Ok, so I never posted the stuff about ride height in the end
Very briefly, My dear friend
@RobinJI is much cleverer than me. We were discussing how the car was clearly FAR too low after Curborough, and he offered to model some data for me based on a few measurements I could take.
I got the tape measure out and got the info required, and Robin processed this and came up with some really interesting data.
Robin was keen to point out that there is a slight error in the camber curve and track width changes, which we will try and fix at some point, but the idea is certainly sound.
First up the camber curve with compression, based on the ride height at the time:
This shows that as the strut compresses, camber increases, which is a good thing. This needs tweaking slightly, but it's still interesting to see.
Track width change:
This shows that the car was sitting just near the peak of the track width change curve, so in the first 10mm or so of compression the track width remained reasonably constant, but after that, it started to decrease. In an ideal world you'd be further to the left of that peak.
And the really interesting one that everybody is aware of but nobody ever seems to have measured: Roll Centre!
It's often spoken about, and how lowering a car ruins the front roll centre and takes it below the tarmac. The results of this are pretty obvious, as even without a silly scene low ride height, my roll centre was just 7mm above the tarmac with LCR arms and hubs.
From this point I've now raised the car nearly 20mm, which should put the roll centre more like ~40mm above the ground. The difference in feel is actually FAR more than I had expected too! the front ends just seems to grip that much better, and it seems to change direction far more effectively too.
So, his was the ride height pre Curborough:
And this is how she's sitting now:
To my mind, it looks far more purposeful!
With the ride height raised, and time ticking before Thruxton, I decided to pay to have the alignment done.
I usually do this myself, but it takes a good few hours to get it setup and adjusted with any decent accuracy, and sometimes your time is worth more than money.
There's a place in Southampton called 'The Wheel Alignment Centre' who I'd heard great things about. A 1 man band in a small unit with a single ramp, who famously does lots of the track and race cars around Hampshire.
A quick call and I was told £45 worst case for a full alignment including adjustment to top mounts for camber and caster. very reasonable I thought, so off I went!
I arrived and was urged straight onto the ramps. Nick (the owner) was well prepared with all manner of ramp extensions for low cars and splitters, which was nice to see:
Alignment gear on, and this is where it sat:
Toe was a mile out as I'd raised it so far, but camber and caster were incredibly even! I was very pleased with that.
Nick advised that my rear beam was ever so slightly out of position, causing the tiniest crab. Looking at the wheelbase measurements confirms this, with a 3mm difference from side to side, which would give it a kick in that direction:
The whole lot was over and done in about 20 minutes!
Whilst it was in the air I did get a quick chance to check my new centre section was all ok too:
You can see how tight it in in the tunnel!
Not a hint of rubbing though thanks to the fairly substantial mounting.
When I got home I also moved the fire ext nozzle I'd been meaning to do. I may have already posted this, I forget.
The new heatshield covered the nozzle and made it effectively useless, so i extended it through the heat shield so it now covers the hot bits again should I ever need it!
Just for completeness, the other engine bay nozzle sits here:
These spray out at a 45 degree angle, so this front nozzle covers the fuel rail, starter, and main electrics at the front of the engine.
36087731_10156396854943788_6847053407497224192_n by Richard Beale, on Flickr
. I'm not sure you could pass it off as feeling NA but its very progressive and usable, no wild torque steer or wheel spin when the boost comes in.
