I did a test and tune at the local track ($30 to share the track on Wednesday's from 2 PM until dark) and nothing I did helped. Put the Eibach's in the rear, messed with the ride height, took them out, messed with the ride height, tried different shock adjustments from full soft to full hard, took out the passenger seat, took off the strut bar ........ nothing helped. I have new tires on the front and it was sticking but the back of the car was a disaster.

All this drama in the rear started when I flipped the Advan's on the rims and switched sides to get more usage out of them. I don't recommend it unless your too broke to buy new tires. Other than that, I think the tires are not only worn, but heat cycled out. I've read about this happening but this is my first time experiencing it.

My last 2 track events have turned into drift exhibitions. You can drift a Crossfire believe it or not, sticky tires on the front and worn on the back work. The only superhuman challenge is the steering is so slow it can be hard to transition from drifting right to left or vice versa. Listen to me ..... trying to turn a negative into a positive. So far 2011 has been embarrassing. I did have one comment that made me feel a bit better, something about my Crossfire sounding like a F1 car. At least I sounded fast.

Les

 

I've heard your not supposed to swap track tires from side to side. Is that what happens? Good luck sorting it out.

 

Heck if I know! These are unidirectional but the tread is uniform so what I did was flip them on the same rim and then mount them on the other side of the car. Normally you can do this. It could be that the tires are just too worn out. I'll post a picture later in the day.

Les

 

I had to do an emergency Valentine's shopping in the rain while my sweetie was out and snapped a picture when I got back. I think this is the better of the two rear tires.

Les

 

Just looking at the picture I would have trouble identifying that as a tire.

 

Maybe I should have them grooved to extend their useful life. No, they really are gone. The only reason I haven't bought replacements is I have Forgestars and tires coming and I didn't want to buy new 19's that I can't use on the new rims. But Forgestar is living up to it's reputation. (delivery dates pushed back .... again and again) At least the tires wore pretty even across the tread. Usually I have to throw them out because the outside edges are showing the cords even though the rest of the tread is still good. Do you want me to take a picture of the other "tire"?

Les

 

For comparison, this is what my AD08 looked like the day I got them.

 

Les,
I was half kidding about the tire, You are one of the few members here that really push the car and the tires in a manner the machine was designed.

I love reading your posts, as I live vicariously through them.

 

Memories, like the corners of my mind ....... I feel confident that my loose condition is because of Yokohama rigor mortis. The Forgestars didn't arrive today. Or the Kumho's. BTW, the AD08's are a great tire for the weekend warrior. But like any tire, I guess they grow old and die.

Les

 

I know, I have to tell the truth. The more I race the more admiration I have for the SRT engineers. Most of my experiments have failed to improve the car much. What has changed is my understanding of how to adapt to what I have to go faster. With the worn out rear tires I couldn't trail brake, the back would come around. Go figure. The front of the car was sticking like glue, even with the puny 225's. I couldn't get on the gas 100% for more than a few seconds and even then the back of the car was dancing. When I made a mistake or over cooked a corner (frustration) whoever was behind me would advance 10 car length's. These are valuable lessons that you can read about in books, but always wonder about. No mistakes is faster than flat out and a few boo boos. I'm finding it hard to go from hero to zero. Thank goodness I'm made of teflon. I don't care ....... a lie, I do care, but who posts their failures? The process of learning? Someone's got to post the process with the ups and downs. I plan to get "serious" about competing next year and I'm trying to learn all I can in the meantime. Which means running with bald tires, finding out what changing the ride height does, etc. I finished in the middle of the pack both events this year. I'm a bit disappointed in myself. But I love this car. I arrive early at the track, watch the rest unload from a trailer, go through inspection, watch the rest work for hours getting ready, bleeding the brakes between sessions etc. And myself? I drive to the track, run as hard as I can all day, put the air and radio on and head for home while the rest are loading on a trailer and packing up their tools. When my tires are good I finish near the front. SRT engineers are heros. I still have a lot of work to do. Thank goodness I have a great car that can make up for a novice driver.

Les

 

Les, you change some camber when flipping tires. You just need to hang on and wear them in again. LOL.... You go from this / \ to this \ /.....LOL

 

I've aligned the car 20 times in the last 2 years Doc! Any change and I'm off to the experts. The latest alignments were at race weight with me in the car. What am I turning into?

Les

 

If your killing the outside edge sounds like you need more negative camber??

 

I need more negative camber in the front. I have -2º. Where I kill the outside edge is mainly from racing with low air pressure. I always have faster times with lower pressure but the outside edge suffers. If I pump them up they wear better but are slower. A race is a race and I do what results in a faster time, tires be danged! It's only non existent money.

Les

 

Do you get them to print the readouts after the alignments? Even after alignments you still have slight variations from side to side.

Not mention while you circle track race you tend to wear one side different from the other. So when you swap used tires it really throws your balance off.

 

The car was realigned after moving the tires around. I'm just inventing drama. I'm convinced the rear tires being way past their prime is my recent problem. When, finally, my new rims and tires arrive and after another alignment I'll know for sure. I wasn't joking when I said I've had 20 in 2 years. I'm on my 5th set of tires, 6th on the front ..... . 7500 mlles on my SRT and the next set of tires arriving this week. The car is realigned before every points race irregardless. I've settled on -2º negative camber on the front with a total of 1/4" toe out. On the rear I have it set at -.8º negative camber and 1/8" toe in. To repeat myself, at race weight (1/2 tank of gas) no passenger seat, no washer fluid, 13 lb. battery, other details and with me seated in the car. Do it right or don't bother. I still need to model the suspension to know what is happening dynamically. But most likely I'll balance the car first. I'm inventing plastic 2mm washers to use to adjust ride height independently on each corner. I'm demented!

Les (Ricky Bobby)

 

Far North Racing has an HTML suspension calculator at:

Autocross to Win (DGs Autocross Secrets) - Dynamics Calculator

It requires knowing the weight of both sprung and unsprung masses of the car and wheel/suspension components. There is plenty of info between TireRack, RockAuto, Crossfire Forum, etc... to get data without actually weighing everything. I plugged in my info and the car is very close to perfectly balanced. I believe with the lighter battery up front you will be even closer, but I've got an NA.

Also, there is a full suspension mapping software tool call WinGeo at:

Mitchell Products Page

I don't know anything about it, but the farnorth racing author is an SOLO champ that swears by it. Good luck Les. Your persuit for perfection is leading us all down the same path.
Mike

 

Hardly demented, that's awesome. Push that SRT!!

 

I only wish I had something usefull to add Les. You're blazing the trail for all of us.