I know I already posted a video with the K&W's en Salinas but I didn't have a clear picture of the improvements because they usually put a in a chicane meaning I couldn't really compare the times. Today I competed at the track in Ponce. No video because the camera decided not to work after the first heat. The first heat was run under yellow for a crash. An EVO lost the brakes at 100 and plowed into the tires, flipped twice and landed on the wheels. The driver is fine but the car is a mess and all the video I have is at partial speed under yellow. GOPRO FAILl!
I finally got a podium and trophy in Ponce. I had a personal best by .6 of a second. (1:29.754 lap time) I ran full weight and after the final heat I still had 1/3 tank of gas. I set the front shocks at 3 clicks from full hard. There's 18 clicks in all BTW. In the rear the Koni's are like any other, just heavier duty, and I set them at 1 turn from full hard. (No clicks in the rear) How to describe the feeling ........ confident, predictable, more precise. I won't go so far as to say planted or on rails but it's easier to go fast. Much less catching up with the car when things go wrong. Slides are a slow and controlled drift. The car is squirming around under heavy braking but I doubt it has anything to do with the springs and shocks, so I'm going to have to adjust the alignment. I don't feel the tires grinding or chunking when I over cook a turn, just squealing. I had no understeer at any time, a bit of over steer getting on the gas or going to fast for traction in a wide turn. The car still squats a lot under acceleration. The car rolls less but still rolls in the turns. Over all I'm happy with the K&W's. With a little more experimenting with the shock setting I may pick up more speed. Next time out front and rear shocks go on full hard and I'll soften from there if necessary. I want to lower the car in the front a bit more but since the springs have to come out to do it, it'll have to wait a while. I'm thinking a 30 mm front sway bar might be a good investment.

Les

 

Did the car squat under accelaration with your old shocks?

 

My car would squat stock under WOT, with the cut springs and Koni's and now with the K&W's. Or you could say the front lifts. Each change resulted in less movement. I had the Koni's set soft because the car felt better in the corners. Full hard helped lessen the lift or squat but I wasn't as fast with that set up. I'm experimenting with the K&W settings and up to now the firmer the faster. I still haven't gone beyond 2/3 firm in the rear. In the front I tried 9 clicks, 14 clicks and 16 clicks. (18 is full hard) Next event I'll set front and rear to full hard and go from there.

Les

 

Nice job Les, watched the video and looks like you've picked up some speed since your last video. Very cool.

Glad to see you are enjoying the K&Ws. I bet you're right, a larger sway bar would help, and maybe a nice strut tower bar if we could ever figure out how to accommodate for the NW Intake, etc...

As always, can't wait to see the next video

-Matt

 

Afternoon Les,

I'm thinking this will definitely help your roll situation. While I can count the number of times mine will be on the track on one hand, I do tend to take the corners as fast as sanely possible when I get a chance. I recently upgraded to the 28mm sway bar (OEM on the SLK32 AMG) and noticed a significant reduction in front-end roll over my OEM Limited swaybar (25mm). If I noticed that difference on 3mm with a factory bar, one can imagine the upgrade you'd see going to the aftermarket 30mm version.

Also, the rear swaybar upgrade sold on Tirerack is supposed to be a huge help. I believe it's 20mm, a big upgrade from the stock unit. The only downside is the six hours of labor required to change it... Also, from what I've seen on another thread, our OEM mounts in the rear are already brittle, easily separating from the unibody. Not sure what the best fix for that is... maybe custom end links?

In other news, I'm currently running -1.3° camber in the rear on the driver's side, and -1.2° on the passenger side. The shop said that was as close as they could get it with the TVT bars... . My question is, could I make the camber more like -.8° on both sides without sacrificing much in the cornering dept? Front camber is fine, I'm just looking to make the rears more flush (from an aesthetic standpoint) and I don't want to space out the rear wheels without first making them sit more upright... this is to reduce debris flinging on the rocker panels.

Cheers,

 

John, I am surprised that you can only get -1.2 & -1.3 with the TVT camber arms. I have them on my car too and mine is adjusted to -0.9 on both sides... Find out why they can't get them adjusted further out.
I can always make you some slightly longer rods to put on if needed.

 

I'm surprised too! I have enough adjustment to have positive camber if I want. I was running with -.8º camber in the rear and I liked it. Now that I have the K&W's I put -1.5º with 0 toe as an experiment. In the front I'm at -2.2º and 1/4" toe out. I don't recommend the toe out for a daily though.

About the roll, I've spoken to several people that have watched my car on the track and they all say I don't need a heavier sway bar. Then consensus is that I need poly bushings or spherical bearings in all the pivot points and a strut bar. It seems the rubber is deflecting enough to change the alignment significantly. It always was happening but now it's worse with the higher grip of the wider tires.

Les

 

My guess is the tech's incompetence... I want to take my car to Howard's (hcarter) mechanic, as his alignment looks EXACTLY how I want it to be.

As for the poly bushings, is there a kit where we can obtain those? And I keep Jonesing for a strut bar... I might just have to make one.

 

les i think the rear diff has to be out to remove and reinstall the sway bar so while the wavetrac is being put in would be the time to do it

 

Les, as I noted on your other post....I push things really hard, and I do believe a lot of the "looseness" I feel pushing hard through a turn is the fact that everything, meaning the bushings, are just giving in too much...too bad there isn't a ready-made poly bushing kit for these cars...I don't play on a track anywhere near as much as you do, but once in awhile I will go out and throw her around a bit...just seems loose...I am going with some firmer shocks...but the give I am feeling is in the suspension itself...shocks should help with the roll...but, again...not doing this much to worry about it...

 

doc there is a poly kit for the r170 but coat about 2k$! look at how the front sway bar is designed . really poor in my opinion. way to much room to move the bar around.