Les has spent countless hours not only racing, but also posting videos, helping members, and most importantly detailing everything he does on the track so the rest of us don't have to try the same stuff he has already used. The fact that he does this for all of us makes us all respect him, his wins definitely help as well .

If you have something constructive to add, I am sure we would be all ears. Thank you for whatever part you had in helping with the kit, but until specs and the ability to order becomes available to the rest of us, it doesn't matter too terribly much, but the reviews help everyone...

 

Getting 2 kits delivered tomorrow or wednesday. Weekend will be fun

 

When I first signed up on this forum I spent hours and hours reading posts by HDDP, NoCones, 240, Cruzinquick, Distant Pulse and others from which I learned much about our cars. They weren't always agreed with, at times even open warfare seemed to have been declared. Not everyone is looking for the same thing and opinions will differ depending on goals, circumstances, etc. but that doesn't decrease the value of differing points of view. I value what Tommy has written. I read every word. I don’t find my posts in conflict with his. My modus operandi is to fiddle. I've already had my ride height as low as you can go in the front, by accident, and drive, not turn, but drive. The ride was on the bad side. I raised it up myself halfway from where it had settled and my former K&W height. The car rode much better. Now it's at the K&W former height and it rides even better. Still darn low BTW. Probably has something to do with shock travel. This is with stock rims and tire sizes. Next will come the wider race rubber and if it doesn't rub at the track it's going lower until it does, then back up a bit. If I hit the bump stops I'll say so. If the sway bar hits the camber arms I'll say so. If the links transfer vibration and sound I'll say so. (I've removed most of the insulation from the back) The more I drive the more I like it up to now. The front isolating rubbers got destroyed, were squished out one side and broken so now I don't have those rubber isolaters. When I get things right I'll revisit the feel of the tires, sound transmission, road noise. (Donovan is shipping replacements) I change things, go back, change again, and again and then for fun, again. This kit makes adjustments so easy! Maybe not important for a street car because it'll be set right and forgotten but for a racer it's priceless. I'll keep wrenching and sharing. Eventually there will be enumerable combinations of springs and shocks from Ground Control on the streets, not just the race kit. Everyone matters. I’ve had bad days, nay bad weeks when unpleasantness was my companion. It happens.

The suspension settled a lot. That's why it was rubbing. Donovan told me to go ahead and put the race tires on and have at it. The rubber isolater isn’t needed so that’s my plan. I need a couple of dry days first, the track is in a low area that floods and it’s still raining.

Les

 

Les . . . It looks like your whole island may be capsizing!

 

I guess stock ride height will be possible if wanted, right? I just want to lower mine like 30 mm all around.

 

...............

 

Don't know. I'll be back at the alignment shop in the next week and I'll ask them to see how high it can go. I don't think you'll have a problem with 30mm. My front is lowered around 20mm and the rear around 40mm at this moment.

Les

 

Good news, bad news and other news. I mounted my race rubber in preparation for hitting the track and ...... the sway bar has hit the camber arms. I'm thinking it happened after leaving the shop the first time when the height fell so much. I don't think it's hitting now that the cars higher, but I need to make sure. Tomorrow I'll wrap some electrical tape around the spot it hit so I can tell for sure when I hit the track. I sent Donovan a photo and he asked a few questions about how the sway bar links are adjusted. So I have some homework to do tomorrow which leads me to more good news. Too much work tomorrow! I haven't been able to say that all year. I don't think going to the track will be possible until a later date. Taking a good look without the rear tires on I can tell you it has tons of space to adjust both up and down. Right now it seems to be adjusted more or less in the middle. Stay tuned.

Les

 

Called the track and it's under water so nothing doing today, perhaps this weekend. My replacement rubbers haven't arrived either.

Les

 

The replacement rubbers you're talking about are the spring pads, right? The ones we can get from Rob in the different thicknesses? So the new coils from GC sit fine on the OEM spring pads? I guess it doesn't matter now what #dot pad you get since it's fully adjustable. Probably whatever thickness is the strongest and less likely to tear out? I'm still just trying to wrap my head around all of it. I know it's not rocket science, but.......

 

It's a completely different system. It's a isolation pad that goes between the base and spring. Here's a pic of the correct isolator and broken one as well as a front suspension shot with the rubber squeezed out before it let go. I received the wrong rubber by accident with the kit. Now I'm good to go.

Les

 

Thanks, great pic. I get it now.

 

Had the car corner balanced today. The number you can't see is 694. This is with the 13lb. battery, passenger seat delete and racing rims and tires. Oh, and me in the car with helmet, Gopro, Aim solo, fire extinguisher etc.

