starlet handling 101 (part 1)

[Guest Enzo]

It takes a very skilled driver to get the most out of an ep chassis regardless of what spring and dampers are in place. The starlet chassis is exploitable but to the average Joe punter, safe also with rakes of understear on the limit & with lift off overstear there if you want it,

you could describe the handling as timid plus ultimate cornering speeds are bellow par. these are all facts (as gayboy ecsjay would put it more bluntly)

dont get me wrong, eps are Still chuckable enough to have fun with but not the last word in ultimate handling, any of us ep guys will know, uve been ragging it across you favorit twisty road getting the banter in your turbo ep with a mate whos pulling away from you in a furio as you exit every corner, apart from driving out of your skin to keep u[ you ul realise the inherint weeknesses within the chassis. not to reitoerate i say this id down to a poorly set up chassis, some resected ep junkys on this forum would say this is down to the live axle at the back,(our guru starletrick once said"they are used on trucks for fucksake"my reply, aye on the front aswell as the back axles) the ep does have a half decent chassis macpherson struts at the front(where the stearing happens)

Fear not though there are a whole heap of modifications out there that can bring the starlet to the forefront handling wise. This is quite an interesting subject to discus if you are into how your ep handles. every part mentioned here can be obtained from Toytuning within the forum but as toby is anal about speakin on the phone maybe try dave at starletgtturbo.co.uk, hes always helpfull and loves to craic on the phone:)

The first two suspension additions you should add to any starlet as soon as you buy it are

• a rear anti roll bar
  
• Front anti lift/castor kit
  

rear anti rollbar (a must)

all hot hatchbacks come with a rear anti roll bar as standard(one of a few reason why the ek9 handles so well is becauseof this) why Toyota never decided to fit one to the mighty ep is a mystery to me. The job of the anti roll bar is to increase roll stiffness of the chassis the right way. so abit of detail.........Fitting an uprated front arb will promote more understeer(great for drift cars to hone your setup). Fitting an uprated rear arb has the reverse tendancy to reduce understeer and increase overstear.

* i a must do modification to any ep

Fitting a rear arb will drastically reduce the understear any starlet is plagued with making the ep a lot more neutral bringing the car more in touch with its French counter parts. It will make the car feel allot more planted to the road and chuckable at higher speeds.

It is worth noting that the illusion of travelling at speed will disappear. So you will find yourself entering corners a lot faster than normal due to the car feeling less nervous as roll stiffness is increased. This is the best way I can describe the positive affects of fitting a rear anti roll bar.

Experienced drivers would have fun on the thicker settings that are available on some of the adjustable arb kits out there. Think of lift off overseer on demand around any nice sweeping radius roundabout then you get the picture. Not too dissimilar to any of the fluid handling French hot hatches that also share similar dated but supremely effective technology.

most people will wade in with coilovers to improve handling and increasing roll stifness after experiencing a fair share of set ups I strongly believe this is the wrong answer to getting the most out of the starlet chassis when you consider the state of roads in certain parts of the country..

unless you have driven ep’s for years and your in touch with the handling capability of an ep you will constantly find yourself guessing how much adhesion you have available at the front of your starlet every time you jump in or a ragging session, this is mainly due to the lack of steering feel. Ask any decent Racing driver how to improve steering feel and they will tell you to increase the caster

Anti lift castor kit. (a must)

It’s a written rule the more castor to a certain point you have on a car will increase the steering feel giving you much more information to your finger tips as to what the front of the car is actually doing.

The way this kit actually works is by placing a 10-12mm block under the front control arm bushes pushing the radius of the wheels back,

The anti lift properties come from the new offset bushes that come within the kit…………..

* note - when fitting make sure the mounting hole is positioned to the outside of the car

Think of a primitive lsd then you get the picture. This is a very noticeable modification that will heighten the confidence in any persons driving ability as you will have more of an idea of front adhesion levels . Especially in greasy and wet conditions.

I strongly recommend to anyone that buys a starlet to purchase these two items first before doing anything else. If not from a handling point of view then from a safety point as quite honestly the way some of those early Na’s came out of the factory on those tiny 13inch steelies is asking for trouble especially in the wet.

Uprating bushes

As most starlets are coming of age now most suspension bushes will be worn, it will be harder for the shock and spring to do its job as the suspension geometry will constantly shifting and changing. If you feel any play in the steering wheel or just looking to refresh the suspension somponents it would be a good idea to change any suspension and anti roll bar bushes.

Suspension options

£100-£500 shock and spring combos

You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to the different shock/spring combo along with the various brands of coilovers available on the market.

a great place to start would be a set of lowering springs along with some adjustable shock absorbers to match to the springrates.

RSR sell a decent lowering spring package that will drop you car by aproxmatly 45 mm. the spring rates are close to standard spec meaning a relativly comfortable ride.

from a handling point of view Whiteline products are flawless. their lowering spring kit is no exception and was specificaly designed to use in conjunction with koni sport yellow adjustable dampers.

uprated panhard rod

the starlet utilises a beam axle with panhard rod at the back. due to the design, when lowering your ep, the axle shifts to the right of the car depending on how much you decide to lower your car by. a way to remedy this problem is with the use of an adjustable panhard rod which will center your rear axle when set up correctly.

enough pissed ranting, soz for the essay lolz