First post. Soon to be owner (any day now..2002 Silver).
When running A Stock, or maybe soon to be B Stock, you need to run the same size wheels. But you can run different size tires as long as they fit the wheels? So you can run Hoosiers, Khumo or Ao32's... Maybe 225 50's in front and 245 45's in back?
Next question. Stock tires works well for the street, but when using track tires the rear steps out so you need a stiffer bar in front. So wait for the comptect adjustible bar so you can set for either street or stock? Or as a medium step, you could use 265 track tires on the rear?
Do I have all this straight?
Thanks for the help.

 

You've pretty much got it. I've only known of one couple to run the 265's and they went back to 245's after one set. Most of us are running the 225/245 setup.

Good luck.

 

You're proposing pretty much what I'm doing. I'm already running Kumho V700 225/50 front and 245/45 rear with the stock front swaybar, and yes the back steps out more than with OEM tires. However, overall grip is much greater. It's just an opportunity to learn how the balance the car when biased to oversteer. Now I'm just waiting for the Comptech bar with the hopes of more neutrality.

You're going to love the car .

 

Thanks for your comments. If anyone else wishes to comment, please do.

I raced a shifter kart last year, so I'm not uncomfortable with an oversteer condition. Some of the other posts I've read note a tendency for the car to come around quickly just after its edge. I sort of hope I've misinterpreted the comments and that it is controllable. I've not auto-xed before so I won't mind going slower until the adjustable bar is available.

Also, from some of the other posts I've read, some folks are adding negative camber to the front in the stock condition to lessen understeer. I'm thinking that the S is probably just a well balanced car that reacts strategically to changes.

Anyway, I can't wait to get my hands on the car. Should have been here last week. BTW, I'm not sure what color silver it will be. The dealer says "si stands for silver"... so it will be a surprize! I'm hoping for the new sebring silver but more than happy with silverstone.

Also, I'm really enjoying the forum.

 

If it's a 2002 like you mentioned, then the silver will be sebring silver.


/Rog

 

I went from the stock tires to Kumhos for the AutoX season. I put the 265s on the rear in lieu of the sway bar. The tires "tamed" the oversteer nicely, except in the wet.

I'm going to keep the tires for next season, even if I install the bar.

In my opinion, there is so much to learn about driving this car, that seat time is the most important investment that can be made. While I was very competitive on a local level, I know that I was only 90-95 % of the capability of the car. At the limit, the back end can let go quickly, without the opportunity to adjust with steering and throttle adjustment. However, this is usually a result of elevation change or surface change. When walking the AutoX course, pay special attention to undulations and off camber turns. Knowledge of the course and the car can help eliminate many of these problems.

The prevaling wisdom is that the bar is the most important mod to keep the car pointed straight. I haven't driven a car with a better bar. Drivers who have the bar and have driven my car (w/ the 265s) have indicated that there is very little difference between their car and mine.

I also think tire pressure determines the attitude of the car as well. My opinion is, lower the pressure as low as you can(until you are hitting the arrow). If the car then oversteers...inflate the fronts. I think I was at 35 F/30R at the end of the season.

Although I'm just learning to drive this car at the limits, I learned a lot this year that will carry over to next.

Good Luck

Randy

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by rlawson
[B]When walking the AutoX course, pay special attention to undulations and off camber turns.

 

Jason -- Have you (or any of your sponsors) measured the bump steer? I'm wondering just how bad it is but I don't have a bump steer guage.

As you may have read, I believe I've gotten significant improvement from a tire change. If the bump steer measures really badly though, it may make sense to try the kit.

BTW, I also read a recent test of the RSX that blamed a bad design compromise (too short A-Arms to get more trunk space) on that cars bad bump steer. Ours don't really look too short but that trunk looks pretty big. Perhaps adjustable A-Arms are another potential solution?

 

Can someone explain what the car feels like when it bump steers?

Two weeks ago at Sears Point I was hitting all of the kurbs in all of the places that I normally do in the open wheel race car, and I never felt any sort of bump steer problem, never. In fact, with my realignment the Honda responded remarkably like the race car.

Now it is true that these kurbs are hit always on the inside, light side of the car. Maybe that is why I didn't feel anything unusual.

On the street when I hit bumps I occasionally feel a loss of grip at one end of the car or the other, but I don't attribute this to a bump steer problem. I think no tire can maintain perfect grip across a bump, so you've got to expect some sort of change in grip. Is this what people mean by bump steer?

 

Bump-steer is acutally a measurable component of the suspension design. To measure, you take the springs out of the car, attach a bump-steer guage and run the suspension through it's entire travel. Bump-steer can be adjusted in the front by the height of the steering rack. The rear will probably mean new A-arms as Jim mentioned.

When a car has allot of bump-steer, it gets more unpredictable the bumpier the surface gets. Running over curbs at the racetrack unsettles any car, and you have developed the ability to control it. That's not bump-steer. Bump-steer becomes apparent most in high-speed sweepers when the car encounters a patch of imperfections in the pavement. You will feel sort of an 'unsettled' feeling from the rear of the car, which is not it 'letting go' it's the rear tires changing toe-setting as the suspension travels. If you are already near the tire's limit, it will let go and it will do-so in an unpredictable manner.

Jim... King has measured the front bump-steer but not the rear yet. Running the Grand-Am Cup car has kept them from having the time. Give them a call and ask about the exact measurements they got from the front - I'm not sure what it was. Call and talk to Scott and he will tell you what they found, and if he hears some interest about a rear-kit it will help the process along! Unfortunately we can't use it in the type of racing we do, but it will be fun to test on Nick (GTRPower's) car. We have some baseline laps at Gingerman Raceway, so it will be interesting to see what happens with rear bump-steer corrected.