Can anyone advise on the following please -
Is it worth while having a geometry check ? I have had my S1 for 2 years and was wondering if it will improve the road holding.
How much can I expect to pay ?
And most important - are there any specialists in the manchester area who can do this for me ?
Cheers.
Definitely yes, if anything is out then the car will feel much better afterwards. I tend to think its one of those thngs that happens slowly over time and so you don’t notice the gradual change and then can feel a big difference when its put right. Of course, if its found to be spot on then there’s only the comfort in knowing that!
Its not so much the check but the costs involved in making the changes…not a perfect answer but if you look at the Plans website, I think they give some indications on costs.
Blink Motorsport are in the area - dont have there contact details to hand but try a google…
thanks for your reply. I have emailed Blink to see if they can help me. It would appear that they are based near Oulton Park which would be very handy for me.
thanks again.
Have a look over on the S1 Specific Area for a posting I have started regarding possible setups.
thanks steve. I guess you are currently setting your car up, can I ask where you got those scans from and who is doing the work ?
cheers.
Can anyone advise on the following please -
Is it worth while having a geometry check ? I have had my S1 for 2 years and was wondering if it will improve the road holding.
How much can I expect to pay ?
Cheers.
Absolutley 100% YES !!!
I had my car for 4 year had done just 7500 miles no kerbing, damage etc but had my geo done by Horizon Motorsport near Birmingham. The transformation on both the road and the track has been awesome.
Two things struck me about the settings I now run
a) the crispness of the turn in and the improved feel through the steering
b) the more progressive nature of the car on the limit
Expect a couple of hours abour to do it properly.
Cannot recommend it enough.
Two things struck me about the settings I now run
Do you know what they are…or better still have a printout?
I guess you are currently setting your car up, can I ask where you got those scans from and who is doing the work ?
Actually, I just starting to think about having it setup again - those scans were 2 years ago now. They were done by Sinclaires using a Hunter geometry machine
Not sure Steve,
To be honest I don’t understand it all that well.
What I did do though was explain what I wanted - notably to get rid of the understeer that used to be present when you went into a tight corner too hot and to make the tail a little bit more “forgiving”.
The exige is the first rear wheel drive car I had driven (excludign my 1300 cc beetle when I was a 17 year old dude) in 17 years of driving.
Therefore I wanted something confidence inspiring.
Car is booked in for some work on the 23rd - I will ask them then what set up they have put on the car.
The Midlaznds owners club have many memebers who rave about the set up that Mike @ Horizon puts on their cars. Think he may be a bit guarded about what it is though but will ask.
Con McL.
Understeer is the reason why I posted. When I first bought the car it had very neutral handling (a little tail happy). The car now has pronounced understeer which I want dialled out.
We just need the correct setting now …
Mike won’t tell anyone what his geo settings are. It’s just a case of telling him what you want the car to do and he’ll make it do it.
Mike won’t tell anyone what his geo settings are.
Not sure if you are being serious or not?
I would certainly want to know what was being done to my car - I might not understand it but that’s a different matter!
Mike won’t tell anyone what his geo settings are. It’s just a case of telling him what you want the car to do and he’ll make it do it.
Steve - couldn’t agree more - Mike has got it pretty damm spot on for me.
Mike won’t tell anyone what his geo settings are.
Not sure if you are being serious or not?
I would certainly want to know what was being done to my car - I might not understand it but that’s a different matter!
I agree 100%, and yes he is being serious.
As I’ve also said to quite a few people in the past that rave about various geo settings, most of them have not had the geo set for months if not years therefore the standard Lotus geo will feel like a huge improvement so what they are raving about may be nothing special.
I find all the secrecy and people claiming to have the next best thing an absolute joke.
Geo set up is based on basic parameters and it’s difficult to go far wrong if the basics are right. The basic Lotus layout for wishbones etc is pretty good so the toe and camber are only final tweeking.
Most importantly is to have toe in on the rear, anything else is dangerous. A bit of neg camber at the front more at the rear, stick to standard castor figures and don’t go too far on static toe settings. Do all of this and your car will handle, yes there are various levels of handling but this is a good starting point.
For refernce my car settings are
FR Toe 0.1mm toe IN
Fr camber -1deg
Rear toe 2mm/side toe in
rear camber -2.8deg
Don’t forget that this is only part of the issue, what springs, ARB, bump stops and the damper settings also have a big effect.
FR Toe 0.1mm toe IN
I only once tried zero toe and it felt awful, Back to about 2mm toe OUT at the front and it feels sooo much better.
May I ask why the toe IN?
FR Toe 0.1mm toe IN
I only once tried zero toe and it felt awful, Back to about 2mm toe OUT at the front and it feels sooo much better.
May I ask why the toe IN?
Sharpens up the turn in, does make it a bit twitchy on the road though.
toe-in - Sharpens up the turn in, does make it a bit twitchy on the road though.
are you sure that’s right - says the opposite HERE?
toe-in - Sharpens up the turn in, does make it a bit twitchy on the road though.
are you sure that’s right - says the opposite > HERE? >
Yes.
toe-in - Sharpens up the turn in, does make it a bit twitchy on the road though.
are you sure that’s right - says the opposite > HERE? >
Yes.
are you sure that’s right - says the opposite > HERE? >
Yes.
Website is usual online rubbish with basic priciples and wrong conclusions. It also ignores effects dependant on the complete set-up.
Think about it this way. Turn into RH bend, the LH wheel loads up. If you have static toe in for the same steering wheel angle the outer loaded wheel is pointing further into the corner than if you had toe out therefore you turn further into the corner quicker.
There are a number of other factors but that’s the basics looking purely at the toe. However, too much toe-in and you will turn too quickly and get more understeer. Hence why I hate almost all online ‘web-shits’ that proport to explain suspension geometry.