I'm gonna get the car up on some scales in the next week or so to see how much weight I have to remove. So far I did the exhaust.. and that's it! I have a couple parts showing up which should help, plus the passenger seat. I'd like to do a race seat on the driver's side as well.

It depends on how far over the weight limit I am. If I'm 30lbs over, it's not a big deal. If I'm 100lbs over, then I have some work to do. Without spending money, the easiest things are the bumper reinforcements and seats. We'll see what it weighs in at.

I have a rear wing and front splitter on order. That was part of the original plan and why I went to the KSport shocks (to get points back).

 

[QUOTE=SPLNDID,Feb 15 2008, 09:50 PM] It has all to do with your spring rates and shock compression.
Figure out how much your suspension will travel at it's max expected downforce.

 

Go!
That's exactly whare I'm at too!
I've just sat in my garage and stared at my S.
DOIT.
Bitches.
Register your S for TT on Sunday, March, and let's have a blast!
Who's gonna bring the grille?
Burgers? Dogs?

 

i just read that TT is sold out with 37 cars entered on Sunday. if so, it's gonna suck.. good luck getting a clean lap in that mess. that group works well up to about 25 people, then it's just a big disaster.. and a big waste of time.

 

Oh well.
For us, funsters,... DOIT.
The TT group, (HPDE4), is the best group of experienced drivers to have fun with.
You won't find many "cowboys" in the TT group.
I like running with the TT group because we know how to mix. If a car runs off track, for example, they don't just get back on and nearly cream your ass as you are coming around the corner. (Had that happen in Pahrump)...
Great group of drivers.
In TT, you'll learn to have greater sense of situational awareness and in doing so, have more fun with your S.
DOIT

 

why does your 03 have a ap2 rear bumper?

smart choice in goin the k sport and aero route.

 

small bore big bore groups ftw... just start at the front and hope robert gets out of your way.

 

In all honesty, I try and run the car as low as possible. The lower the car is to the ground, the better IMO as it's going to have less body motion in cornering. But with that, there are a few guidelines I look for and abide by:

1. The lower control arms are at least parallel to the ground, preferably still a little angled. Ie. See how in this picture the hub sits lower than the inner pivot point. The other way around is bad.

2. Wheel clearance. If the tires are rubbing all over the fenders, that's NG.

3. Suspension travel. Some shocks are extremely short, so you can slam the car on the ground and still have 4" of travel... some aren't. I always measure the travel at droop (with the car in the air), then jack the hub up to ride height and measure again. If the car has 2" of travel at ride height, I'll raise it up or get the shocks shortened.

It's not the most scientific method, but all three of those issues are pretty critical and I try and find the lowest ride height possible that jives with all that.

 

And to add one thing, I always always always measure the ride height. Two reasons:

1. I have 13/20 vision, but I can't tell the difference between 5-10mm on my car in ride height. 5mm in ride height can throw the corner balance off by 2-3% pretty easily.

2. In order to corner balance a car properly, you *have* to know the ride heights. It's hilarious watching people corner balance a car without measuring ride height. if you don't know the ride height of each corner, how do you know which corner to raise/lower to get the balance properly? You don't.. or you luck out.

And there are two ways to measure ride height..

1. The quick way, by making a dot on the fender and measuring from the floor to the top of the fender. For example, from the floor to the dot on my LF fender is 25". The only time I measure like this is if I change springs one day at the track and need to get in the ballpark.

2. The proper way - from the floor to a non-moving, non-damagable part on the bottom of the chassis.

Good places to measure ride height: A subframe bolt, fixed point on the crossmember that is unpainted, inner suspension bolt (control arm inner bolt/nut). Anything that doesn't move, have paint, or can get bent. And whatever point you use, has to be symmetrical from side to side so you can compare sides of the car. Front to rear doesn't matter, but side to side does.

Bad places to measure: Pinch welds, suspension arms that move (so all of them), the floor itself, something that has rubbery undercoating on it, body panels.

For my log book, I write down the correct ride height measurements and use those for referencing everytime I change springs or corner balance. These can be referenced five yeas from now and they'll still be the same.

If you use a fender opening or pinch weld, two years down the road after running over sped bumps, twisting the chassis on rumble strips, rolling fenders etc, the location of the measurement point will change. So as I said, the only time I use the fender opening for a reference point is if I am changing a part in one day and need a quick way to measure.

Yesterday when I swapped coilovers, I made a small dot with a pen on each fender opening, then measured from the floor to the dot. After swapping coilovers, I measured again, then raised/lowered till the measurement was the same.. that's in the ballpark of when I drove the car into the shop. When I go to corner balance it next week, I'll bust out with the millimeter tape measure and use the points under the car, then write them down in my logbook for future reference. If anyone on S2Ki wants to know my ride height, I can give them the values and won;t have to be worried about their fenders being F'd up, pinch welds bent etc.. a guy with a wide body S2000 in Tanzania will be able to set his car to the exact same height as mine.

 

Today I corner balanced the car. I was going crazy in this cluttered garage, but it was a flat surface so I had to make due.



Car up on the scales, 2704lbs... removed the spare tire, trunk tools, floor mats. Otherwise it's a stock AP1 with full interior, A/C, stereo. The only other weight reduction piece is the Buddy Club exhaust.


With me in the car, all my racing gear and the computer for the scales it was 2907lbs. Competition weight minimum is 2810lbs. I had 1/2 tank in the car tonight as well. I am still waiting on my new wheels, which should help, then I might remove the passenger seat and get a light driver's seat. Overall I have about 80lbs to remove.. as long as it's ~2830lbs or so.


Initial Corner Weights

RF: 687
RR: 720
LF: 769
LR: 733

LR-->RF Cross Weight - 48.8%

I measured ride heights and the RF was already higher that the LF, so I checked the rear. The LR was 1/4" lower than the RR, so I raised the LR three full turns. The weights came in as follows:

RF: 707
RR: 702
LF: 752
LR: 749

LR-->RF Cross Weight - 50.1%

Good enough! I'm taking it back to the alignment shop this weekend to get rechecked. After installing the coilovers the rear toe feels messed up, so might as well check it.