Topic: Noob questions
My team and I are looking to get this awd subaru and we were wondering if the suspension went towards the 500 and wanted to know how people combat this.
The 24 Hours of Lemons Forums → Lemons Newcomers → Noob questions
My team and I are looking to get this awd subaru and we were wondering if the suspension went towards the 500 and wanted to know how people combat this.
The short answer? Yes, and most teams "combat" this by not spending very much on the suspension, or by selling non-exempt parts off the car to offset the purchase cost, or by not worrying about it and just taking the penalty laps, or some combination of the above.
The long answer? http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/prices-rules#
You can get a long ways within the rules by doing stuff like cutting the stock springs to lower/stiffen/reduce camber, slot strut towers for camber/caster and add additional junkyard swaybars. If you are racing newbies, doing that stuff will be plenty enough performance until you figure out what the hell you are doing out on track (which will take you a few races. Or a lot). If you want to get real crazy, replace the shock/strut oil with motorcycle fork oil. If you buy aftermarket performance parts whether new or used, you probably will get called on it and pay the price. Yes, you can sell parts off to offset budget but if you show up first time with all this performance crap bolted on without ironclad paperwork proof, you'll pay the price. Even with paperwork they probably won't believe you. Something to keep in mind is that after every race you can request a residual which may allow you enough room to buy the parts you covet and stay within budget.
Sweet! thank you guys.
Are you allowed to make adjustments on race while the race is going on or you set up and race?
You can come into the pits and make adjustments all you want.
If the race is using hot pits (some tracks do, some don't), that means you have to fuel in the hot pits and you can't do anything else to the car. In those races, you would have to bring your car into your paddock spot, then you can do all the adjustments you want but you can't fuel the car; you have to take it back out to the hot pits.
If the race is NOT using the hot pits, you would do it all in your paddock spot.
More about your Subie? We raced stock height on sticky tires and pretty good brake pads, got some good results, next race went to a set of lowering springs and had a ball. Got put in B the first time, C the next time.
oops- wrong thread
The thing with making adjustments is that it takes time, and if you lose say 5 laps making adjustments mid race, your adjustments probably won't get it back with better lap times, well unless you were way off and the car was undriveable. If you want to mess around with adjustments you probalby should do the test and tune on friday that most tracks have.
1: Set your camber as negative as it goes, and set your toe to 0 front/rear.
2: Adjust next race based on tire wear and driver feedback.
3: Keep a log of pre/post race camber and toe, document what works and what doesn't.
For example, in our MR2 one race, pre-race rear toe was 1/8" in, post-race rear toe was 1/2" out. This explained my spins on the first lap of each of my stints. We went ahead and put that in the "doesn't work" column.
Smagg, where are you? Did you get that Subaru? I know of one that may be coming up for sale in the next little bit. Caged, raced, needs a little engine and body work. good car tho.
Try not to make more than one change or adjustment at a time. If your car handles worse it will be tougher to figure out why.
Keep in mind: Lower is not always better. You can have too much negative camber. Stopping is more important than speed. Drive the car as it is, not on how you wish it were.
Bill
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