Phlash

Fri
May 19

Partly Cloudy
86°/65° 0%

Sat
May 20

Scattered Showers
87°/67° 60%

L8APEX

The Weather Forecast

while this looks bad, you have to remember that Savannah is a coastal area, and showers pop up all the time, especially in the summer time. Isolated and scattered means, that it will be localized and spotty at best. The forecasters have to expect it. I am going to think positive, think no rain, and look forward to it anyway. I can hear the " you will learn a lot in the rain" already.

After living there for 5 years, I got used to it. Hopefully it won't be any really ugly storms, I really like the inside of my car....dry....just the way it is.

Phlash

Yeah, you'll learn just how far your car can go sideways through wet grass........

L8APEX

well, you can add that to your resume then, looks good alongside sliding through dry grass, and bouncing through red dirt...:

Phlash

True, very true.......

MoodDude

I second that!
I love my EDFC since it allows me to change the settings as I drive around the track! This makes tuning much faster. Is it worth the money - I don't know.

MoodDude

L8APEX

ture, Phlash has it on his, and really likes it. I just wanted to spend the money elsewhere. Besides, it is fun to pop the hood and start adjusting things.

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

Its not rain --it's georgia liquid sunshine! This time of year it is hard to tell what the weather will do. But since it is forecasted to be rather warm,---more than likely if it does rain it will be a thunderstorm. Dont stand under those tall pine trees. Temps going up is usually an indicator of thunderstorms not the slow steady rain which would be actually better for a track day for us R compund boys as I would take them off and run the streets!
By the way are we going for the same pit area we had last time? I liked that spot.
On the chamber and castor thing--dont know about other cars besides the 8 but the 8 has naturally occuring neg camber with suspension compression. This helps us.
My setting(and I run both RA and Roebling with them are front -1.5 and rear -1.8 the secret for me is the amount of toe in-- I have o.10 combined (i think thats correct) staying with factory caster --we have a lot to begin with. Course I also have a differant suspension set up than everyone else.
On the oil issue-- nope my car doesnt do that. I have a little over 33thou on the car now and I barely use 1 quart between 5K oil changes. Course my driving may be very differant from yours. Last time at RA I used a full quart that w/e. I also use a premix.
How many days left?
Oh yea the wife may be coming afterall. She is talking about painting a rotory symbol on the back of her bald head! WHat a woman.
Olddragger

MoodDude

Guys - I am a little confused - and maybe the 8 is different than most cars. I always thought for a rear wheel drive car with a front mounted engine that you wanted to run more negative camber in the front that the rear?

I will bring my pyrometer if anyone want to use them. I will be using the pyrometer to fine tune my air pressure since this will be the first time I use the Cups.
I can bring my toe plates and camber/caster guage if anyone needs them?

L8APEX

Maybe we are all just following the pack like sheep, I have been accused of that before, but for the 8 it seems to be the standard, to have more negative camber in the rear. It keeps the car from rotating as much, and I like that.

I too have a pyrometer, not a probe style, and I will have it with me. It is only suefull if you can get to it right after the session is over. Which with NASA does not happen often.

Has anyone gotten any word about the schedule being, up, it ususally is right about now.

MoodDude

Did you see Jeff yet to get her weighted? What did she weight with you in it? What was your cross weight?
You didn't run into my truck when you left the airport did you? Since I was parked right in front of your 8.

MoodDude

I am still learning - so I am not sure what you mean by rotating?
Since I am a stupid Engineer - I would like to understand more about the physics. I thought on a rear wheel drive car, that you set less camber on the rear so that you could lay on the power earlier on the exit of a corner. And you ran negative camber on the front so that you can enter a turn faster?
Maybe since the 8 doesn't have much torque you don't have to worry about oversteer problems when you lay on the power as you exit a turn?

L8APEX

negative camber on all four wheels, will allow higher corner speed, to an extent. Too much in the front, and the car will start to push. more negative in the rear, will keep the car from oversteering. if you put in less negative in the rear, it will more easily spin, or rotate. When I fisrt started autocrossing, my car had only about -.5 at all four corners. it was loose, felt like it always wanted to step out, and for a noob like me, a little hard to control. After ading a lot more camber, it feels much more planted, balanced, and easier to control

Think about it this way, the more upright your wheel is, the closer to 90 degrees the tire is with the road surface, the more prone to loosing grip you are, since the inside edge of the tire will start to lose contact, as the cornering loads stand the tire upright. If you can set the car up, so that at a static position, the outside edge of the tire is less in contact with the road, as cornering loads are applied to that wheel/tire, it will stand more upright, and put more tire to the ground. Your static camber numbers, are also not the same as your dynamic numbers, once the car is in motion, gravity, the weight of the car, passenger weight, road surface angle, all of that leads to camber changes. On our car, looking at photos of them, on track, they tend to squat, the sit lower, ride lower, and just hover the body over the tires, usually adding more negative camber. The 8 is scary fast in the corners. The mid corner, when you can get back on the throttle mid corner and exit speed, are all really good for a car with no torque. But that is all just my opinions and observations. I could be wrong. And as an architect, and geometry guy, it is all very fun to learn to me, I just want to learn more about it.

