Gotta remember Marc is a stock class driver, body roll doesn't bother him at all. I wouldn't say for certain his shocks are different, maybe it's his comfort zone is different.

His car at nationals-

 

255/40/17 Direzza SS, 700/500, Small Gendron Front Bar (Similar to Comptech V2 and Saner) and Rear bar (very soft, similar to MX5 bar) on full soft. Rear ride height was significantly lower than front and I ran 3/8" toe-in rear. Camber and caster were on par with everyone else.

This is for auto-x and Pro-Solo, so we are averaging speeds of 45-60 with really aggressive steering inputs. As I stated earlier, I'm sure they would behave differently on a road course where average speeds are close to double with much milder steering inputs.

-Marc

 

I haven't been a stock class driver since early 2010 and have driven so many different setups since, I can't remember them all I went with a softer setup and took everything out of the shocks for rear stability on corner entry/exit. I wasn't never able to figure it out completely and never felt confident in the car, so I gave up on the street tires for now.

-Marc

 

good thing you didn't move back to Stock... i mean street...

 

Marc, did you ever try running
Comp Reb
F 8 13
R 9 13

Or this
Comp Reb
F 8 14
R 9 13

 

I probably tried at least 100 different combinations of settings. All arrows pointed to less bar and less shock. The lack of rear grip available out of the street tire was the main issue. Maybe the Z2s and Rivals can change this? Im back to massive R-Comps anyways, but thanks for the suggestion!

-Marc

 

It just seems like your using the front stops to help balance the car and if that works then fantastic.

It just seems like if rear grip was the issue and you never got the car to the point of push then you never went stiff enough to prevent the front from tucking.

Am I totally off? Just trying to understand is all, I'm still learning and there's lots to learn.

 

No bumpstops, the fronts are fine, the rears were rebuilt to allow for more travel. The tires will hit the inner fenders before the springs/shocks bottom out. You are probably thinking in terms of road racking where the car has time to settle. On rough concrete with high grip, lower speeds, and much more aggressive steering inputs, the car needs to respond much different than the formulas and ratios many post up about. I was not out to get an "awesome" handling S2000 ... just a setup I could drive offensively and had the ability to push the car instead of driving cautiously around its mistakes. I never felt like we accomplished that task. STR was probably the toughest class in 2012 and we were happy to take home the Pro Solo win and 2nd at the Solo Championships. We were able to get the car pretty well by the Peru NT last year (one of my favorite pics below). It wasn't perfect, but much more controllable than before. Here is a look at the balance on corner exit and ride height. We ran the rear this low to help with corner entry and exit oversteer. None of the setup changes seemed to follow a particular science sue to the rough/bumpy lots. You had to make the suspension very forgiving without taking away your ability to go fast (something R-Compound alone are very good at)

 

I have a small understanding of the difference between auto x and track. It's not always the case where the car has time to settle on track.

The front inner frame must be polished nicely by now from the tire.

Your setup would make more sense to me if the fronts were engaging the stops but since they're not then I really don't know why or how it could be better like that unless you do have different valving.

 

No paint was ever rubbed, just the front fender liners. Other than a couple scuffs/scratches on the rocker panels and bumpers from cones, the car was mint and the suspension/bushings/hardware perfect.