Thread: Willow Springs 10/27/04
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Old Nov 28, 2004 | 08:10 PM
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mbepic
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From: Port Perry, Ontario
Thumbs up Re: Willow Springs 10/27/04
Originally Posted by HDDP
For those interested, this will be a pretty long post and If any of you have suggestions please post:

MY CROSSFIRE PROS & CONS

SUSPENSION
First notable problem with my suspension set-up for this track is that the front left tire rubs very hard inside the wheel well on the tight right hand cambered turns (#3 #5) but the line I can hold is substantially tighter than SASKINS stock suspension, as well as most of the RICERS who were with me.

The car told me that I could definately push it harder through those turns without breaking it loose, if I didn't have the really bad RUB which was making me crazy and literally slowing me down like a brake.

The front body roll in those tight turns was about 5 - 7 degrees more than I would like. And about 2 degrees more on the other "SWEEPERS".


POWER
Absolutely embarrasing !!! My Crossfire can definately hold its own in the "twisties" with a suspension tweak or two, but the power is PURELY inadequate. In the current configuration I can take turn 8 in a nicely controlled drift into the straight at about 60mph +/- in third gear, then pop 4th after the apex and stomp on it. About halfway down the straight I reach 5900 rpm and drop into 5th. That is 500 feet before I hit a shift point from 4th to 5th. That is WAY TOO LONG !!!

By this time I have had a BUNCH OF RICERS who were behind me all the the way thru the turns, pass me at 10+ mph. NOT GOOD !!!

FIXES
Considering I was running with a bunch of seriously modded ricers, many of them were SC'd + TC'd, I know the engine mods I will need to do to make the car more competetive for power. Either that, or buy the SRT6 I have on order.

SUSPENSION (YOUR COMMENTS WELCOME)
To prevent the front tire rub, should I have a tighter custom (tortion / sway) bar made to eliminate the front body roll, or should I install a bit thicker spring spacer ? Or both ?

If anyone knows of a AM tighter tortion bar for the front of the car let me know. The rear is perfect for the weight and current HP. I know where to find the spring spacers if needed.


ATTN SPONSORS:
RENNTECH, BRABUS, STARTECH ETC, WANT TO TRICK OUT MY CROSSFIRE FOR FREE SO I CAN BEAT THESE DAMN RICERS ? I'LL RUN ALL THE EVENTS AT (LAGUNA SECA, BUTTON WILLOW, WILLOW SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY, INFINEON, ETC) AND I'LL HAVE MY CAMERA CREWS COVER EACH EVENT IN PANAVISION HIGH DEFINITION FOR YOUR PROMOTION AND COMMERCIALS.

Video and photos to follow in later posts...

Re the tire rub and needing a tighter suspension. It would seem to me that a stiffer front stabilizer bar would do the trick. I don't think I would play with the spring spacer. I am assuming that you don't believe the spring is too weak relative to the right side. You didn't mention the right side and I guess the track characteristics didn't put as much demand on the left turns. I would look for a stiffer front stabilizer but sorry I can't help you re the source for one.

Being a short track. it sounds like the Xfire rear end gear ratio is too low. Those ricers probably have very high ratios just suited for the short tracks. Put them on a long track and it would probably be a different story. Does anyone know if the rear differential gears can be changed to suit the shorter track. I just had a look on the DC site to see if they showed the rear gear ratio specs and of course they don't. My very rough estimate is that the ratio is somewhere between 250:1 to 300:1. If that is the case, a ratio of around 350:1 would be more suitable. You'd be cooking in 5th and probably seeing 6th down the straight. With all this said, it's very unlikely that DC has optional gears for the rear-end but you might want to check with the MERC SLK320 people to see what they have.

Hope this is of some help. I would have loved to have been there with you.
 
Last edited by mbepic; Nov 28, 2004 at 08:12 PM.
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