I'm the weakest link on track, so there's no point in getting coilovers right?

[shiyan]

I have a high mileage car in desperate need of new bushings and shocks, and I'm not a bad driver on the track, but not fast.

Having done 55 laps at the Nurburgring I've had 2 tuition sessions, and at the latest one this weekend, the instructor from www.Rent4Ring.de told me that there's nothing wrong with my line, but I need more track time to work on my driving.

Being in this situation, would I be best served to just buy original Renault dampers or Koni dampers, rather than a coilover set like KW V2 or Bilstein B14?

If you've got the time to understand what I need to work on in my driving, read on.

Compared to the instructor driving the same car (a lowered, stripped, caged Suzuki Swift on R888s), I lacked the confidence to enter the corners at the same speed, and I was not able (dared not) to brake as late and hard, as I was not sure if the car was straightend out enough for me to brake that hard without unsettling the car. As an illustration, in Hatzenbach for example, he is able to enter the first (shallow) corner very fast, brake very hard for a very short time, then take the 2nd, slower corner. I'm not able to give the car enough of a transition time between the 2 corners, so I don't brake, and end up taking the first corner too slow, just to be sure I can make it through the 2nd corner.

 

[Fred@BTM]

if you've done 55 laps of the ring and the instructor is saying you have a good line, then i would safely say you're pretty handy behind the wheel!

KW's get my vote

 

[shiyan]

if you've done 55 laps of the ring and the instructor is saying you have a good line, then i would safely say you're pretty handy behind the wheel!

KW's get my vote

Thanks

The instructor said that I needed to work on slower entries and faster exits, and how I manipulate the weight of the car, but that it will come with more track time.

It was still quite shocking to experience just how much further the instructor could push the same car that I drove moments earlier, which is why I feel like the weakest link at the moment

 

[Faboka]

one option would be reno dampers or koni sport and with the spare money more track time

But like fred says if you've done 55 laps and the intructor says you just need for time and you can afford it and need to replace the suspension then KW v2 or b14 would be a good option now as you'd probably end up changing later on when you do get better.

 

[Fred@BTM]

i've found over the years a lot of people buy suspension for track work having zero experience of driving on track and then think they're fast because of their fancy bits on the car, they do look rather displeased when a standard car goes passed them

learning the art on a circuit like the ring takes balls! good man!

may i suggest trying other circuits aswell and not just focusing on the ring, you have THE BEST CIRCUIT ON THE PLANET AT SPA, get there ASAP!

also (interestingly) a topic came up on here yesterday regarding R888's, learn how to drive on normal road tyres first, by learning on track tyres you are learning how a car behaves with tyres that aren't designed for the vehicles suspension

also maybe have a play around with/read up on suspension geometry (ie learn what different settings do to the car's characteristics)

a pro driver can make a poor car look good, and also remember your car always seems faster when someone else is driving, this isn't always the case

psychology is a weird thing!

 

[shiyan]

i've found over the years a lot of people buy suspension for track work having zero experience of driving on track and then think they're fast because of their fancy bits on the car, they do look rather displeased when a standard car goes passed them

learning the art on a circuit like the ring takes balls! good man!

may i suggest trying other circuits aswell and not just focusing on the ring, you have THE BEST CIRCUIT ON THE PLANET AT SPA, get there ASAP!

also (interestingly) a topic came up on here yesterday regarding R888's, learn how to drive on normal road tyres first, by learning on track tyres you are learning how a car behaves with tyres that aren't designed for the vehicles suspension

also maybe have a play around with/read up on suspension geometry (ie learn what different settings do to the car's characteristics)

a pro driver can make a poor car look good, and also remember your car always seems faster when someone else is driving, this isn't always the case

psychology is a weird thing!

Thanks for the advice again.

Indeed Spa is awesome too, and much safer with the amount of run off area you have. I've done 2 trackdays there (one was with tuition), would have gone there again a few weeks ago but had a problem with the car a few days before the trackday :dead:

I'm on Potenza RE-01Rs at the moment, but only because the PE2s were worn out and I could get an awesome deal on the RE-01Rs. I found the PE2s to be perfectly fine for track use

I have a decent understanding of how suspensions work on cars, at least in racing sims (funnily enough a lot of people ended up using the setup files that I made for EA's F1 2002, even when they switched over to its successor, F1 Challenge), but I'm a little afraid of introducing too many variables while I'm still learning to drive the car to its limits.

I know it seems a bit faster when others are driving the car you drove, but I assure you that the instructor was a lot faster than me :quiet:

 

[Fred@BTM]

haha, yeah the ring instructors do basically live there!

are you running completely stock OE setup?

 

[shiyan]

haha, yeah the ring instructors do basically live there!

are you running completely stock OE setup?

Yeah, and it's knackered as the car's done 240000km. I bought it very cheaply with a view to stripping it, but I didn't realise how knackered the bushes and dampers were until I took it to the track

My previous 172 which I sold :dead: had 80000km and felt awesome on track despite being a bog standard 172 (not a cup). I kind of regret selling that car - perhaps I should have just kept tracking that one

Now that I think about it, I don't actually know anything about the set up of a front heavy FWD car. Especially seeing how the 2 rear wheels seem to be fully dependent - was quite surprised when I saw the design of the rear suspension for the first time when it was up on a bridge

 

[Fred@BTM]

oh they like lifting the rear wheel when cornering hard!

240,000km!!! the moon is closer than that! i would suggest maybe changing the front antiroll bar bushes, and the wishbone bushes for poly ones, and then sort the dampers and springs out, as the entire suspension will be very tired!

 

[Vicky.]

240,000km!!! the moon is closer than that!

LOL!

Yeah I'd go for the coilovers.

 

[shiyan]

indeed it's very high mileage :quiet:

 

[ForceIndia]

Vmaxx coilovers as a good compromise? Not much pricier than oe dampers.

 

[Fred@BTM]

^they'd melt on the ring

 

[ForceIndia]

^they'd melt on the ring

Fair enough! OT, but I'm booking Bedford soon, so dad can take the Aston out in relative safety. Coming if you're free?

 

[Fred@BTM]

does he need lessons?

 

[ForceIndia]

does he need lessons?

He's only been out once before!

 

[Fred@BTM]

does he look like Vijay?

 

[ForceIndia]

does he look like Vijay?

White=Ben Affleck
Indian=Vijay