Quote:
Originally Posted by steved0x
I'll write back tomorrow about my suspension upgrade experiences on my 2000 S, it is all sorted out now but I made a few missteps along the way that I can share  |
I did a suspension upgrade this spring 2016, from my worn-out 120,000'ish miles OEM M030 sport suspension. I went with KSports and also replaced some of the track/trailing arms and rear lower controls arms (basically all new suspension parts except from tie rods)
My first setup experience was a disaster - I setup up the car to where it looked really good, but the front was way too low, both all up, and in relation to the back. I also paid for a corner balance, which took only a few adjustments and cost $250. The car was very loose and was scary to drive on the track:
http://986forum.com/forums/performance-technical-chat/61437-any-tricks-reduce-oversteer-limited-adjustments-tbe-track.html
Several members here jumped in with info and hot tips to get me squared away, including several lengthy email exchanges, very valuable information, thank you! I raised the front (therefore losing the results of my corner balance), set a front to back rake that matched ROW M030 specs, added an adjustable rear sway bar in case I needed to do some tuning at the track, and took the car to the FIRM in FL to shake it out:
http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/62408-few-laps-firm-mobius-camera-beluga-racing-exhaust.html
The car did awesome, ran my fastest laps ever at this track, the car rotated like a champ on this very tight technical course.
Then I took it to Roebling Road in Savannah, a very fast flowing course with lots of sweepers. They have scales there and my numbers looked very good, to get to corner balance would have required moving only 7 pounds, so I decided not to pay for another corner balance (would have been half price though, $125, but I decided to skip)
http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-racing-forum/63423-went-big-spin-last-weekend-unusual-abs-interaction.html
Had a big off my second session, the car was still biased towards oversteer and spun in a place where I have never really even been in jeopardy before. So I had the car dialed in for shorter technical tracks, almost every corner a hard trailbraking/car rotation corner, but on the sweepers I still didn't have the setup. My fastest laps were still 6-7 seconds off my personal best at this track.
At this event, I resolved to go back to the OEM sport suspension because I was tired of fiddling and tuning
After I made this change, I did some research on sway bar stiffness and
discovered that my aftermarket rear swaybar was TWICE as stiff as OEM, even on the softest settings. Paired with the OEM front bar, that was almost certainly my problem, dang it. However I am a tinkerer so it all worked out and the KSports went to a good home so all's well that ends well.
I did this, and replaced my worn out struts with Koni FSD struts, and the car is freaking awesome, and I ran a string of laps within 1 second of my personal best. Also I am using Harry's Lap Timer, and I am really liking the g-force information, which seems to be a good way to see where I am leaving more on the table.
This was with a Bob Woodman Tires open track day, so I had a lot of clean track. Note that I ran 75 laps that day, pretty cool
I started off the day running TC and it was coming on more and more as the day went on, mostly inside wheelspin I think on corner exit. This is the first time I have felt TC holding me back here. I turned it off for the last few sessions and it felt great.
https://youtu.be/MwLo3LqlXk0
Inside the car (only got 2 laps, 3rd was not recorded)
https://youtu.be/-eDEin0MbHo
Here are my two fastest laps at this track from last October 2015. Note that outside of this single "magical" session, which was 2 seconds faster than my previous bests, I have never run a 1:30.x at Roebling until last weekend.
https://youtu.be/HXTRO-jeJAI
I am back!!!
My lessons learned? Go with a proven combo of suspension parts and settings*. Don't be like me and use a lot of money and time to re-discover the wheel. Share your proposed setup ideas here and compare with what other folks are using. That way you can get it right the first time, unlike me
*Edit to note - "Go with a proven combo of suspension parts and settings" is not meant as a ding on the KSports - my problems were caused by improper setup, and then a mismatched rear sway bar. On the tighter track they were awesome and I have no doubt that they would have continued to be awesome on faster tracks once I got the setup dialed in.... Sigh