Spacers and adapters

[Exar-Kun]

you aught to try a tire with a better lod index for the cars weight and its transfer..you'd be supprised how much extra grip and progessivity that;d give you.

how long is your suspension travell? do you know?

[Nismo_Freak]

Ive never taken any temp readings, but I cant feel the tires getting too hot, not to the point it affects the handleing charateristics anyway. But visually I can see the outside wearing a little at the track, dusting on the outboard edge, so the tire apears to be fully rolling under putting the full contact patch down under hard cornering.

Take tire temps... just because the tire looks used on the edge doesn't mean you are running the fastest setup. Tire temps also tell you alot about what you as a driver are overdoing, or where you need to adjust air pressures, etc.

Honestly you can compare your style of suspension tuning to tuning the car on the street with no wideband, using only your butt and eyes. Arm yourself with knowledge, then take every form of number you can afford to get... and then you will make meaningful and logical corrections to your setup.

[sixxdeuce]

Take tire temps... just because the tire looks used on the edge doesn't mean you are running the fastest setup. Tire temps also tell you alot about what you as a driver are overdoing, or where you need to adjust air pressures, etc.

Honestly you can compare your style of suspension tuning to tuning the car on the street with no wideband, using only your butt and eyes. Arm yourself with knowledge, then take every form of number you can afford to get... and then you will make meaningful and logical corrections to your setup.

Fair enough, thats a very good compairison, the wideband thing. I am however very pleased with where ive got it too so far, the next step is definatly going to be more precise, especially when it gets corner weighted.

But as far as a faster setup, Im not quite sure what you mean, scrubbing speed off?the car is only used for drift events, I have no plans on making any timed runs or going grip driving with it.

[sixxdeuce]

you aught to try a tire with a better lod index for the cars weight and its transfer..you'd be supprised how much extra grip and progessivity that;d give you.

how long is your suspension travell? do you know?

Hmm, I havent run into any problems with the fm901's yet, they still grip at fairly high speeds full counter, and they stand up to feint initiations without signs of understeer, and I dont think I would be able to run anything much grippier in the rear. What would you recommend for tires for a mild modded ka S13 thats virtually never sees grip driving.

Suspension travel is very short, my tire is real close to my wire harness but never rubs it, i havent masured it. But the front springs only have a little bit more preload than standard settings, so its basicly stock travel for he's

[Nismo_Freak]

Don't take this the wrong way, I for one don't mind drifting, but drifting isn't very reliant upon in-depth suspension tuning. More reliance is on driver aptitude than suspension tuning.

I could be wrong but it is simply my observation.

[sixxdeuce]

You are completly correct for the most part. Suspension tuning is very important to a point, but once its about right its easy do adjust to minor flaws in the setup, understeer sucks and forces you to change your technique from what you are more comfortable with, but its not that big of a deal. A well setup car just makes everything easier.

[C-Kwik]

I'm jumping in late here, but realistically, unless a person has a defined set of variables to work with it is impossible to give specific advice. If a general question is asked athe answer will have to be general. For those who know what they are talking about, they tend to err conservatively. There are potential negative side effects with any mod and for those that do not care, no big deal. It would be cumbersome for someone to try and answer with great detail the technicalities of rather simple questions as they come up over and over again. The simpler solution is to give a conservative answer and leave it simple. If someone is specifically looking for a technical answer or reasonaing they can ask. Most of the time though it ends up being a wasted effort. There is a lot of knowledge here. Take advantage of it, but don't expect them to just waste their time either. I'm sure they have their own lives to live.

So is there more than one way to set-up a suspension? Abolsutely. But you have to consider the goals and limitations. If the goal is just for the wheel to fit with the spacer, that is one thing. But will it handle well? That is another question altogether. Will it be safe for track use? Another question. You ask one question by itslef and you've intoduced a vague scenario. Ask all the questions together and you'll get a much more definitive answer. These guys here are credible because they get results and offer good advice. If they simply answered the question on a small picture scale and something went wrong, they would look like morons. There is nothing wrong with the term, "better safe than sorry."

[Exar-Kun]

Thanks C-kwick.

Duece, if you're not grip driving, you'd still want a tire that'd hold up better to load transfer (drifting) rapidly without fatiguing..

a 205-55-16 would be "propper" load index, it's taller yes, but does have an increased load index..

how wide are your wheels..a reinforced 225-45-16 works well on Chad COpelands S13 when he and tony shults took it around a few days ago...

You'd also ant a "harder" starting Z rated compound...think cheap, these tires tend to start off harder, and get slick nicely once heated over their operating temp range. A Kumho 712, or a Sumitomo HTRZ (not + or 2..the old one), or other similar tire (Nitto Nt450) will work nicely...and hold p better than you'd expect.

the problem with limiting suspension travel is yu'll limit camber gain and your suspensiona bility to soak up inconsistencies in the road surface (even on a track), resuliting in less grip.

A little more travell will enable the car to camber gain a bit more by compression, and help the suspension do its job a bit better...

its also why you find yourself running such high negative camber I should think since your suspension cant gain any because of a shortened travell, you have to dial more in on static settings...

just a theory. I'd have to set the car up to really see if thats whats happening.

And Alan is right..the more data the better..but don't fall into "analysis paralysis"..meaning hesitating on doing something until you're sure ofe very outcome or something

"If A man took and thought about every outcome possible before a step..he would forever stand on one leg"

-Chet

[sixxdeuce]

Ive been wanting to try those nittos in the rear, i know some people getting incredible life out of them. Already tested both the sumitomos and 712's, the hrt-z's were ok but i like the dunlops better, the 712's on the other hand are probably the worst tire ive used, i hated those things. My wheels are only 7.5" wide, which is why i only use 205's. Part of the reason for the camber is clearance for the fender, but we have the eastwood fender roller so more clearance is just a 1/2 hours worth of work with the torch and roller if i ever feel the need. Its already been rolled and pulled slightly in the front and around a 3/4" pull in rear.

The car does get somewhat unstable when hitting inconsistancies mid slide, but is easily recovered, as the front never seems to loose grip. Its actually pretty fun and can make for some big angle suprises.