Les

 

Fresh impressions for the curious. I drove to the shop on my race rubber and back home on my street tires. I can say without a doubt now that the rear solid links transfer more sound. The front quieted down with the correct rubbers that were replaced yesterday. For street only cars, I'd forgo all the links. The exception being those lowered cars that need camber arms to get the rear camber in spec. Another observation is when the wheels are lifted off the ground the rear springs loose contact with the perches. They can't come out but could be a concern jumping curbs on track. A tender spring on top may be advisable for racing. I'll know soon. This isn't a concern on the street IMO. My rear sway bar lengths are set 1" shorter than stock. When we disconnected the rear bar to corner balance the car it sprang up about 2". I'm waiting to see how the rear of the car behaves on track before making changes. If the car turns out to be loose I'll lengthen them. If tight, shorten them some more. Next Sunday is a track day when more analysis and impressions will be available. The cars current alignment is front: 0 toe, -2.7º camber: rear 1/4" toe in, -1.2 camber.

Les

 

Les,

If the anti-sway bar is disconnected with the car on the ground does the bar move? There should be no load on the bar when it is just sitting there. Shortening or lengthening the sway bar end links should have no effect on handling, they are only adjustable for clearance issues....i.e. if you lower or raise the car. You should be able to disconnect the bar without it moving...in other words it should not be loaded.

 

Yes, it jumped up about 2". I'll get under the car and adjust it to where it has no load.

Les

 

Here are the "take offs" and a picture of the stock camber arms where they were contacting the sway bar. Yep, even the curved stock arms were hitting.

Les

 

Man I'm beat! It was a hot one today,. I was nervous about the changes to the car, as usual for me. To cut to the chase I was within 1 second of my all time best. I got stuck behind a Suby that was pretty well driven with lots of power and was only able to catch him under braking. Being the type of event it was, track time, no passing without a point bye. So he cost me some 10ths. With the days heat I think I did pretty good. The alignment I chose for the front was close to perfect. I used Tommy's alignment, -2.7º for the front. For the rear I used what was working with the K&W's on my car. It needs a fair amount of additional negative camber the G/C race kit. Everything happens faster with the G/C race kit. Turn in, changes in direction, braking, lifting off the brakes all have immediate response from the car. I scared myself a few times in a section the has quick changes in direction because the car responds so quick to the wheel. I almost lost the rear of the car being too abrupt. The car worked better than I expected jumping curbs. The faster the speed the better the car felt. The bumps at 100 and up get absorbed much better than the K&W's. The race kit is a RACE KIT. Make no mistake, you will most likely be unhappy with it on the street. If your streets are generally decent and your 20 ish it's acceptable. I worked up to speed a little at a time. When I got to really exploring the limits I found the handling to be predictable, and when I pushed too hard, recoverable. With practice the car will be faster. No doubt. The limits are more or less the same (tires) but how you get there and and how quickly are completely different. Today the front was sticking and the rear on the loose side. Partially due to the alignment. Partially due to using air in the tires. When they hit the sweet spot (pressure) it's magic. With air I have to under inflate the tires to begin and they end up with too much pressure by the end of the heat. So my next mod is a nitrogen tank. It'll help a great deal and make it easier to get into a rhythm. My camber arms are hitting the sway bar. Not on track. On the street on big dips at speed that compress both sides at the same time. I'll be playing with the length of the sway bar links to learn if the contact can be adjusted out. As I reflect on the event I'll post more info. Did I mention how great the car feels over 100? Just amazing. Now to change the alignment, get nitrogen in the tires and adjust to the new feel.

Les

 

Visited my suspension and alignment specialists today with the knowledge and results from Sundays event. He frowned at me when he saw the rake I had in the car. We ended up lifting the front to match the back and went with more negative camber in the rear. I taped the sway bar and camber arms where prior contact has occurred. I didn't hear any hits on track or on the way home today so I believe it's resolved. I'll pull the rear tires and take a good look after a few days of trying to cause it to hit.
As a side note I have a video of the second heat. Somehow it's corrupted and I can't get my video editor to import it. When I solve the problem I'll be posting it. Some of the cars passed by my lowly SRT-6 were a Charger SRT-8, Boss 302, Ferrari F12, and others. One I couldn't get by was a full race Subaru STI. Everytime I got close enough to give it a go I made a mistake and went 2 wheels off or similar. Whisper number was 500hp at the wheels for him and I believe it based on how he pulled me on the straights.

Les