Hey fullnoise..

[DORIGTT]

I'm curious about your vehicle setup.
What are the specs of what you are using.
BJ/IRS?
Torsion bars or coilovers?
Wheel/tire size?
Anti-roll bars?
Alignment settings?
Blah, Blah, Blah

Oh, and how interesting soe it get between you and Jak?

Thanks and I love the classic look with the big fangs!

Kev

[DORIGTT]

jiggle jiggle jiggle

[fullnoise]

My setup was always supposed to be simple based on what other people had already figured out. However it didn't quite work out properly. The car started with terminal understeer and then unpredictable snap oversteer.

All I need to do now is change from cast drop spindles to welded ones and the car should be perfect.

Here are the specs,
BJ IRS chassis.
28mm rear springs
Dual Avis adjusters close to standard height and always moved in parallel to maintain a soft stock spring rate.
Koni shocks.
Front swaybar is stock-type but slightly thicker with neolothane bushes. I tried a big adjustable bar but it caused too much understeer and restricted the travel.
Rear swaybar a resonably light non-adjustable bar that's about 18mm. I also have a big 22 mm adjustable bar but it causes too much inside rear wheel spin without a LSD.
Ride height. Rear is as low as it can go without hitting the bumpstops on big bumps. The tail is ever so slightly lower than the nose or it's flat.
Alignment is 3 degrees negative camber on all corners. This is created at the front with bent upper arms and greater offset eccentric knuckles. The tyre pyrometer indicates I need more neg on the front and less on the rear. The rear is where it is due to the ride height.
Castor. I can't remember the measurement but I use 1 set of castor shims (I tried 2 but it made the steering wheel feel like the car was more sideways than it really was).
The car has no bumpsteer on the rear and little or no bumpsteer on the front. Diagonally without a drive it's 49.9% and 50.1%. Front to rear it's 39% and 61%.
Wheels are 16 x 6 and 16 x 7 Fuchs. Tyres are 195/50R16 Yokohama A048 LTS. These are like the R-Spec tyre but are wound back for original equipment road use on the Lotus Exige. The belt angle is less aggressive and the compound is harder for road/race use. The beauty of these tyres is that they are designed for a light car like the beetle and they're not too wide. Mind you I'd like narrower tyres to try and get the correct heat in to them in just a couple of laps.

Jak and i have had some great fun on the track. In the supersprint format they ususally space you apart from the other competitiors but Jak and I wait for each other and take turns in a bit of cat and mouse. It's fantastic to see another beetle sliding only a couple of car lengths in front of you. Normally that would scare the crap out of me but I have a lot of faith in Jak's car control. It's such a buz when we get out on the track.

I could rabbit on forever but I hope that answers some of your questions.

My biggest piece of advice to people with beam front ends. Don't make them stiff.

CYA CT

[kleinporsche]

What do you mean by: "My biggest piece of advice to people with beam front ends. Don't make them stiff."????????

Also, what is the gear ratio you and Jak use? Well, while we are at it, what is you transmission set up? Slip diff?

It facinates me to see you racing agaisn't 6 speed Porsche with you 4 speed souped-up lawnmowers !

Cheers!

[fullnoise]

When I had stiff front suspension I had horrid understeer and I noticed the tyre pressures weren't increasing like the back ones were. I did 4 laps on a really cold day and the pressures in the front tyres increased by barely 1 psi when the rears were 4 to 5 psi higher.

Theory says that if you wan't less understeer and more oversteer you should either:
Stiffen the rear or soften the front. Or go for a stiffer rear bar and a softer front one.

Each time I softened the front by getting the adjusters in parallel and cutting the bump stops I got better turn-in to corners and the tyres heated up more.

Now with drop spindles and a stock spring rate I can make the rear tyres squeel on turn-in and the pressures are now increasing as much as the rears. The tyres are also heating up better too.

That's why I say what I say.

My gearbox is stock 4.375 r&p box with a few minor mods but stock ratios. Jak used to use the same box which made things fun. First and second are way too short so I usually use 3rd around all the bends and 4th on the straights. The engine usually revs between 3500 and 7000 on all of the corners.

CYA CT

[kleinporsche]

Thanks CT,

You and Jak are are living VW Gods to me. No joke, so take it when it comes!!! The first exemples of GL I saw was yours! I like your gentelman driver/weekend racer philosophy: you are the reason why I bougth back the first car I ever driven.

Enough of that! Back to the trans issue. Is it an aftermarket trans case, do you have a slip differential: what to you do in order to make it more resistant?

Ciao

[jakriz]

Hi,
Our gearboxes are stock, in that I mean totally stock. The L-bug (1303) single side plate box that I have in my car at the moment is a second hand gearbox that I got for $100. We do our racing on a budget :agree:

regards
Jak
http://www.superbeetlesonly.com/foru...y&cmd=sc&cat=6

[kleinporsche]

Thanks for the lead Jak!

[fullnoise]

Racing is expensive.

Jak and I have decided that we have to draw a line somewhere to avoid cheque book racing. That's why there's not LSDs, custom gear ratios, brembo brakes etc.

It's all about how much bang we can get for our bucks.

CYA CT