More Grip

[Absinthe]

After a weekend trip to the trak I have decided I love the balance that the evo presents as set up stock Im comfortable with the amount of understeer the car has and especially love how easy and controlled it is under corner exit if you lift of the throttle just a touch the back will come out and line up with thye next straight.

I would like to increase the amount of grip on the car but dont want it to get any stiffer suspension wise, and especially do not want to shift the roll center of the car back to the point it wuold oversteer under power I like the fact I can steer the car through a corner simply buy increasing throttle or pulling it back.

The basic question is how do you think I get to where i want to go? are solid end links worth it? 245 series Azenies? Both? Rear Strut Bar? Camber kit?

[Coolguy949]

Haha, I was just gonna say.....245 Azenis...but it looks like you're on the right page.

The car feels more locked down to the ground even when cruising straight. DEFINATELY worth getting some azenis!!

[JWest]

Check some of the other posts on this forum in regards to "coil overs" and "suspension"...

assuming you have worked w/ your tire pressuses.
the short list goes:
1. 4 wheel alignment (no, not just to the factory specs)
2. larger rear anti-roll bar
3. JICs from RRE

[email protected] will be able to help you get the most out of your Evo.

[Absinthe]

John I am pretty happy with the stock set up stiffness wise would the JIC's be notably stiffer?

Also with rear anti roll bar can i go marginally larger to improve handeling, I have heard of people lifting rear wheels with stiffer bars? I fear shifting the roll center too far back and having a power over steer situation I am more comfortable with power under steer.

[leaveit2bevo]

So after one track day you can already drive the car to its limits? If you cant increasing the grip isnt going to really do anything but if you want a quick fix get some R-compound tires and get your car aligned like mine -2 all around.

[Absinthe]

I cant drive it to the limit but I now know where I need to improve the car to compensate for my lack of skills. More grip is definately needed because frequently my steering imputs are to sharp which induce understeer. Having more grip will help to combat this as I get better and more comfortable with the car. Also it wasnt my first track day just my first with this car.

[JWest]

Sorry about any confusion.
john@rre = John Mueller: RRE suspension guru, pro racer, etc
Jwest = Joshua West: continue to study these things, spend quite a few days a year at the track & autoXing

Anyway, in general ride quality of an EVO with RRE JICs is, generally, no worse than stock and some have complained that it is better than stock:-)

With the bar from RRE you will not shift the roll center "too far" back. As for lifting the rear wheel, it may happen (believe I've seen stock evo's do it & the bar won't make it less) but it shouldn't be bad-enough to be a problem.

So, what track were you driving at? What were your tire pressures set at? What did your instructor have to say about the car?

JW

[leaveit2bevo]

Well if you going to do anti-roll bar and strut bars its going to make the ass want to come out even more. Hey dude sense you live in SM you should run the malibu canyons with us some time.

[Absinthe]

come to the redline day on the 20th its cheap Im going we could roll up together

[leaveit2bevo]

is it one streets?

[turbrodude]

I just put on the large RRE Anti-roll bar and got the 'performance' alignment from John @ RRE. I can't imagine that the bigger bar will cause you much danger since it is adjustable. The weakest setting looks to be about the same geometry as the stock bar, so it should just be slightly stiffer. Then if you want, you swap the bolts over to the stiffer setting when you realize that your car is understeering too much still. The bar has 3 settings.

[turbrodude]

Just went for a ride on a short canyon run. The car feels great. Understeers less... much more neutral. The car does what I tell it to even better than stock. I have the rear bar set up as stiff as it goes and the car didn't do anything hairball on my first hard drive.
Don't be skeeered. Go see John @ RRE. He's the man.

[GokuSSJ4]

As soon as my Yoko wear , thats the next thing im heading for 245 azenis , i have heard nothing but good reviews and also use to have them in a different car which the tires are great !!

[leaveit2bevo]

I just put on the large RRE Anti-roll bar and got the 'performance' alignment from John @ RRE. I can't imagine that the bigger bar will cause you much danger since it is adjustable. The weakest setting looks to be about the same geometry as the stock bar, so it should just be slightly stiffer. Then if you want, you swap the bolts over to the stiffer setting when you realize that your car is understeering too much still. The bar has 3 settings.


What exactly is a performance alignment? Im suprised that will the anti roll bar set at max the car didnt step out, ive stepped mine out pretty easily but now with the azenis its way easier to control then those damn advans.

[Muellerized...]

What exactly is a performance alignment?

I set up each car to what the customer specifies they want the car to do best, taking their driving experience level, turbo/power level, tire wear expectations, track usage and types of road sufaces they expect to have the most grip on into consideration. After 19 years of setting up AWD 4 cylinder turbo cars, going back to my days at Chrysler/Shelby in the mid 80s developing prototype suspension systems with Neil Hannemann, the lead chassis engineer on the Viper and the new Ford Gt-40, and learning what works best to make an AWD turbo car corner effectively. We continue to learn which fine details work best for the EVO, and have spent 2 weekends at the track already this year pushing the envelope further in a variety of weather conditions. In addition to our ongoing track development, I have been tuning many street driven EVOs and our companies decade long experience of constructing, tuning, and racing road race and rally AWD Mazda 323s, plus 1G and 2G Eclipses gives me a unique perspective on how best to point your wheels in the proper direction for you.

[ErroR]

John I am interested in your alignment and possibly a switch to softer springs. I currently have the JIC coilovers with 10 in the front and 9 in the rear.

[turbrodude]

Stock suspension: the rear end kicks out slightly when you let off the gas. Under throttle, the front pushes.
Fat rear bar and better alignment: the front stops pushing and the car is nuetral. The rear end kicks out when you tell it under throttle. I just did a controlled 4 wheel drift around the bottom half of a 270 degree freeway offramp (Nash exit off 105W). Fun stuff. That offramp is my skid pad every morning.

[leaveit2bevo]

Im interested in it to how much does the performance alignment cost?

[Muellerized...]

Im interested in it to how much does the performance alignment cost?

$120, which is 2 hours labor at RRE. Customers that order an alignment when purchasing components from RRE get a discount to $100 because we are interested in seeing each customer achieve the potential of the mods on their cars, which is impossible to do without accurate wheel alignment.

Thanks for your interest.

[Absinthe]

is it one streets?

yes