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A month later after I got a bit sideways during an onramp, I decided I should look into the looseness issue. I did a quick ride height check with the result being a ride height about ¼” lower than I had set it initially. This is of no surprise as new springs always take a little bit of time to settle. Knowing that the suspension toes out under bump, I measured the rear toe and found the source of my problem. The ¼” reduction in rear ride height caused the rear toe to become 0 whereas I had it aligned to about 3/16” toe-in. I raised the car back up ¼” and the rear toed back in causing the looseness to subside. Another interesting thing, I had noticed a clicking noise coming from the right rear under bump that had not been there previously when I first installed the suspension. Raising the rear back up got rid of the clicking noise.
The next test was the Speed Ventures auto-x. Speed Ventures runs it as a non-competitive event, so while there is timing, no one officially records it. The awesomeness of the Speed Ventures auto-x: no working the course, and you can get 15-35 runs depending on how many cars show up. On this day, about 80 cars registered, so I only got about 20 runs.
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| A beautiful SoCal winter day for a Speed Ventures auto-x. The red S2k belongs to my buddy Jim. He used it to take 2nd in the STR class at SCCA Pro Solo last year. He’s quick… |
So why the auto-x test? Besides having fun with co-workers, a good road course car does not necessarily translate well into an auto-x car. Auto-x is defined by very quick transitions where a car with an understeer bias has an advantage.
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| The slalom. It’s one of the defining features of auto-x and a test of a vehicle’s ability to transition quickly from side-to-side. |
