hense why it says set at. I did question that when i was speaking to him but he explained that his wording means that its preset at that.

[Amjad]

How much did they charge if you don't mind me asking?

I've got -1.5ish front camber, adjustable rear camber/toe and have run both at -2ish and -1ish. Not sure which I prefer as my spring preloads have been set too high with the latter camber figures.

[ttestarlet]

I done a pile of testing out different setups over years and wasted alot of money as far as I can see haha. Most modifications aren't worth the cost in my opinion. Keep it as simple as possible, with the rear stiffer than the front and use slicks.

I've done this a few ways and my favourite was pretty simple and cheap. It consisted of braced rear end. No braces in the front and koni adjustable dampers on kyb lowering springs. Il have to post up the geometry settings.

Without a doubt slicks is the biggest difference on track. Not r888 ect proper race slicks.

[Phil]

My issue is I have to use road legal tyres

Ryan would you agree with the geometry on the above spec sheet?

Phil

[EP82 Touge]

Speaking with a few of the guys that race NA Starlets here in Japan and they are running big front camber. As much as 4.5 on the front left and 4 on the front right.

[Amjad]

I can understand that, been running -2 myself and on Monday at Bedford Autodrome I found the car wasn't as happy in tight bends as I'd have liked. Though having said that the wear rate was even across the tyres

Has anyone else encountered wheel hop? I experienced it for the first time in my GT, coming out of a wide hairpin. Wanna cure it before I go spending any money chasing more power etc!

Edited March 2, 2016 by Amjad

[Amjad]

^My issues were cured by resetting the spring preloads all round, and adjusting the height to have less rake. (There still is rake)

[Phil]

I'm still running fronts flat and can't beat the straight line grunt.

Ran some front camber at first race and my times were slow comparable to other cars in class / well mid table in class.

Had a couple of decent straightish sections in recently hillclimb and ran the front wheels totally flat for as much acceleration grip as possible

And time wise did well against the same cars that beat me the week previous (different event though granted)

You can see the car understeer/slide in the wee external clip I have and I'm out of the throttle at that point.

Phil