OK, enough jibber jabber.

Phlash

OMG...how many engineer types can we have in our group???? GEEKS!.....hey, wait a minute.........I represent that remark.........

L8APEX

as long as we keep the discussion about apexes, both early and late to a minimum, no one will get hurt...

MoodDude

Well, I am a candy engineer - I am in wonderful chocolate country right now - PA. I have to build a new chocolate plant - so I am not a geek since woman say I am the "sweetest" engineer around. I'm the "Candy Man"

Stop&TurnFreak

Totally depends on your setup. Bring some outdoor chalk, and we will determine how much camber you need.

Thanks,

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

And driving style--and track-- and tires /type and size---and even temperture if you really want to get detailed. Some drivers like a car that is a little "loose" some like a car that has a little understeer, some drivers like a set up that allows a LOT of correction with the throttle -- it can be a never ending discussion since it is so individualized to driver and car. Heck in NASCAR on the passenger front they run a Positive camber! Also Camber is only part of the discussion--go to toe in/out and get into another endless one! Best people I have found are at Grand Turismo and once you find something you like --stick with it. {My 040's had very even across the thread tire wear the last Roebling trip.} Thats one reason I went with the koni sports/springs etc , not the coil overs. If I had the adjustable coil overs I never would stop "adjusting" Lets quit talking and start driving!
Olddragger

L8APEX

I thought I would always mess with the coilovers too, but the only thing I mes swith now, is shock dampening. Ride height sis as low as I want it, since I have to drive the car everyday.

But yeah, lets start driving already.

MoodDude

I wish - they gave me a stupid SUV for a rental car here in PA - yuck!

Stop&TurnFreak

Dragger, you are absolutely right. HOwever, the one point to remember is tear wear. That is wear the truth is. All other factors count, but the tire will never lie.

Also, remember, I, being the king pimp of pimps (sheepishly smiling) drive pretty consistent, so basically the tuning I do is for one of two reasons. One, track specific, eg wedge in or out to unload the car. Or, go from fine line tune to a 'razors edge'. Right now, anyone could get in my car and I would guarantee you could run fast. It is setup to be dead on neutral with a good bit of recover grip, however, for me (if the car was 'all' mine, and it had a cage, I would have a ton more wedge at certian tracks, so the power would come on early, and the car would literally, unload and take off. Unfortunately, when you get that much grip dedicated to acceleration and line hold, there is none in reserver for, RECOVERY.

Stop&TurnFreak

Don't be gentle, 'she's a RENTAL'.

I had a brand new lincoln with the 32v motor last time. Doughtnts anyone. There were all kind of new lights and whistles chattering and flashing when it was returned. FUN Car though.

MoodDude

Reminds me of going to my house in Utah and getting a Cadillac rental (Deville or something like it) and driving it up the steppest snowplowed road in North America, and can you say drift. We even had snowboards and skis in the car with about 9 people inside and 2 people in the trunk. Man that was fun, and I was driving in ski boots too!

Of coarse my friends still talk about that car since it was even passing some Hummers going up the snow filled roads! We even stopped for every hitch hiker. I don't think the rental company liked the tires or the leather interior after I dropped her off!!!!

L8APEX

7







that said, I started loosening up the old knee, practicing the heel n' toe again. I think after first session, it will be back to where it was at RA. That really is a skill best learned after a lot of practice. It has taken almost a year, to get to the point of even being comfortable doing it on track.


is anyone else getting excited, this time next week, I will not be at work, but instead, getting ready to leave town.

I just finished reading a really good article about Michael Schumacher, and it seems that he too is addicted to the go-fast-crackpipe, and the thrill of doing special things in a car, albeit he gets to do it in an F1 car, and that is what keeps him in the sport, the love of driving. But it was cool to read it and think, I know what you are talking about, track driving is a ton of fun, I can't imagine what wheel to wheel in F1 would be like.